That quote — actually a misquote — is often attributed to Mark Twain upon the humorist reading his own obituary in the newspaper. At least that’s how the best versions of the tale go.
The same sentiment can be attributed to print marketing. Despite the exaggerated rumors, print’s not dead. Far from it. In fact, renowned marketing guru Dr. Victor Frankenstein most succinctly summed up the current state of print marketing when he famously declared to colleagues, “It’s alive! ALIVE!” It’s true. Look it up.
While the rise of digital has heralded a new age in marketing, don’t believe the smarmy slicksters and snake-oil salespeople when they tell you it’s time to administer the last rites on print marketing and lower the old girl into the ground. Sure, she’s gotten a bit up there in years, but all those years have provided her with a wealth of experience and trusted reliability. And she’s still got a few feisty tricks up her sleeve. Just consider a few of these stunning statistics from printisbig.com:
U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person on direct mail, earning $2.095 in goods sold — a 1,255% return on investment.
Direct mail marketing response rates are 37% higher than email marketing rates, and they also result in a 40% increase in online donation rates.
80% of households read or browse their advertising mail, and print is 59% more engaging than online articles.
Forestry is the most sustainable of the primary energy and materials industries.
Sill not convinced? OK, aside from facts and figures, let’s talk about some of the psychological aspects of how people interact with print materials.
Print provides a tangible, tactile experience for consumers.
The physicality of a publication, brochure or direct mail piece gives consumers that sensory experience that helps to solidify your message in the mind. Not only do print materials hang tough with the staying power to remain in homes or offices for longer periods of time, they also prompt stronger emotional responses in the reader. In a study conducted by the U.S. Postal Services and Temple University’s Center for Natural Decision Making, print materials bested digital offerings in most categories, including review time, stimulation, memory speed and confidence, desirability, and valuation. This is not to say digital isn’t valuable, but instead, that digital and print used together can be an unbeatable combination to reach customers.
Print provides a trusted credibility.
A report by MarketingSherpa set out to determine which advertising channels consumers trust most and least when making purchases. In a survey of 1,200 consumers, print ads topped the list.
As the survey’s author summarized: “Print ads were the top advertising channel according to our survey, with four out of five Americans (82%) telling us they trusted newspapers and magazine ads. In fact, the five most trusted channels were all traditional channels.
Print holds Attention.
An article from Modern Litho noted that websites are often skimmed in as little as 15 seconds; however, readers become more engaged when it comes to print materials, spending 43 minutes reading a magazine on average. Because print has been shown to hold attention, it allows a much more meaningful experience.
Print marketing provides a quiet, dignified and reputable way of conveying information to an audience.
SaveOn’s team helps countless businesses stitch together the creative marketing plan that has helped to bring their vision to life. See how they can help your business by reaching out today for a consultation.
Opinions vary on the official origin of email. Some trace its history back to the mid-1960s. Others proclaim its founding was in the ’80s. Regardless of the true birthday of the email, it could be argued that it has lost a bit of its luster. If email was indeed founded five decades back, the first email scam probably came out four decades, nine years and 364 days ago.
Now with a plethora of scams, mountains of unnecessary spam and co-workers who woefully abuse “Reply All” etiquette (Yeah, I’m looking at you, Carl), it may seem a bit of email’s initial shine has dulled over the years — but you’d be wrong.
Email — and in particular email marketing — is still a vital and vibrant strategy for businesses of any size. And the best part is that new innovations in email marketing can streamline your tactics, connect you to the customers who are looking for you and bring a bigger bang to your ROI. Here’s a look at four trends to consider this year:
Get Personal
“Customers don’t just want to feel like another cog in the works; they want to feel valued by the companies they invest in,” according to the email marketing firm Benchmark. “One problem that can occur in email marketing is the lack of personalization that comes with automation. A key trend to follow is instead leveraging robotic process automation and AI to create personalized emails that speak to your consumers. This means using automation and AI to send targeted emails that appeal to your specific audience segment. Analyze your customer’s shopping habits, opening rates and favorite products or services to then create an email that speaks to those behaviors.”
Follow the Drip
No one likes to be overwhelmed, but underwhelming potential clients isn’t a great alternative either. That’s what makes a drip campaign ideal: It’s like the Goldilocks of email marketing — not too hot, not too cold, but just right by breaking down marketing communications into a series of “drips” spread across a specific timeframe and that require specific responses.
“This ensures consistent and cohesive communication between the subscribers and the company. Moreover, it gives the customer a sense of control over their inbox. … That’s why drip email campaigns tend to perform better than regular email campaigns,” according to NetHunt. “Specific actions taken by users activate the launch of the sequence. Emails that get sent out as a part of a drip campaign are more responsive and create a much ‘friendlier’ communication between each side. They are not overwhelming; all the necessary information comes in ‘drips,’ saving effort of having to traipse through a hefty copy. The customer gets the exact piece of information they expect to receive.”
Include a Video
Video is way a way to communicate quickly and effectively to an audience. Incorporating video into an email marketing plan can help you stand out from the competition. Even just including the word “video” in the subject line of an email can increase the open rate, according to SuperOffice.
“Video email marketing can be a great way to convey a lot of information without making your emails text-heavy. For tutorials and how-to videos, it’s a great platform. What’s more, 91% of consumers revealed that they watch an explainer video to learn more about a service or product,” AdWeek wrote in an April 2021 blog. “It’s also important to prioritize concise content over wordiness. Long paragraphs can look cluttered and make your email harder to read.”
User-generated Content
User-generated content has been a big hit on e-commerce sites because it brings a sense of bonding between consumers and a brand. It’s not surprising it’s transitioning to email marketing.
“Consumers find UGC 9.8 times more impactful than influencer content, and 78% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions,” according to Sleeknote. “Strategically injecting it into your emails is the perfect way to humanize your content and get a tip of the hat from your customers.”
There’s probably no reforming Carl of his bad email habits, but SaveOn has digital solutions designed for every business. Tap into our resources of more than 140 million opt-in email records in our database. Target your message to the audience you want to reach using over 750 filters including geography, age, gender, household income, levels of interest and more. Visit saveon.com/business/digital to find out how we can work for you.
Partnership expands savings and deals to readers of both publications
Discount devotees and coupon connoisseurs throughout the Chicago metropolitan area stand to put more power in their pocketbooks and wealth in their wallets with the recently announced merger of SaveOn and Trader Magazine.
The partnership between the two titans of consumer savings will benefit SaveOn and Trader Magazine customers as well as Chicagoland businesses. The merger will leverage the value power of both parties to create significant savings at favorite local businesses that will blow away Windy City residents, while simultaneously provide local businesses with new opportunities to expand their reach and attract new audiences.
“Excited doesn’t begin to describe how thrilled we are to announce this merger. We’re able to expand our service offerings to the southern areas of Chicagoland, while also expanding our extensive marketing products to the business partners of Trader Magazine,” said SaveOn President and CEO Heather Uballe. “The ultimate winners in this new alliance are the Chicago-area residents looking to get the best values for their households and make their dollar go further while supporting businesses in their community.”
Not only will savings-hunters benefit from the deal, but advertising partners for both companies will be able to broaden their reach to an entirely new customer base through tactics like digital marketing, social media advertising, direct mail and more. The merger will allow SaveOn to expand its existing footprint in the region by 100,000 additional homes. Trader Magazine will be able to expand by an additional 800,000 residences.
“We’re very happy to be able to offer our business partners new tools to reach a wider audience and help our customers benefit from valued savings,” said Trader Magazine co-owner Harold Hewitt.
“This partnership is a great opportunity for us to expand our services platform and extend SaveOn’s mission of helping consumers Live Life for Less,” added co-owner Joe Farneti.
Trader Magazine’s employees will be joining the SaveOn team in the merger, and SaveOn’s first mailer will be distributed in the newly expanded market area June 1.
About SaveOn
Together, with our trusted business partners, we are dedicated to helping Savers live life for less by saving them time and money. We are passionate about the growth of our team, business partners and the communities we call home. SaveOn serves the Chicago, Detroit, Twin Cities and West Michigan areas.
About Trader Magazine
Since 2009, Trader Magazine has been an excellent resource for your advertising needs. We will help you in reaching your local target market and get you connected to your community. Trader Magazine is, a high-quality, full-color publication, bound together in a neat, organized magazine that gives your product the best representation available. It is mailed to more than 30 towns in the Chicagoland suburbs nine times each year.
There’s a reason the midway is typically the most popular area at a fair.
It’s the dizzying mix of lights, music, and the seemingly endless rows of games and contests where you have a chance to win that giant, pink, stuffed teddy bear that has been crisscrossing the country all summer and now taunts you as it dangles from the canopy of the carnival booth.
Yes, Yogi, you will be mine before this day ends.
You can feel it even when making a friendly wager with an acquaintance. No matter how mundane the bet or how miniscule the prize, there’s that moment when your pulse quickens, the adrenaline kicks in and the dopamine fires up in your brain as the contest begins. “Could it be possible? Yes, it’s true! If my wall of paint keeps drying faster than his, I may really have a chance to win that last slice of the pizza we bought two days ago!”
You get the idea. It’s the rush. The thrill of competition.
Everyone likes to be a winner. Even more, everyone loves being presented with the opportunity to win. It’s why contests are an easy and ideal promotional tool to help build brand interest and awareness. Here’s a look at a few basic reasons contests should be a part of any marketing strategy.
1. Contests Build a Fan Base
Free stuff is fun and gets attention. The power of promotion is a tried-and-true method to increase Facebook likes and shares — and some contests even urge people to spread the word on the event. According to American Express, “a basic enter-to-win sweepstakes with a lower barrier to entry often provides the best option for those just starting out with social media contests or without a large base of fans in place.”
2. Contests Engage Consumers
The first step of a contest is to get someone’s attention. The next step is to get that person excited, engaged and to take action. “A contest is often distinct from the typical content that brands put out. It pushes people to interact with your brand because they anticipate fun and gain the chance to win something of value,” Submittable wrote in a blog post. “Contests also promote and multiply user-generated content that gets customers more involved and makes your brand more memorable to them and people in their networks.” That user-generated content could be anything from photo submissions to user-made videos.
3. Contests are a Data Treasure Trove
“Contests also offer advantages from a research standpoint. When people sign up or agree to participate, you can collect names, contact information and get answers to other research questions,” according to Chron. “On a giveaway for a television, for instance, a manufacturer may include questions about participant TV habits. When consumers sign up at local electronics retailers, they fill out forms with their information and answers. Companies collect this for research and analysis to better promote that product or something else in the future.”
4. Contests Increase Sales
“The logical and necessary evolution of the benefit of your contest after building awareness and increasing your subscribers is increasing your sales,” said Neal Schaffer, founder of digital marketing consult group PDCA Social. “Contests are a great way to convert your business leads into valuable customers — especially in the case of the winners because they had just tried your product for free (if you chose the wise path of offering your product as a gift and not a random iPad) and they will most likely return to purchase more if your product satisfies them.”
Effective as well as cost-effective, contests are a reliable form of marketing that can boost your business as well as the business of your partners in the eyes of the public.
At SaveOn, we offer monthly contests that showcase the products or services of our various business partners, from winning a tank of gas to walking away with a new KitchenAid Mixer or a gift card to a garden center. Find out more about SaveOn and how we can help take your business to a new level by visiting saveon.com.
Search Seo Online Internet Browsing Web Concept. Website WWW Search Bar Magnifying Glass Graphic
Remember that nondescript, drab and depressing, concrete-block store where you once did all your in-person shopping?
No?
Of course not, because it doesn’t exist. Just as signage and descriptors help guide visitors to the location of a brick-and-mortar storefront and provide a warm, inviting welcome inside, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) provide the proper digital signage to help the right customers find you online.
There are many complex intricacies and nuances involved in SEO and SEM, and it’s easy to geek out and dive down the rabbit hole of high-level and extensive explanations; however, simply put, SEO produces practices and strategies to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results — in other words, traffic that you don’t have to pay for. Similarly, SEM acts in the same way — and often in tandem with SEO tactics — by using paid strategies to make your business more visible in search engine results pages (SERPs).
“SEM quickly capitalizes on targeted keyword searches; SEO provides the foundation to convert and retain the traffic generated by SEM strategies,” according to an article at Forbes.com. “Carefully intertwining both SEO and SEM techniques will produce a stronger digital marketing campaign with stronger performance and noticeable results.”
At SaveOn, making sure you have all the tools for business success at your disposal is a cornerstone of our mission, which is why we have introduced our custom SEO/SEM solution is designed to drive more traffic and sales to your business through four optimization categories: a web presence assessment, customer services, on-site optimization and off-site optimization.
The web assessment is an in-depth audit of your website to identify and highlight areas for improvement. Among our custom services are keyword research, content development and copywriting, and site updates.
On-site SEO is content and structural improvements that improve your website’s ability to rank well in SERPs. This can include custom content, selective keywords, proper tagging of headlines, links, lists and images. Properly optimizing your content improves the visibility of that page to search engines for the key phrases targeted by the page content.
Off-site SEO refers to other tactics and activities that you do away from your website to improve its ranking in search. This includes content linked back to your website, links from high-value sites back to your site, social postings, business meta-data and content distribution.
Since implementing this arm to help our partners meet each their unique goals, we have already developed numerous successful case studies showing the advantages SEO/SEM optimization can have on the bottom line of any business.
An insurance company sought to improve its ranking on Google search results from Page 2 to Page 1. Our team implemented off-site optimization strategies, to help improve the search results placement. In fewer than three months, we were able to deliver three new Page 1 placements, elevating exposure of this insurance company with a total of five keywords on Page 1.
An HVAC company wanted to increase website traffic and stand out from the rest of the competition. We refreshed the content so that it was more focused toward keywords that the client wanted to target. We also created extra blogs for them every month and put out a press release. Six months later, website traffic rose from 4,000-plus to 16,000-plus, with four of the company’s main keywords on Page 1 of SERPs.
A dental clinic wanted to direct its patients to the website for COVID-19 updates and guidelines being implemented. We recommended that the clinic break down its different services into separate keywords and localize them for the locations being targeted. We also created blogs and refreshed the content for several webpages to get the targeted keywords to rank. After four months, 45% of the target keywords pertaining to the different services the clinic was offering were on Page 1 of SERPs.
A potential customer is simply a customer you haven’t met yet. SaveOn’s digital business strategies help make those initial introductions and connections easier. In addition to making your website more discoverable and desirable through SEO and SEM strategies, we also can give your business a boost with microsites, an email database, geo-addressable fencing, retargeting, digital contests, event targeting and more.
SaveOn is top-of-mind provider of innovative marketing solutions, and we are passionate about the growth of our business partners. Connect with us today at saveon.com to find out more about how we can help you make connections with your customers.
In his early 20th century work “Mending Wall,” American poet Robert Frost wrote that “good fences make good neighbors.” Due to the technological advancements of the 21st century, that phase can be revised to denote that “good geofences make great customers.”
Deploying the wrong marketing strategy for the desired result can have all the grace and subtlety of a Sherman tank. Sometimes the big and noisy scattershot guns need to remain holstered in favor of the surgical and exacting preciseness of the simple scalpel. Geofencing is a digital marketing tool of such delicate and effective accuracy in aim and intention.
Geofencing is a location-based technology that allows a business to define a geographic boundary and then create a virtual barrier around the location that communicates with mobile devices entering the area. That communication can be anything from a text message to an email alert to an app notification.
According to Business 2 Community, mobile ads with geofencing have double the click-through rate, and 53% of shoppers visited a retailer after receiving a location-based message. With geofencing being compatible with 92% of smartphones and the average user spending five hours a day on a mobile device, the odds of finding success with this marketing technique fall greatly in the favor of the brand sending the message.
Used wisely, geofencing can communicate with potential customers who may already be interested in the service or product you offer. Content can be tailored to specifically to customers in the geofence who are already more inclined to be open to receiving information associated with your brand. For example, a vehicle dealership might geofence an automotive show to highlight the dealership’s ongoing offers, promotions or events. This targets an audience base that is likely already interested in your product.
However, the effect of geofencing can take an even more hyperlocal approach by setting up a perimeter around a competitor. Such a tactic provides customers the ability to immediately comparison shop or, at the very least, raises awareness of an alternative local option, according to GeoMarketing.
Finally, geofencing helps to personalize the customer experience by finding desired group of prospects for your business, delivering ads to them and providing businesses with the ability to track the success of converting prospects into customers.
Geofencing can be extremely helpful for businesses looking to generate new leads, promote exclusive offers, distribute information about upcoming sales or events and so much more. Geofencing enables your business to reach an audience of potential customers based on where they are and have been. Whatever your message might be, geofencing allows you to reach an audience of real-world people who are already in the proximity of your brand and who could eventually become loyal, valued customers with the right information while they are there.
SaveOn takes great pride in providing a well-stocked arsenal of marketing options that fit whatever need you have and reach whatever audience you want. For more information on how we can help your business target the right customers, visit saveon.com.
The room is packed shoulder to shoulder. It’s hot. It’s sweaty. It’s hard to take a breath.
This is your battleground.
Everyone is vying equally to gain singular attention of your target audience. The noise of competitors makes it even more difficult for your voice to rise above the growing and steamy static and discord. You could resort to a gimmick to be noticed, but that would only detract from the message you want received.
Why try to stand out in the crowd when you can separate yourself from the crowd completely? You can stand on your own as the sole voice without anything or anyone else distracting from the information you are relaying.
That’s what direct mail postcards provide — an uninterrupted link between you and your future customers. No distraction. No competitor. No problem.
In a world where the wielding of technology is often heralded as the ultimate marketing weapon, the humble postcard seems like it should be the antiquated antithesis of good marketing strategy; however, what the troubadours of all things tech tend to overlook is sometimes the simple, the tangible and the simply tangible resonate most deeply with respondents.
The mailbox is like a year-round Christmas tree. You never know what sort of unexpected presents are going to show up each day. According to a Gallup poll, more than 4 in 10 U.S. residents enjoy checking the mailbox, which makes it an ideal avenue to get direct access to your target audience.
Direct mail marketing is the process of delivering marketing materials directly to people’s homes through magazines, inserts, postcards, flyers, catalogs and more. Using direct mail postcards has numerous advantages.
In a study by Marketing Charts, more than 30% of baby boomers made a purchase from direct mail marketing methods, which outperformed recommendations from friends and family, online consumer reviews, email ads, TV ads, print and radio.
Direct mail postcards have a personal feel and high readership. BusinessKnowHow.com noted that postcards are much more likely to be read than direct mail letters — 94% to 14%. In addition, a postcard lets a business communicate directly and immediately with customers.
Direct mail is not cost-prohibitive. At a fraction of the cost of traditional postcards, direct mail postcards are one of the most cost-effective and affordable forms of targeted marketing available.
Postcards can be used as a complementary piece to a larger marketing initiative, and they provide an immediate-impact response with the customer. There are no envelopes to open with a direct mail postcard. You message is front and center when customers are flipping through that day’s mail. And the unencumbered colors and graphics on the quality-stock card are going to give a person pause to take a closer look.
Each month, SaveOn reaches millions of people in Chicago, Detroit, Twin Cities and West Michigan in their mailboxes via our monthly magazine, postcards, inserts and more. We make reaching your future customers easier by offering supreme deals on direct mail postcards that include design, printing and mailing. Reach out and capture the attention of your target audience with postcards, flyers or 4-page circulars at 75% savings. Leave the crowd behind and standalone proudly. Visit SaveOn.com for more details.
You have a great company, and you have a solid product or service. You are even doing some advertising and marketing to attract new customers, so why aren’t sales where you expected? To get the results you want out of your marketing efforts, you need to have a well-rounded, fully thought-out marketing plan from inception to execution. Our team has put together a guide to creating a marketing plan that is sure to result in the hard ROI your company is looking for.
Brand Positioning
Every good marketing plan starts with research and background. The first thing you should do is perform a SWOT and competitive analysis. The SWOT helps your company identify its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The competitive analysis will show how your business and products compare to your direct competitors. It’s important to know what your competition is doing, as well as how they’re positioning their companies and products because you need to differentiate your business from theirs.
Using the information from your SWOT and competitive analysis, you will be able to identify your company’s key differentiators and unique value proposition, or the one thing that sets your business and offerings apart from the competition. This will help you formulate messaging that speaks to your distinctive attributes.
Finally, before you can form messaging and a marketing plan, you have to determine who your target audience is. A big mistake many businesses make is trying to talk to everyone. There’s no reason to waste your money marketing to people who have no interest in your products or services. Although you may get less impressions or have to spend more initially to reach people in your target market, it’s worth it in the end because your efforts will result in more qualified leads, sales and new long-term customers. To identify your target audience, you will need to ask yourself demographic and psychographic questions like:
What gender are they?
Where do they live?
How old are they?
Are they married and do they have kids?
What is their education?
What do they want?
What are their pain points?
Where do they go?
You can learn more about who your audience is through customer surveys, reviews, competitive analyses and creating customer personas. Additionally, you can use resources like call tracking. Call tracking data allows you to know where your calls are coming from by ZIP code, day of the week and hour of the day. All of this allows you to make educated decisions about your advertising campaign and coach your call center or receptionist to make the most of the leads you receive. At SaveOn, we offer call tracking to our advertisers at no additional cost.
Once you have your research and background information finished, your next step is setting a budget.
Budget
Businesses should have a firm budget identified before drafting a marketing plan. You will need to take several things into consideration when setting a budget:
Your marketing plan will need to include a variety of marketing and advertising mediums.
Will you outsource artwork and creative for the campaign?
Will you need to purchase software to execute and track the campaign?
How long will your campaign run?
You will most likely want to leave a little room in your budget for additional costs. Looking at past marketing campaigns can help you estimate costs for your upcoming marketing plan.
After your budget is approved, you are ready to start drafting your marketing plan. The first step is identifying your goals and key performance indicators.
Goals and KPIs
A plan without an end goal is a sure way to waste your money. By setting SMART goals, you ensure your campaign is headed in a good direction, but it also is achievable in the timeframe you set. After setting your SMART — specific, measurable, accurate, realistic and timely — goals, you will need to identify KPIs. A KPI is a measurement that tells you if your campaign is meeting its goals. KPIs can include but are not limited to:
Revenue growth
Number of new customers
Website visitors
Digital ad conversions
Your next step in your marketing plan is identifying the strategies and tactics needed to reach your goals.
Strategies, Tactics and Marketing Mediums
Now that you have long-term SMART goals, how are you going to achieve them. You need to create a few strategies and tactics to carve a path out to reaching your goals. Strategies should be a big-picture plan to reach a goal, while tactics should be concrete, smaller steps to get there.
For example:
SMART goal: To increase visitors to our website by 10% by Dec. 31, 2021.
Strategy: We will use digital marketing to drive people to our website.
Tactics: We will implement geofencing, retargeting and SEO/SEM.
Your strategies can and should use a combination of marketing techniques to reach your audience.
Types of Marketing
Content Marketing
Content marketing is creating shareable material that you put online, such as blogs, videos, e-books or webinars. The purpose of these marketing tactics is to position your businesses as a thought leader, answer customer questions before they have to ask, create brand equity, attract new customers and increase sales. These can be valuable tactics for your business because they are easily accessible and sharable. They drive customer interaction and inevitably convert to sales.
Email Marketing
Email marketing allows companies to send commercialized messages to your segmented audiences. You can promote sales, offers, information and more to your customers. In the United States, more than 90% of people 15 years or older use email, and email marketing has an ROI of 4,400%, according to OptinMonster. That means, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, your company will potentially see a $44 return.
If your email database isn’t quite large enough to reach your audience, you can always use advertisers to help you. SaveOn has more than 140 million opt-in email records in our database. We can help you target your message to the audience you want to reach using more than 750 filters, including geography, age, gender, household income, levels of interest and more.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is using social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and more to promote your products and services. According to Statista, there are more than 3.6 billion people on social media today. Businesses have a great opportunity to reach their target audiences on social outlets, increase brand affinity and convert fans to sales. In fact, 70% of business-to-consumer marketers have gotten their customers through Facebook, OptinMonster found.
Businesses with a strong social media following can gain sales and customers through creating engaging content with calls-to-action. Those without a large, active following can still find success on social media through social media advertising. Social media advertising tends to be less expensive than traditional ads and gives businesses more control over the ad spend.
We offer social media advertising to our business partners. Our team of advertising experts help create messaging, set up campaigns and monitor your budget, so you get the results you want without the stress or hassle.
Digital and Mobile Marketing
Digital and mobile marketing is using the internet and online digital technologies like desktops and smart devices to reach audiences. A Nielsen study found that chief marketing officers said they found digital marketing was more effective than traditional marketing like TV or radio, and 82% of CMOs expected to increase their digital advertising budget. Additionally, 50% of consumers who search for a local business on their mobile device visit a store within a day.
SaveOn has years of experience working with companies to deliver effective digital marketing campaigns. We’re able to offer our business partners special lowered digital advertising prices, and we specialize in mobile marketing, geo-addressable fencing, websites, retargeting, SEO/SEM, event targeting and deliver marketing messages.
Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail marketing is the process of delivering marketing materials directly to people’s homes through magazines, inserts, postcards, flyers, catalogs and more. Although email and direct mail campaign tend to generate similar response rates, a MediaPost study found that direct mail marketing generates five times more purchases than that of email marketing.
SaveOn connects millions of local savers in Chicago, Detroit, the Twin Cities and West Michigan to businesses through its monthly magazine, inserts and postcards.
Coupon Marketing
Coupon marketing has been around for decades and has not let up in popularity or effectiveness. In 2019, 91% of Americans ages 35-54 used coupons, and 77% of consumers spend $10-$50 more than planned when using a coupon. We strongly suggest incorporating coupon marketing into your marketing plan. If you need help reaching new customers, using a trusted couponing source like SaveOn is a solid choice. We send coupons from local businesses out to millions of consumers in Chicago, Detroit, the Twin Cities and West Michigan each month through direct mail and digitally.
Write Messaging
Now that you have your marketing mediums chosen, you’re ready to write your messaging. Messaging should be targeted at your audiences identified earlier in the process and optimized to each marketing platform. Remember to always stick to your unique differentiators, and don’t be afraid to venture outside the box with your ideas.
Evaluating Success
Finally, your plan must be measurable. A marketing campaign can only be called a success if there is something to indicate whether you reached your goals or not. Use your KPIs to see if you reached your goals. If you find that something isn’t working, evaluate why and change it. The people who you are marketing to are constantly changing their opinions, wants and needs based on the world and what they’re being offered. Make sure you are open to trying new marketing methods when things no longer are working. Staying up to date on marketing trends is an important piece of the planning and evaluation process. Our team at SaveOn is here for you. We specialize in shining a light on your company’s unique offerings and can help you identify and reach your target audience through our marketing solutions. To learn more about our marketing programs, visit SaveOn.com.
In retrospect, Pete Townsend seems a bit more of an oracle than a songwriter when he penned The Who classic “Going Mobile” in 1971.
A half-century later, there are upward of 5 billion unique mobile users worldwide, and 2.7 billion of them use smartphones, according to the digital-insights gurus at DataReportal. In the United States alone, the Pew Research Center estimates that 285 million residents will have a smartphone by 2023. Then there’s the oft-cited statistic released several years ago by the Mobile Marketing Association of Asia indicating that more people on the planet own a mobile phone than a toothbrush.
As disquieting as that information may be to the American Dental Association, the growing use of mobile isn’t going away and shows no signs of plateauing anytime soon. It’s a reflection of the changing on-the-go world, and every day more people are relying on their mobile devices as their window to view and stay in touch with the wider world wherever they may be.
All of this is why mobile marketing is essential to incorporate into the marketing strategy for any business. Your audience is no longer a static target. To reach them and get your message seen and heard, you have to meet them where they are at any given moment. There are a variety of ways to use mobile marketing, and often different methods are employed to meet different needs. Some of the most common strategies include:
Mobile apps:Smart Insights reported 2020 saw 35 billion mobile app downloads. Companies that have mobile apps are primarily targeting existing customers through promotions and increased engagement to enhance retention and reward loyalty. Coupons and special deals can transform existing customers into brand ambassadors.
Mobile game marketing: Mobile gaming is a booming business, with 2.7 billion gamers around the world at the end of 2020, according to Pocket Gamer. Additionally, an average of 234 daily minutes spent gaming is anticipated by 2021. Advertising appearing in mobile games through pop-ups and banner ads is an exceptional way to promote new products or deals.
Location marketing: Location-based marketing strategies such as geofencing and geotargeting puts your business in front of an audience at a predetermined location. Location marketing is an ideal tactic for small businesses seeking to target a particular audience in a specific community.
QR codes: Quick-response codes work with any camera-equipped smartphone and provide a wealth of data from text to URL links, sending consumers directly to whatever information a business is looking to put in front of eyes.
There is a plethora of other mobile marketing avenues that can be explored to meet the distinct objectives of a business of any size. It’s important to experiment with different approaches and then analyze and benchmark results to see what works best for you. However, being succinct in your message is key. Mobile devices have small screens, so make your message count in a low word-count to have the biggest impact.
SaveOn can keep you moving to reach your audience at any place and any time. Find out more about how we use mobile marketing to help our clients obtain a higher level of success by visiting saveon.com.
But that quippy proverb takes on a whole new meaning now. After the tumultuous year the business community just experienced, it’s likely many business owners are pleased to see the number 2020 in the rearview mirror.
A new year brings new hope and new opportunities. It’s a reset button, a fresh start, a tabula rasa to reexamine your goals, recommit your determination and reinvigorate the idea that the unknown days ahead contain unlimited potential for success.
However, just because the days ahead are unknown doesn’t mean you have to approach them unprepared. There are steps that can be taken to help kickstart success and begin 2021 — ah, that beautiful number that seemed to take so long to get here — with a bang.
The coronavirus pandemic that tested the limits and endurance of the business world isn’t over, but the sun appears to be coming up over the horizon and the dawn of better days are approaching. Here are a few tips to help you put your best foot forward and greet 2021 chin up and head-on:
Don’t make your marketing budget an optional expense: Although many businesses continue a day-to-day struggle to keep the doors open, the lights on and make payroll, it’s never a good idea to stop thinking about marketing strategy. The marketing budget may be smaller than in years past, but it is still a vital component for your business to keep your name in front of the right eyes. It’s an investment in you.
In a forbes.com article, PostcardMania founder and CEO Joy Gendusa explained that the company slashed its marketing budget following the 2008 recession to detrimental effect, losing $5 million in revenue by 2009. The lesson: The marketing budget is sacred.
“Where possible, you need to get the word out to prospects and customers alike that your business is alive, kicking and ready to be of service,” Gendusa wrote in the article.
Bolster your social media presence: From the mom-and-pop shop to the national chains, a strong social media presence is a critical strategy for success in the 20th century. We live in a world where word of thumb has replaced word of mouth, and social platforms are one of the best ways to stay connected with your current customers and raise your profile and awareness with your future patrons.
With more than 3 billion people worldwide using social media every month, the potential for engagement only keeps growing, according to an article in marketinginsidergroup.com.
“If people don’t know about your business, they can’t become your customers,” the article states. “Social media boosts your visibility among potential customers, letting you reach a wide audience by using a large amount of time and effort. And it’s free to create a business profile on all the major social networks, so you have nothing to lose.”
Put your business on the Google Map: Take the time at the start of the year to update your Google My Business profile. Google My Business provides business owners with the ability to have their companies pop up in local search results and appear on Google Maps. Setting up a Google My Business profile is relatively simple and can reap numerous rewards when properly optimized — from improving engagement to boasting your business in local search results.
An article in business2community.com, recommends filling the Q&A section of the profile with frequently asked questions, adding images or video and responding to all reviews.
“A robust Google My Business profile is more important now than ever. If you want to show up when local searchers are trying to find businesses like yours on Google or in Google Maps, a complete and optimized Google My Business profile is the place to start,” the article states.
It’s important to also take stock of the previous year and pinpoint what did and did not work for your business. However, equally important as looking back is looking forward. You invested your life into your business, so do your homework and study up on the trends and predictions being made in the coming year to determine how you can better reach your customers.
SaveOn has been helping business of all stripes extend their reach to target audiences for years. Find out more about what SaveOn can do for you by visiting saveon.com.
