What was the best type of marketing you have ever done...

[Power Lunch Club]

Question to the SBFers

What is the best type of marketing you have ever done for your business and what kind of results did it yield?

Regards

Gordon
PLC

[nothing does]

hmmmm good question. For me I did a direct marketing campaign when I started my company and followed it up with emails and phone calls which proved very successful. However I should warn about the uptake of a DM campaign. Normally uptake is about 3-2% and then making those contacts clients reduces it's effectiveness to minute amounts. I WAS LUCKY.

In the long term word of mouth is best for myself.

Marketing campaigns have to be engineered towards your target market and there is never a 'one size fits all' approach. A garage will never do well with a on-line viral campaign but a door drop just might work. But still word of mouth is the best marketing anyone can have.

[Wills]

Over the years I've tried various methods of getting the word out there, there is no quick fix, right place right time is key.

What works with me is getting the product in front of my target market, on-line would appear to fit that bill but has a long lead time and even with the best SEO seldom hit your intended market.

In 2006 I bit the bullet and went back to basics with a high street presence aimed directly at my market, it worked literally from day one. Sure it's expensive and risk is high but planning your strategy is vital.

So my best marketing tip is direct and make it something they want not necessarily need - Steve Jobs does a good job of his marketing.

[barryhynd]

I had a Google Adwords campaign for one of my businesses that had at one point a click through rate of 8% which was generating around 20-25 leads per week for that particular business. Admittedly it didn't last wrong but it made us see the potential on online marketing.

As i've said many times on here before you have to measure your marketing to see what works and what doesn't, if you dont measure then you might as well throw the money out the window. Admittedly some avenues are harder to measure than other but it's crucial you find some form of measurement

[Power Lunch Club]

Did anyone use copywriting services for their marketing?

Gordon
PLC

[nothing does]

Originally Posted by PLC

Did anyone use copywriting services for their marketing?

Gordon
PLC

ALWAYS. I'm not against a DIY approach but the professionals are always better at this kinda thing (as are the designers)

[ScottJ]

I carefully constructed an email to Sir Alan Sugar when he ran a column in The Mirror (Spoonfull of Sugar) on a business idea which I had already started but wanted free press so asked for his advice, knowing what he usually responded to and liked, he picked my email and responded which gave me a quarter page feature in his column in The Mirror, was then mentioned another 3 or 4 times and after a year or so was awarded Excellence in Enterprise by him and another half page feature, lots of doors were opened and business from it all for free and flown down to have lunch with him.

[Power Lunch Club]

Originally Posted by ScottJ

I carefully constructed an email to Sir Alan Sugar when he ran a column in The Mirror (Spoonfull of Sugar) on a business idea which I had already started but wanted free press so asked for his advice, knowing what he usually responded to and liked, he picked my email and responded which gave me a quarter page feature in his column in The Mirror, was then mentioned another 3 or 4 times and after a year or so was awarded Excellence in Enterprise by him and another half page feature, lots of doors were opened and business from it all for free and flown down to have lunch with him.

What was the business Scott? Editorial....you just can't beat it!!

And what was he really like to meet?

Oh and more importantly....What did you have for lunch?

[ScottJ]

It was putting up websites with hosting and a domain for a monthly fee rather than a one of charge, so I'd do a local business info site for £35 per month type of thing. I sold it to give me more free time a few years ago and concentrate on my own sites, unfortunately back then even with a half page I thinkg I only got a couple of hundred visitors. He certainly had a presence when he arrived, I met him at his then Park Lane office/residence, he was friendly enough and really enthusiastic about his Amstrad phone/emailer at the time..showing it off.

Just goes to show even Sir Alan can't win them all

[Neil]

Here is a type of Marketing you might not have seen before. This is a "Bugman" from Alpharetta, Georgia. Hal Coleman is a local pest control company and he has put up a sales page with a difference. Remember to click on the video to start it.

North Fulton Exterminating

He also has a video blog

Yucky Nasty Bug Facts - North Fulton Exterminating Altanta GA, Georgia

In the blog he explains, in video, about all the yucky, nasty bugs. If you didn't think you needed pest control before you watched it you will now.

This is fantastic Local marketing. The same principles can apply to any local business. By having a great site and driving traffic to it through classified ads in the local paper or leaflet drops you can pick up a whole lot of business.

If a Bugman from Alpharetta, Georgia can do it so can you.