| |
Business Advertising, Marketing and
Promotion
|
|
|
|
|
How to plan your Marketing and Advertising for a work
from home Gift Basket Business.
|
 The purpose of advertising is simple: to make potential
buyers aware of products or services - and to get them
to act! That act may be inquiring for more information,
calling for an appointment, coming by your store,
sending in an order by mail or making an online order
from a website. The outcome of these actions should, of
course, eventually be a sale. Gift Baskets do not sell
themselves without some form of promotion. As your
business grows - your best advertising will be "word of
mouth" referrals. But for a new business, it's essential
to allocate funds for an advertising and marketing
budget. |
|
|
The Rules of Thumb for Marketing &
Promotion Costs
|
|
Rule of thumb is to funnel 20% of your monthly
Gross sales back into advertising and promotion.
Advertising is uniquely able to deliver consistent
messages reliably, quickly and efficiently. Unlike other
marketing communication tactics, such as public
relations, advertising allows you to control the
message, the placement and the frequency. In other
words, you call the shots.
Through advertising, you deliver a message about your
product or service. Additionally, advertising can:
- establish and maintain an awareness and positive
image of your company, products or services
- develop a need for products or services
- develop sales leads
- persuade customers that your products or
services are the best
- promote events
|
Setting Advertising Goals
|
Spending money on advertising without first establishing
goals not only wastes money, time and effort, but could
do more harm for your business than good by sending the
wrong message. Even advertising with a specific plan in
mind is still no guarantee of success. Advertising is
much more of an art than a science.
Several elements to consider when setting goals for your
business advertising strategy:
- What target market do you want to reach?
- What image do you want to portray?
- What product or service do you want to
emphasize?
- What sales volume do you expect?
- How much money can you spend?
- When is the right time to advertise?
When setting goals, remember to make them specific. A
general goal is nearly as detrimental as no goal at all.
An example of a general goal is, "We want to increase
sales." Making that same goal specific would be, "Our
goal is to increase sales revenue by $20,000 during the
first half of the year."
Your goal for every ad campaign may not be directly
related to sales. For example, you may develop a
campaign to enhance your company's name recognition, or
to spread community awareness of a specific program your
business is involved with, such as a charity.
|
Market Research and Advertising
|
The heart of an ad is its message or the primary benefit
you want your target audience to understand about your
product or service. Your message can address one or more
of the following:
- Why prospects should buy your product and not
your competitors
- Why customers should buy your product again
- Why anyone should buy your product at all
Messages may be implied and subtle (mouthwash that
gives you fresh breath will help you attract a mate, be
successful at your job, etc.) or quite literal
(purchases during a sale will cost less than at other
times).
Advertising messages are different from slogans. A
slogan is a catchy phrase such as Nike's "Just Do It,"
or Coca-Cola's "It's the Real Thing." You don't have to
have a slogan to have a successful ad. But you do have
to have a message.
A message is what's behind the slogan. You could surmise
from Nike's slogan that their message might be: Physical
activity is part of a satisfying life - Nike products
will help you exercise and achieve a satisfying life. |
|
|
Where to Advertise and Promotion
Methods
|
Offline methods of advertising:
- Yellow Pages
- Radio
- Direct Mail
- Newspaper Display Ads
- Classified Advertising
- Flyers
- Business and Organization Publications
Free Advertising
There are many avenues you can pursue that will
produce excellent advertising results. As your business
grows, the best advertising, will be advertising you
can't pay for: WORD OF MOUTH.
- Donate your gift baskets to charitable events
and for auctions. Once your business is open, you
will have many requests for donations, but be
selective. Choose the events providing the highest
profile for your target market and commit to them on
an annual basis.
- The week prior to your opening, distribute
inexpensive but impressive gift baskets to all of
your area business customers. Let them know you will
be opening soon and invite them to stop by for a
visit.
This networking will lead to possible outlets for
promotion in the future. Even if you have your own
place of operation, other non-competing businesses
may be interested or willing to display your
business cards and brochures in their stores.
Definitely target every Florist in your area. You
could sell gift baskets to them for a reduced
amount. Florists want to carry gift baskets in their
shops, but both the floral industry and the business
of gift baskets are both very labor intensive
businesses. Setting up a monthly buying program with
your area Florists will ensure another avenue of
consistent income for your business.
- Issue Press Releases Regularly
Use your imagination and make a list of every
function, special event and organization in your
area that could be a spring board for getting the
word out for your business. Watch you local
newspapers for upcoming events.
|
Selling Your Product and Services
|
|
Promote Other Companies
Market your gift basket services to food and beverage
manufacturers, food marketing board and other
businesses. Offer to promote their products in your
baskets and to make up their baskets for their
promotions. Target mineral water producers, marketing
boards that promote fruit, cheese and seafood,
publishing companies promoting new cookbooks and gourmet
food manufacturers. Contact them during the summer
months to establish a plan for the holiday season. Many
gourmet food producers want to promote their products
but don't have the time to assemble their own displays.
Put together a gift basket program for them. You'll
generate free publicity and positive exposure for your
company by teaming up with other businesses. |
|
|
|
Promotion Materials - Your
"Marketing Kit"
- Brochure, color with photos
- High-Gloss Stickers, peel off
- Gift Tags, fold over
- Price List
- Company Information Card
- Postcards, photo
- Business Cards
- Letterhead and Envelopes
|
|
Sales Brochure
The single most important item you'll invest in is
your sales brochure and marketing kit. Use a
professional graphic artist, photographer, and printer
to put your marketing materials together. You'll get a
better price break if you have one company do the work
for each element of your marketing kit.
Collect other company's brochures and sale pieces that
have good design and photography. Contact the company's
sales and marketing department and find out who did the
work for them. Ask if the designer was
on time and within budget.
Obtain quotes from three different design firms. If know
of an excellent photographer, have the photos done
yourself. If not, let the design firm be responsible for
them. An excellent brochure layout is worth zero, if the
photos are not of the highest quality.
|
|
Photos
Set up the photography session and determine how many
designs you want featured alone and which ones will be
in groupings. Bring any props you want in the photos to
enhance the gift baskets. Make sure your price quote is
in writing and that you retain ownership of the
negatives.
Meet with the Designers
Bring examples of brochures that appeal to you. Ask
to look through their portfolio and review which style
you want. Let the designer know how many photos will be
in the brochure and bring them with you, in case they
need to view them. Discuss size of each product they
will be designing for you. Make sure your price quote is
in writing and has a set due date for completion. Proof
the materials and sign off on it before anything goes to
the printer. Printers You'll
need two different types of printers. One who can do one
and two-color work. This would be for letterhead,
envelopes, brochure, postcards, business cards, gift
tags, etc. Find someone who has a short turn around
time.
The second type of printer you'll need, is someone who
handles three and four-color printing for photos.
Interview several printers as you will receive different
price quotes for the same job. Try and locate one
printer capable of processing both one and two-color
printing AND three and four-color printing.
Make sure your price quotes include color separation and
camera ready art. Your graphic designer will need to
work with your printer and photographer. Always get
separate quotes to avoid having the work marked up
several times over.
When looking at paper stock, ask to see what it looks
like with both four-color and one or two-color printing.
Ask for sample letterhead stock to see how it works in
your computer printer. Most brochures are printed on
hi-gloss stock. Ask the printer for options.
Ask for quotes based on running several different
quantities. Often, the extra cost of having larger
quantities printed, will save you money in the long
term. |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
