Stop Bleeding Your Budget

One of the most common mistakes made by business owners today is where to spend marketing dollars. The ever so common strategy of throwing money at an idea and seeing if it sticks can bleed a business dry very quickly. Most small business owners are so concerned about getting new business that they never ask the important question of "will this produce a viable return on my investment?"

Before you spend your hard earned money on a particular marketing/advertising campaign, here are some important factors that need consideration:

1. Complete a Cost vs Return On Investment (ROI) analysis

   1. How many sales will it take to make up cost (this number should be fairly low)?

   2. If you can't make a ROI, will it have an impact on your branding or positive effect on future business?

   3. Establish turn around time. How quickly will you get a return once you spend the money?

2. Qualify target market

   1. Is it the right market?

   2. Do they have the spending power to buy your product or service?

   3. Is there a current need or demand?

3. Determine relevancy (just because it worked 5 years ago, doesn't mean it will work today)

4. Establish competitive edge

   1. Why should they buy from you instead of the other guy?

   2. Do you present a clear value over your competitor?

   3. Is that value important to your market?

Here are some other basic ways to qualify your marketing or advertising strategies:

1. Determine whether or not you would be influenced as a customer by the medium you are planning to use. No matter how great of a deal it is, if your target market is not interacting with that form of media then you will not get your return on investment.

2. When was the last time you used a physical phone book to find anything? Chances are that unless your customer base are the elderly and/or they do not have internet access, then you are wasting your money. Kindly tell the yellow pages rep to stop calling.

3. Radio advertising can be costly, however, a well placed ad that targets your specific market can have some great influence in acquiring new customers. Make sure you get specifics on the stations demographics and times the ad will air; this will quickly let you know whether it will be worth you time and money.

4. If your competitor has been doing it for years, chances are that it is working for them.

5. Direct mail does work for certain industries, however, the average ROI is usually only 1%-5%. Unless the direct mail is going out to your specific target market, you are probably not going to get the results you are looking for.

A good rule of thumb when considering spending money on a particular campaign is to listen to your instincts. If you have any doubts that it will work, then those doubts probably have merit. It doesn't matter who you are advertising with or what medium your are marketing through, everyone want your advertising dollars. Don't give in just because they say it will work, do your homework first. The advertising sales reps will always have a reason why it is urgent that you take action.

Ultimately, a good marketing firm will help you maximize your marketing/advertising dollars and help you receive a great ROI.

Defining Marketing 2.0

Over the last few years, the term Marketing 2.0 has made an impact in how businesses see marketing today. With no real definition in place, it has come to mean different things to different people. We have seen Marketing 2.0 mean everything from issues surrounding relevance to tapping financial resources and, of course, referencing social media. Although these points are important to a Marketing 2.0 world, it leaves a lot unsaid because those points only communicate about one specific element of Marketing 2.0.

It is true that there is a fundamental shift in marketing and that there needs to be an absolute definition and model of what Marketing 2.0 exactly is. Marketing Medley, a full-service marketing firm located in Roseville, CA, spent several years researching and strategizing how to describe this shift that was beginning to take place in marketing. What was discovered? It was not directly related to anything new or things that were not already in place, but more importantly how to use existing strategies, both web-based and print-based, in a more effective and efficient manner. While it is true that there are some newer marketing resources such as social media and mobile technology, any savvy marketing professional should never place all their eggs in one basket, as it were.

Every technology enthusiast and web savvy marketing professional can get very excited about new ways to market their clients or company, which can be highly profitable if timed properly. There is, however, also a danger in narrowly focusing all ones resources into using only one media source for promotional purposes.

Enter the world of Marketing Medley, who successfully implemented a complete synergy of all marketing elements, which they call Marketing 2.0®. Admittedly, they say they went through a few different definitions for Marketing 2.0® but it was more a change in wording than an actual change in definition. The definition has remained true to their original in describing how marketing was shifting into a synergistic blend of elements:

A marketing model that completely integrates traditional methods, print-based media and web-based marketing in a way that is more effective and more efficient.

An important discovery while implementing this new marketing shift was that by making every element of marketing more efficient, it lowered the cost of services and in the marketing industry, time really does equal money.

After defining Marketing 2.0®, Marketing Medley next needed to identify and categorize what elements belonged inside this synergistic model. After recognizing the core elements such as graphic design, web development and marketing/advertising, there were other items that were definitely part of marketing but did not fit directly into those core elements. They identified a total of 8 elements that cover all areas of marketing.

• Graphic Design
• Web & Mobile Development
• Search Engine Optimization
• Databases/Applications & Integration
• Brand Identity & Public Relations
• Advertising & Marketing
• Interactive Media
• Social Media

To help visualize the concept of synergy with these 8 elements the following model was created:

It is believed that every aspect of marketing is covered in one of these 8 elements. Although Marketing Medley has tried to discover any flaws in this model, both responses from clients and the effective results seem to prove that this model is as effective and efficient as it’s definition describes.

To learn more about Marketing Medley and what they are doing to advance marketing in today’s world, visit their website at http://www.marketingmedley.com/ or visit their blog to see what the latest news is at http://newmarketingera.wordpress.com/

Marketing 2.0 Extreme

Marketing 2.0 is changing the face of the marketing landscape throughout the country and has even reached internationally. The synergy of blending all aspects of print based marketing as well as web based marketing into a single well oiled marketing machine is an attractive model for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Added to the strength of the Marketing 2.0 model is the foundation of services being not only very effective but also highly efficient and much more affordable than traditional marketing strategies.

As the developer of the Marketing 2.0 ® model, Marketing Medley LLC is reinventing how marketing is provided to clients. The strategies that are being used to accomplish this contain four main parts. The first is efficiency. Efficiency in marketing allows for lower cost, expedited services and a significantly more synergistic blend of marketing elements like web development, graphic design, and SEO. The more efficient a marketing company is, the easier it is for them to lower the cost of services while still being highly profitable. The speed aspect of efficiency is obvious. Imagine if clients were able to receive completed services within weeks instead of months; the marketing company would look like heroes.

The second is the effectiveness. The service has to be effective and without compromise. Many “marketing” companies out there that provide web design, graphic arts and other such services often do not have a true marketing background. Without looking at the services they provide from a marketing professional point of view, they are doing their clients a complete disservice. It is important to know that just because the design looks great doesn’t mean that it will be effective.

The third part is affordability. Making services affordable to clients and not bankrupting them on their marketing services will allow you to not only get consistent referrals from existing or past clients but also maintain them as well. Marketing should always be done from the perspective of how to grow the clients business and not how to grow the marketing company’s bank account.

The final part is how the services are provided. Traditionally most marketing firms provide piecemeal work on a per project basis. Usually there is an initial deposit, and then the marketing firm does the work and bills the client at the completion of the project. Alternately, some marketing companies have a budget to work from and keep coming up with projects for the client to provide marketing and continuously bill the client for as much as they can within the budget. Marketing Medley LLC, however, is doing it completely differently by spreading the cost of full service marketing over a twelve-month period. This sets a specific budget for the client and usually makes it very easy for small to medium sized business to be able to afford a complete marketing team rather than only hiring one person in the office. It also includes all aspects of marketing including web, print, graphics, hosting and enewsletters, etc. into one plan. Marketing Medley LLC has found that most business are able to increase their marketing strategies while decreasing their cost significantly.

Marketing 2.0 ® is changing the marketing industry. Shouldn’t your marketing company be part of the change?