Dealer Tip: 10 Ways Print Marketing Can Work For You

Whether your website is beautiful and robust or simple and to the point, your site can’t do it all. Remember newspaper ads, magazine ads, direct mail pieces and flyers? The value of print marketing is not to be forgotten.  These days, a printed marketing piece is perceived as a gift by those who prefer to actually hold something in their hands. Here are 10 tips for creating and distributing marketing information:

1. Don't just focus on advertising your products.  Provide information that will inform them on a relevant or timely topic.   Offer a printed "Hidden Camera Buying Guide" similar to this one from Ebay. Be sure to create your own.
2.  To save money, only place ads in publications that target a very specific audience or community and partner with another business related to your industry.  For example, split an ad with a self-defense instructor. 
3. If you write a blog, carry that information over to a printed piece and hand it out at your store or print and mail it to a prospect list. 
4. Don't forget to promote your site on your printed materials.  Print and web are a beautiful partnership. 
5. Establish credibility. If you have something to "say", putting it in a professional printed pieces gives the perception that you are a credible professional. 
6. Be frugal when printing by using any of the hundreds of online printing companies like Vistaprint or Mimeo. 
7. Write handwritten notes. Yes! Studies show that a personalized note can increase response to a marketing campaign by 30-50%.
8. Avoid getting overwhelmed by choices and goals.  Create a small print marketing plan for 90 days at a time. 
9. Stuck with what to say or how to say it? Research your competition to see what they are saying and read industry blogs. 
10. Don't copy content from other sources.  Create your own by thinking like a customer - what do they need to know?

Whether in person, via email or in an ad, telling people to visit your website is not enough.  Save them time and frustration by telling them exactly what part of your site to visit.  Better yet, dedicate one page or section of your site just to relevant statistics or FYI's and drive readers to that page first.  You will appear to be a knowledgeable resource rather than just another dealer:

Resources:

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Hidden-Camera-Buying-Guide-/10000000177628710/g.html
www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2012/06/28/print-is-dead-not-so-fast/

http://www.mimeo.com/

http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/default.aspx?couponAutoload=1&GP=7%2f8%2f2014+12%3a29%3a59+PM&GPS=3228237509&GNF=0

http://info.tmrdirect.com/the-power-of-the-handwritten-notes-in-marketing

Dealer Tip: Do A Little Corporate Soul Searching To Reach More Customers

Are you having trouble selling to your customers? Often times the issue lies not within what you have to offer, but that your customer is uninformed as to why they need your product over someone else’s.

According to Laura Lake’s Top 5 Reasons Customers Don’t Buy From You, there are distinct areas of product marketing that could be the cause of your sales slump. We think Lake gives some useful reasons and we've adapted them for you – our dealers.

1. Customers are not aware of what you’re offering to them. 
Be it a product or a service, consumers cannot consume what they don’t know about. If what you’re doing isn’t working, it may be time to reevaluate your marketing tactics. Are you targeting your audience effectively? Is your message making it out to those who may be interested in what you offer? Lake suggests that the method for dealing with this issue may not be more marketing – rather look at your marketing methods and messaging instead.


2. The product doesn’t seem beneficial to the customer. 
Although customers factor in price to what they purchase, they mainly consider how the product will benefit them. Why your product? What can you offer that someone else cannot? If customers cannot specifically discuss the benefits of your product, you aren’t conveying the message in a strong enough manner. Outline what you want the consumer to take as a benefit of the product, and use the top three points in your marketing strategy.


3. Your product isn’t perceived as having value. 
If your customer doesn’t think your product has value, they will have no interest in purchasing. As opposed to a sales pitch, inform your target audience of that value. Ask the right questions – why would a consumer perceive a hidden camera or surveillance device as valuable? Use the answer to tailor your message. Create this value by showing your motivations are in the consumer’s best interest. Creating the “perceived value” in your marketing message will allow consumers to think twice before passing up your product online for another that does a better job selling its value.


4. Your product doesn’t meet their needs.
Does your product satisfy a specific need in your customer’s life? Does it simplify their day-to-day, save them money, save them time or make their life easier? Give your customer a clear reason why your product is a necessity in their life. Don’t make them come up with their own answers – educate your consumer.

5. Your product isn’t available to them or can't easily be found online.
This is a big one – and not as easily solved as the others. If a customer has difficulty obtaining your product or even finding it online, you'll be out the sale. Make it easy for them. Maybe you need to consider how your product is being sold online as well as your distribution and shipping tactics. Accessibility is key – people won’t buy what they can’t find.

Whether you’re struggling to keep customers in the loop with your product’s benefits or failing to make your service accessible to your target audience, these five areas will allow you to enhance customer engagement and build interest in your products – resulting in sales.

Source: http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingmethods/a/5reasonsnotbuy.htm