| |
| |
|
Marketing Resource Center |
|
|
|
How To Go From Under Dog to Top Dog by Unleashing The Power Of a Postcard
The Tale of Two Dentists... Dr. Namel and Dr. Ivory are two Dentists located across the street from each other in a high traffic areathat is surrounded by affluent neighborhoods. Both Dentists were certain that having the right location would mean automatic success for their businesses.To their dismay, patients were not lined up at their doors. Business was not booming. In fact, potential patients pass by them everyday unaware of their choice of a neighborhood Dentist. Some prospects are vaguely aware that there is a Dentist in the neighborhood, but can not recall the name of the Dentist. After all, they have not been given a reason to take notice. Dr. Namel decides to spend his whole advertising budget on an Ad in the community newspaper. The Ad results in an occasional trickle of new patients, but will never bring Dr. Namel all the patients he can handle. Dr. Namel never receives a return on his investment because his Ads are not effective. His Ad simply has a picture of him and his contact information. There is no call to action or an effective headline. Furthermore, the community newspaper doesn't directly reach his target market. Dr. Ivory knows that an Ad in a community newspaper will be a waste of money.She wants to reach her target market directly and exclusively. Her goal is to get the most bang for her buck, while positioning herself as THE neighborhood Dentist. Dr. Ivory decides to use Postcards to market her business. She knows that she needs to stand out and be remembered. Her Postcard will be competing against all of the other mail that her prospects receive on a daily basis.Yes, her Postcard has a better chance of being read than a letter in an envelope. But it still has to pass her prospect's 'so what?' and 'what's in it for me?' tests. Dr. Ivory accomplishes this by unleashing the power of Postcards. She makes her Postcards extraordinary by creating Postcard Newsletters. Dr. Ivory's Postcard Newsletter has helpful dental care tips on the back.The front of her Postcard Newsletter features her current special.She brands her Postcard Newsletter with her logo, contact information, and tagline. Dr. Ivory sends the 'Dental Digest' to her prospects on a monthly basis. Her prospects look forward to receiving the Dental Digest every month. It stands out amongst their other mail, and they instantly recognize it due to the consistent layout and design of the Postcard Newsletter. They enjoy reading the dental care tips and save every issue. They even show their friends the Postcard Newsletter from their neighborhood Dentist. Each Postcard Newsletter builds more trust and credibility. Now when prospects drive by, they look over at Dr. Ivory's office and remember the Postcard Newsletters they are receiving from their neighborhood Dentist. When it is time to visit the Dentist, they automatically know to call their neighborhood Dentist, Dr. Ivory. Who else would they trust their dental care to? When they are asked for a referral to a Dentist, they automatically recommend their neighborhood Dentist, Dr. Ivory. Who else would they wholeheartedly recommend? Dr. Ivory now has all the patients she can handle. She also has an extra bonus: constant referrals, and patients singing her praises. Meanwhile, Dr. Namel looks over at Dr. Ivory's office and wonders why she always has a constant stream of patients. After all, they are both in the same location surrounded by the same prospects. Dr. Namel wonders why Dr. Ivory is experiencing much more success. He feels that he should have all the patients he can handle, since he is the only one with the monthly Ad in the community newspaper. Everyday, Dr. Namel looks over at Dr. Ivory and wonders what is the secret to her tremendous success. Everyday, Dr. Ivory welcomes new patients and enjoys seeing patients who keep coming back. She has established a relationship with her patients before they ever walk through her door. Dr. Ivory looks over at Dr. Namel's office and it looks deserted. She wonders why he keeps pouring money down the drain on an ineffective Ad in the newspaper. Dr. Namel's Ad costs ten times more than Dr. Ivory's Postcard Newsletter. Yet Dr. Ivory's results are twenty times more effective. Dr. Ivory thinks about her secret to success and smiles. She can't help but smile at the fact that a postcard has so much power. And it definitely gives more bang for the buck. Copyright 2004 Black Unicorn Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved Black Unicorn Communications helpsIndependent Service Professionalsattract more clients in less time.Visit http://www.blackunicorninc.comfor a FREE Business Success Toolkit,including the 7 day e-course:7 Steps To More Clients
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Marketing Planning - Preparation and Accountability We all know the saying, "Failing to plan (prepare) is planning (preparing) to fail." I truly believe in this statement and I hope you do as well. Free Sample Sales Letter: Example of How to Write a Persuasive Business Marketing Letter Here is an example of a business-to-business sales letter mailed to auto dealers by a firm that markets gift cards that replace paper gift certificates. Anything in brackets [like this] did not appear in the letter but simply appears to describe the mechanics of the letterAuthor: Alan SharpeTarget audience: General managers of auto dealershipsMailer: Sharpe AutoCards [a fictional company for the purposes of this sample letter]Purpose: Generate appointments for salespeople[MAILING ENVELOPE][Is 5 x 9 inches in dimension and has a window, through which appears a portion of a gift card, personalized with the prospect's name. Marketing On The Cheap: Speak Out! No matter what business you are in, you probably have something to sell. Furthermore, if you have something to sell, you have something to say. Business to Business Direct Mail Offers that Say Free In direct mail, the offer is the incentive or reward that you dangle in front of your prospects to motivate them to respond to your mailing, either with an order or with a request for more information.Offers follow a "you do this and we'll do that" format. Communication Breakdown - Dont Let It Happen To You Do you have Communication breakdown?How are you communicating with your contacts?We need:Contacts we can send emails to regarding our businessopportunities.Contacts we can build up a good working relationship with,similar interests as far as business opportunities go. How to Magnetize Your Business Do you ever wonder how some businesses always seem to be doing so much business? And how they seem to do all that business without really trying that hard? Most of us would like to have business come to us, rather than chasing it. Think of a magnet - pulling business towards your company, effortlessly and naturally. Making More With Existing Clients Have you ever put on a jacket you haven't worn in a while and found a twenty-dollar bill in one of the pockets? You'd forgotten all about it, so discovering it is like getting a gift. If you've been in business for a year or longer, you may have gifts in forgotten pockets - sources of additional revenue waiting to be discovered and tapped. The 5 Musts of Marketing For most of the small business owners I work with, marketing has become the equivalent of a four-letter word. Inevitably, when I ask the question, "Do you have a marketing plan?" or "What marketing activities do you engage in?" I get the full gamut of responses from the proverbial deer in the headlights stare, to a vociferous, "I hate marketing, it's the least favorite part of my business!"After years of witnessing this reaction, and learning a bit about modern marketing, I'm starting to understand why traditional marketing is perceived and experienced as a necessary evil and avoided like a root canal. Marketing Person You Think You Arent Have you thought about starting your own business? Have you started one and are having challenges with marketing, fear of failure, fear of success?I could go on and on. Has the question, Now what? ever entered your mind? If so, I would like to share my story with you. The 4 P s of Marketing: Effective Marketing Programs Depend On Them There is no shortage of marketing programs, many with great profit potential. The challenge is to sift through and choose the ones that are right for your situation -- the ones that have the greatest potential to grow your business. Increase New Customer Traffic to Your Business One person tells another, who tells another, who tells another and so on. You get the idea. 3 Ways to Gain and KEEP Customers Using Postcards In today's competitive (sometimes cutthroat) marketplace, savvy business owners need to constantly look for ways to get and, more importantly, keep their customers. When used properly postcards offer a great opportunity to do both. How Would You Handle This? We have been talking about choosing groups to participate in that meet your needs and goals as a business professional. Once the decision is made on which groups to belong to, then a certain level of participation is required in order to achieve the individual goals set by the business professional. Trapped in Your Comfort Zone? Break Out and Send Your Marketing Skyrocketing A marketer whose advice I generally respect recently published an article about how to find your comfort zone and stick to it in your business in order to create a more harmonious work environment.In theory, it makes sense. Data Map Charting for Mobile Businesses As we study the demographic regional variations for small service businesses we see many things. Let us take a mobile auto detailing business and break down the data and look at what drives sales and growth. Simple Marketing Strategies Versus an SEO Line of Attack! Each and every day those of us on the Internet are bombarded with information about Search Engine Optimization and all that goes along with it. For the majority of folks who are promoting a business online, this can often lead to confusion especially when it comes to understanding key words, meta tags and title tags. Want to Increase Your Business? First You Need to Understand where You are at! Are you having trouble understanding basic situational marekting concepts? Then this article is for you.Alex Margarit shows you a simple step by step way on how to put together a basic situational analysis. Key Marketing Questions - Planning Your Marketing Campaign So you started a business. How's it going? Did you think about marketing when you began planning for your business? Marketing is how you get the word out about your business. Whats Your Marketing Weak Link? Your marketing weak link could be undermining the rest of your marketing. It is vital that each link in your marketing system supports and builds upon the previous link. Make More Money with Marketing Metrics Do you know how effective each of your individual marketing tactics is? Many small business owners market in a vacuum. They spend money on brochures, advertisements and web sites with no real way to tie specific results to specific endeavors.
|
| home | site map | Advertising Articles |
| © 2006 |
