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Tips, Ideas, and Strategies
Develop a Marketing Strategy and
Promotional Campaign that Works

There's an undeniable element of risk in advertising and marketing, but that risk can be minimized and turned to your advantage by understanding a few basic principles and strategies. First of all, people tend to do business with companies and individuals they know or are familiar with. That being the case, it's definitely to your advantage to gain as much visibility and name recognition within your target market, as possible. Your advertising plan and marketing mix should be designed to reinforce your marketing message in as many ways as are feasible. For example, it typically makes good marketing sense to reinforce the effect of your print advertising and broadcast ads with things like press releases, targeted sales letters and postcards, establishing a presence on the Web, and (depending on the type of business you're in, your budget, your target audience, and the image you're trying to project) publishing newsletters for customers and prospects, distributing coupons, sponsoring contests, advertising on billboards, participating in trade shows, placing a competitively sized yellow pages ad, taking advantage of networking opportunities, giving away advertising specialties, considering transit ads on buses and bus stops, and, of course, handing out professional-looking business cards at every opportunity. What matters most is that you're cost-effectively reaching your target market, through advertising and marketing initiatives, on a regular, consistent basis.

An advertising or marketing campaign should be well planned and carefully thought out, with inexpensive test ads being placed before a major media blitz is undertaken. The same holds true for a direct mail campaign. While a well-honed marketing plan can potentially yield tremendous rewards, in terms of both profits and business growth, a wise approach is to proceed with caution, because a lot of money can be flushed away if you pull out the stops prematurely. If you're a small business owner with little or no experience in launching a marketing campaign or writing advertising copy that sells, your best bet may be to hire an advertising agency or seasoned copywriter.

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If you do decide to go it alone, here are some tips and resources to keep in mind.

Key Ingredients of Successful Ads & Sales Letters

The most compelling ads usually have an attention-grabbing headline and focus on how the advertiser's product or service will solve a problem, provide comfort or security, win the approval of others, make life easier, more enjoyable, prosperous, or more fulfilling for the customer. Good ads avoid visual clutter, exaggeration, and an overabundance of ideas and themes. If you try to be all things to all people, your effectiveness and impact will be diluted or negated.

In advertising and marketing that works, the advertiser makes it easy for the prospective customer to respond to the offer and also makes it obvious exactly what the prospect needs to do next. An incentive, such as a discount, a freebie, a coupon, or offering a hard-to-find product, are among the strategies that can help increase the response rate to your ads. A guarantee of complete customer satisfaction, a bulletted list of client benefits, and the inclusion of color in your ad are other elements that can contribute to the success of your advertising campaign.

Sales letters containing the right ingredients can also play a vital role in the outcome of your next marketing/advertising campaign. Those ingredients include a strong headline, an attention-grabbing "P.S.", and several paragraphs focusing on the many customer benefits you provide, as well as solid reasons why prospects should do business with you, rather than the competition. Why are you better? more unique? more affordable? more service-oriented? or better equipped to meet the customers' needs? When you can effectively answer those questions in your ads, sales letters, brochures, commercials, and Web site, then your ability to attract customers will increase tremendously.

For a wealth of marketing tools and tips on writing dynamic sales letters and ads that produce results, visit Marketing Survival Kit .

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