Running a marketing campaign is about building cost-effective strategies for your advertising dollars. Doing that can be complicated. More and more we are seeing a need to return back to the basics. Going back to the 4Ps of marketing.
1. Product
The product seems clear but we are not talking about finding something to sell or even dictating what to sell. What we mean by product is to make your product part of the advertising. Building out an experience for your customers as they use it, while they open it, or during the sales process.
Now, how do you work on all of these things? Well, let’s break it down into its parts. Product design, Packaging design, User experience, and Customer service. Let’s use the example of Apple to do that.
Product design. I am an Android guy but even I can admit the Apple devices do this better. From the sleek look of their phones to the air pods everyone has, every device looks good.
Packaging design. Do you still have your phone box? So many of us do. You don’t need it to sell the phone or to get a warranty. The box serves no purpose except for the unboxing experience. That experience is so good that you might just store the box that gave you that experience. Do the same with your product. Make it feel amazing to receive your product or service. You should want to hold on to it for a lifetime.
User experience. How easy is it to set up an Apple phone? Easy. Sure your parents may need some help but it only takes a few minutes. Another part of UX is to make sure your product works. Not most of the time. All of the time. Make sure it is easy to work with you and your products. No lift is a good lift.
Customer Service. You know this part from experience. Have you ever gone to a store and no one was there to help you? Or even worse there was a long line? Of course you have. The feeling of frustration can be exaggerated further with a rude representative. This is all to say, make sure your service is great. Respond quickly, deliver quickly, and with adding value to your customer as your primary purpose.
2. Price
The simple part of price is just to increase it and decrease it. Increasing the price to show value and luxury and decreasing it to get more orders. But this is just the surface. You can sweeten the deal with add-ons or put together bundles for larger order values.
Now, price can also be broken up. You might be asked, do I have to pay up front? And there you have it. Payment plans can get the close. From a try before you buy program to a payment plan, you can make the price more acceptable. Almost no one is ready to buy a house in cash but we all know the value of that product is great enough to get someone to go out and get a loan. If your product has enough value you can set up financing and make the price a feature not a problem.
3. Place
Now where do you show the product. Place means a lot. Are you selling in stores or online? Can I order over the phone or via email? If you need more work you can offer more of these options. However, know that the right place for the right product exists.
If you take a souped-up car with a great sound system and drift tires to sell to a group of moms you won’t get anything for it. Now take that same car to a group of young guys hanging out late at the local car club and you can fetch a pretty penny. This exists in all markets. From the products behind glass to the exclusivity of a Rolex dealer. Where you sell matters immensely.
Social Media
Putting your products on social media is not just about showing your product. You need to make it entertaining, informational, or educational. This will keep people coming back time after time.
For most products it is easiest to be informational and educational. Let’s remember that every time we make a post.
Print Advertising
The old fashioned advertising still works. Put mailers out, or get door hangers out to a community. Even a paper can work still if it is actually read. What matters is that people will see it. No matter what, more eyeballs make for more sales.
Digital Ads
Digital ads is a numbers game. How many impressions, clicks, conversion, or sales. If you are set up for it you can drive directly to sales on your website or online store. However, this is not a simple endeavor. You need to have high conversion rates and the market is always changing. This strategy, especially for service companies, requires a dedicated sales team that can take advantage of high volume leads.
Signing up for a program like this could bring you more leads than you have ever seen. Get ready to use it to your advantage. I won’t be getting into how to run those ads here as it is quite complicated and deserves dedicated time.
Sponsorship Ads
Advertisements through sports teams or influencers can drive sales. These types of ads are great if you can tie the fame and the traffic to your brand. The Nike brand has basketball and everyone who follows basketball will get Nike shoes.
If you can establish a partnership to drive sales like that you should. It will not be cheap most of the time but can make or break companies on the way up.
Small brand ambassadors are often not the effort or cost. Do the math on the traffic before you sign up for this type of sponsorship.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is not understood very well. It is basically when someone else sells your products for you. A carwash can team up with a dealership and a supplement brand can team up with a gym. Now find the synergy you have and team up. You scratch their back and they will scratch yours!
4. Promotion
Promotions are critical to driving increased sales. According to an Amazon report, 93% of all online sales include a product on sale. Promotions should do exactly that.
There are a few ways to drive sales. Urgency, Scarcity, Exclusivity, and Social Drive.
Urgency is quite simple. “This sale lasts for only another hour” drives people to want the sale before it ends.
Scarcity is a little more complicated but similar. “Only the first 10 customers in the door will get 20% off their order” or “Limited run of this product. Buy while supplies last.”
Exclusivity is all about class. Make people feel like they have something others don’t. You can create this feeling with price, with the lifestyle that is promoted along with the product, or simply the verbiage. Costco makes people feel like they are part of a group with a card, an ID picture, and a class of membership.
Social Drive is a hard thing to get going but a great thing to have. Cigarettes were all the rage when it was socially acceptable and what everyone did. Now its the vape, or the coffee. Socially you are excluded if you don’t have a product or use a service. The iPhone is also a great example of this.
We want to do all of these for our promotions. The deal is scarce, urgent, and everyone wants it. Everyone must have it. A headline like. “Shop this exclusive sale before it ends tomorrow. Everyone is raving about it and your chance to buy is now.” This works really well to drive sales. It is a little blunt but it works.
Running a promotion is about projecting out Urgency, Scarcity, Exclusivity, and Social Drive. It is not enough to just have a sale. You have to let people know. The more eyeballs the better. Never forget that distribution of information is more important for driving sales than the sale itself.