10 ways to channel the market place
With inbound marketing, you want to be where your customers expect to find you. For most organizations, marketing and promoting requires more than digital and public relations (PR). A good example of this is INC Magazines’ short video testimonial by Untuckit CEO and co-founder Aaron Sanandres on How This CEO’s Old-School Marketing Plan Helped His Company Take Off published in September of 2019. Originally, they relied upon PR alone. He started exploring with radio and figured out how to use it to increase sales of their shirts. They saw immediate results. They also bought advertising in a niche magazine. This works when you know your users.
Keep in mind when deciding on your marketing mix, each platforms’ audience will need to see your message at least seven times before you receive a return on your advertising investment. To do this most effectively, keep your same style and image with your type, photos, graphic, and messages by adapting them to the platform you’re using. A print ad does not bode well online just as Twitter does not translate to Facebook. You want your customers to visually recognize you on- and offline like the professional that you are.
Let’s look at the ten channels you can “mix together” to reach your audience multiple times with the same message or campaign. Choose wisely; stay focused.
1. Product Placement
When you see consumer products highlighted in sporting events, movies, and television shows, there’s probably a contract/business agreement behind making sure that particular brand can be seen by the audience. Normally, these agreements include exclusive rights in a product category. If you go this route, be sure to include a statement of exclusivity when appropriate.
These paid placements can increase sales when done right. As a case study, check out Ad Ages’ 2014 article How Coca-Cola’s ‘American Idol’ Deal Transformed TV Advertising.
Product placement can come in many forms to include paid advertising, sponsorship, in-kind donations, and financial support.
Make your product placement more than just a visual of your logo or brand name. To get the most bang out of your marketing dollars, address your relationship like a business partnership between your product and the host organization. For example,
| Event | Host Needs | Product Needs |
| Sporting Events | Increased participation | Increased Sales |
| Award Ceremonies | Improved prizes and give-a-ways | Improved Audience/People Relationships |
| Concerts | Talent Sponsors | Digital word-of-mouth Crowd Sourcing |
Always ask…
- What is the purpose of this partnership?
- What does each organization need out of this partnership?
- Is there mission compatibility between us?
At a local level, you could pair community theater with a locally owned boutique, a charity race with a coffee house, and a concert with an art show.
The skies the limit on what you can do when you approach the partnership with a win-win attitude for both organizations.
2 Print
Publishers often design tabloids, newspapers, and magazines to help promote specialized industries and communities. I always recommend supporting the communities where you reside through your advertising dollars. Follow their advertisement specifications. San Antonio Magazine updates their Ad Specifications annually.
Self- promotion articles as “advertorials” offer a close and personal glimpse of your operation. My friend Jack sells real estate and has periodically placed an advertorial in East Wichita News. I found his 2017 add online on issuu.
If purchasing national advertising, be sure to study the publication’s audience and circulation audit reports. You want to make sure those readers are or could be your customers.
A great way to get your name and company name in front of your customers is through writing feature articles with photos and appropriate links. Most offer an internet version which gets you online. Smaller news organizations often appreciate the help. Stories need to be newsworthy, self-help, or human-interest topics. Send photos with captions if a publications audience would be interested in the subject of your photo. Self-promotional articles are taboo unless they are paid advertorials.
3 Radio
Successful radio advertising depends on frequency – how often the ad runs in a short time period. Multiple times during the day with a focused campaign provides the best coverage to promote a product. The return on your investment can be an expensive proposition if not done right. INC Magazine’s How to Buy Radio Advertising on a Budget covers the basics in radio media buy strategy. Originally published in 2010, it’s still current today plus it includes industry links.
Supporting National Public Radio and Public Television in your area may also be an option for you. This is especially true if your product is business to business or in the service industry like law or accounting.
4 Television
Like radio, television can be an expensive proposition. INC Magazine also offers tips on buying television advertising on a budget.
When I worked for a television station in the 1980s, one of our furniture advertisers bought airtime after midnight. He targeted the three local stations and saturated their audience by consistently being there every night. You can use this same technique today because frequency is a key in any advertising and marketing mix. Focus on a few; repeat often.
Like the radio buy article, INC also offers How to Buy TV Advertising on a Budget. In addition to basic information, check out their industry links.
Television and radio stations include a strong web presence for their advertisers. Be sure they included both on your contract buy.
With streaming video, times have changed. Instead of actual airtime buys, you can incorporate TV advertising by tying your product promotions into the experience. For example, a local restaurant could promote home delivery to watch the new series release of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime or Netflix’s Stranger Things. Timing will be important to get the most out of new releases of popular series. A local clothing store could offer in-store alternatives to the casts’ wardrobe ensembles. A coffee house could offer a contest to create a coffee or select an existing coffee drink that could be a flavor favorite of popular characters from TV shows. Imagine what you could do with a tie in to VH-1 RuPaul’s Drag Race – makeup, clothing, gym membership, and more. Be creative. It just might work for you.
5 World Wide Web aka Internet
This medium is right for everyone whether you’re in retail, non-profit, business to business, or the service industry. You can showcase your products and services through videos, photos, articles, and events directly to the public.
Social Media
For social media, your best bet is to focus on what you can handle to keep it current and interesting. Sometimes that might just be one app or it could be the basic four or more. If you want to be a professional social media marketer, Hootsuite offers 17 other apps you may want to use for your trade 21 of the Best Social Media Apps for Marketers in 2019.
The web allows your customers to choose how much information they want, when they want it, and where they want it — at home or on the road. In retail, your best investment centers on your website. People expect for you to have one.
Website
Your website acts like the brochures of the last century. Depending on content, some brochures were tri-fold one page documents while others were slick magazines. It depends on your product and services as to how much content needs to be included. That’s the same for your website. Remember, less is more. (Find more of our how-to guidelines at Communicate Better.)
Just like newspapers of yesterday taught their readers what to expect; so has the web. The web even uses similar language like banner ad, above the fold, and more. “Above the fold” now refers to the area on your page that people see without scrolling. It’s the most important real estate on your website. Use it wisely.
Moderating the activity of what others post about you brings a challenge. When replying, I aim for a conversational tone with customers’ positive and negative comments. Most often, customers just want to be heard. Your response time can be important – critical if you allow comments on your website. If you allow, make sure you have to approve before posting. In addition, we recommend you have your settings to notify you when a site visitor comments.
Digital Advice
My reference point for design, content, and user experience on the internet has been the Federal Government:
These sites’ missions might be to provide communication guidance to federal employees and agencies, I use them because they’re free, available to the public, and are research-based in their findings and recommendations.
Be sure your website is available on any device, any time, and anywhere. If you’re like 99% of businesses, you will only need one website to be accessible to your customers. Make sure you update to the latest content management system like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and many others. I mention those three as they are easy to use for the non-developer.
Search Engine Optimization
It’s important that we use words our customers expect us to use. In addition to observation and research, you can also use tools to help you. Besides Google, one I have used is Answer the Public. The Search Engine Journal offers others in their article The Top 15 Free SEO Tools You Should Be Using. Check them out for your SEO marketing.
6 Mobile
Mobile is unique as it is the most personal mass medium there is. It offers us a direct relationship with our customers. Plus smartphones connect us in the real world through social media, meetups, web search, and location detection services.
I subscribe to Luke Wroblewski’s theory of Mobile First. This theory promotes designs that respond to screen size and provide future friendly coding to work – into the future. Think smart watches, voice search, and more.
Before you build your website, make sure the theme you use is responsive and can easily be updated when technology changes. Most are in today’s technical world.
7 Direct Mail Marketing
In today’s communications, email ranks number one among consumers – for now. A database management system can help you systematically direct people to your website through regularly scheduled emails.
Study the messages you receive from your customers noticing strategy and usage of key words. Coordinate email messaging with online and offline promotions to include advertising materials, feature articles, special events, and photos reinforcing the same messages on various mediums.
The beauty of using a program like MailChimp and Constant Contact, you can send out bulk emails. If you try to manage a database on your own, chances are it would all go to the recipients’ “spam” or junk folders. There are other services out there. MailChimp and Constant Contact just happen to be the two that I have personally used.
U.S. Postal Service
I also recommend the U.S. Postal Service to help drive your target audience to your website and storefront. Check out their 10 steps to help create a successful direct mail campaign info-graphic.
You can hire a mail house or, the Postal Service recently introduced a “Every Door Direct Mail” service and made it easy to purchase online. With this service you bulk mail to a carrier route without requiring labels. This mailing is more generic than individual labeling; it targets neighborhoods. For a local coffee house, bar, or retail center this might be exactly what you need. A postcard works best as the recipient does not need to do anything to see your message. Make sure it’s clean and clear.
8 Internal Communications and Marketing
Internal communications keep everyone in your workplace and community informed. Be authentic; hard truth is much easier to take than rumors. If you do not let your staff know what’s happening, they will make something up. Usually, employees lean towards a situation of fear or a feeling of not being important enough to know about the news or changes. This article The Cost of Poor Communications by the Society for Human Resource Management gives actual dollar amounts (in 2013 dollars). The New Hampshire Business Review’s Communication with your employees is a necessity for businesses speaks of the workplace culture of trust that good communication can bring. Both serve as two good reasons for communicating well and often to your employees.
Also your employees, suppliers, and contractors often make your best customers. It’s smart to market to them specifically. Ensure you have one of your best people managing this critical business communications product.
9 Onsite Marketing
Onsite signage helps visitors feel secure in knowing where they are or where they are going. The same can be said for a small retail store pointing to “sale items” and a 170,000 acre recreation area like Land Between the Lakes showing visitors “you are here.” Visual signage helps customers quickly find what they want and improves their experience with your brand.
Ensure readability. I just visited an area where the print was so small that you had to leave your car. It was cold and rainy, so we did not read it. It’s best to have less information and more readers than a lot of information and fewer readers. After all, if people want more information, they’re trained to go online.
10 Quick Response (QR) Codes
When you include your digital media and physical location addresses on all platforms, you increase the odds for success in your marketing efforts. For easy access, I use QR-codes (Quick Response) to link to my digital media on any printed materials — this includes packaging and signing.
Because QR codes allow for instant access to additional information, you can generate a new code for special events, important updates, and more. Consumers expect QR codes in retail stores, museums, and self-guided tours. One more reason why “mobile” leads the design process.
QR Codes work perfect with onsite signage and mobile friendly websites. If you keep your linked web page up to date on your site, your outdoor or indoor sign can last through its entire expected lifetime because the content will be always current.
It’s a wrap
I hope this helps you to think beyond digital when looking into your next advertising and marketing budget plan. There is so much to gain with a solid marketing mix that reaches your customer and potential customer base on multiple platforms, multiple times. Remember to target where they already go when they search for information or products like you have.
Take care, Jan
