Standing out from the Crowd

It today’s fast paced world I am always amazed when I hear the phrase “Marketing don’t work for us” or “our business is Different” – if you want to see your business prosper or even hold its own then you need to be better known or more in the face of potential clients than your competitors.

It seems so obvious but having a joined up campaign is one sure way to marketing success – come up with a budget .....double it, then watch the spondulas roll in?!?!? Ok it’s not quite that easy but it will help if done right ”IF YOU CANT MEASURE IT THEN IT DOES NOT EXISIT” is one thing to remember, you always got to know if what you are spending is having any effect. I work in a sales environment, OMG it’s amazing right now – I have a ton of ways to improve my pipeline and I can do it all in an hour after the day ends.

• Join groups on LinkedIn and engage – ask for help and you’ll get it aplenty – try to help and you’ll get noticed.
• Join related forums for your market group – also be where your clients are on-line – Backlinks to your website can be gained this way as well as the positive impact you have.
• Write a Blog......DOH!!

Here at Apple Print & Creative we are now offering a Social Media service, helping our clients without resource to get themselves involved and “Join the Conversation” .......why pay us? Simple answer, because it’s important.  Our Business Plan is about growth, if yours is then you should be looking at these services. Remember, if you do approach social media yourselves then have a plan, this is still marketing and should be treating as such. So that's:

• Pre-plan
• Listen (to your potential target market and competitors)
• Design your message and Social Personality
• Set some goals 
• Join in
• Measure results (else why bother)

The measure part is super important or you wont know what the successes have been - I am a Guest Speaker at a BMG event in Reading at the Madejski Stadium in April, Web Analysis using Google Analytic's will be my subject, if you would like to learn more then clicky here......

That’s my short blog for this week – Next week look out for Print Technology, I will be explaining why traditional print is back and here to stay and how to continue to stand out in todays market.

The crazy world of print and design

I just noticed that it’s been two weeks since I last put fingers to keyboard (the new “Pen to Paper”?) so I thought I ought to run through what we have been up to here at Apple Print & Creative. I also thought that we could look at the way we are using “Print” to help promote our clients businesses.

So, this week QR codes have featured quite a bit, not just on the designs we are offering but on the clients provided designs as well, I was beginning to wonder if these fabulous little things would ever find a place in everyday marketing but it looks like they are finding their way. The main thing here (again) is that they link to a “MOBILE enabled” website / Page / Signup form, remember, if your QR is scanned you can bet your life it was with a mobile device..... if I was on twitter right now I would use this hashtag #Nobrainer.

Along with QR’s we have been using variable data, this is where you provide me with a database of info and we target those people with DM’s specific to them, be that Male or Female, Partner/Reseller, BWM or Audi owner – we make it personal, in a nice way J - the statistics speak for themselves, 36% increase in response rates, response times up by 34% for direct mail campaigns using targeted data – So if you have a database and want to get a result then this is the way forward. If you add a quality Telesales campaign to something like this then the ROI can be fantastic.

•  Target Individuals
•  Small Groups
•  Tailored Offers
•  Personalised for extra Impact

Ready for some linked up thinking........how about Personalised Direct Mail with a Personalised QR code to the clients very own Micro Site? Call us todiscuss....we'll take your marketing to the next level.

So we have looked at digital printing, clever variable data usage so how about good ol fashioned leaflet campaigns? Well, if you have the right market these can be a fantastic way of getting info out to as many people as possible, come on, someone has to read the materials that fall out of Newspapers, Magazines and Newsletters. The thing to remember here is that  design is key, catch someone’s eye with a clever design or a attractive call to action and you’ll have a great chance of getting engagement – this is a little bit of a blanket approach with little or no follow up but can yield great results or even just keep your brand in front of people.

So it’s back to basics, if you do it, Target it – the model for Social Media is all about finding out about your clients and their needs, your offline marketing should do the same but also has more of a chance of being seen in today’s Information age.

Before I forget.....our competition for March is to win an iPod Touch.....see what other people have won here and enter now..............