Ad Musings

For greater public relations success, personally develop your media list to reach the editor or writer who most likely is the staffer who covers your topic.

Book recommendation: “How To Close Every Sale” by Joe Girard, valuable tips from the world’s greatest salesman. If your campaigns aren’t working towards a close, you’re wasting your time and money.

What is your gravatar (the graphic next to your post or comment)?  Many companies use their logo which has not been cropped to fit the online space, resulting in a truncated version of the logo and looks unprofessional.  Make sure your gravatar properly reflects your brand.

The radio media, and others, often sponsor civic and charitable events. To build your brand and maximize attention more efficiently, tie in with those events.  The media will use their own money and prestige to promote the activity and you’ll leverage positive impact.

Writing your own press release? Few media publish a press release word for word.  Therefore, write the press release, especially the headline, to catch the editor/writer’s attention and to motivate him/her to pick up the story. Once interested, they will write the piece.

Whether in print or in audio/video, always convey an upbeat, enthusiastic and positive message.  If you’re not enthusiastic about your product or services, potential customers surely will not be.

Trucks make great billboards, generating a lot of awareness, whether parked or driving on the road.  Put a message on your vehicles and use them for their added value promoting your business.

Use a “likegate” to build your email list. “Liking” your facebook page is good. Obtaining a “like” and capturing an email address is the start of a relationship. Create a ‘likegate” to capture email names and add them to your list.

Quick, what are the most popular keywords?  Type a search in the search bar and let Google or YouTube automatically suggest terms.  These will be some of the most frequently used terms and a great way to get started.

Tagging is important in YouTube, but don’t duplicate your tag words since YouTube deletes most duplicate tags, e.g. ad tips, advertising tips, marketing tips may not get searched.

To get a super-powerful B2B email list, don’t buy or rent a list.  Rather, ask each of your sales reps to provide 50 email addresses of their best customers and prospects.

Adding onto yesterday’s post . . . better yet, when you collect a new email address of a customer or potential customer, bounceback a coupon or offer to get them started buying from you.

Whenever you collect a new email address of a customer or potential customer, always send a thank you email confirming that they are now on your list.

Consider running a shared, joint promotion with another company that sells a complementary but non-competitive product.  It’s a great way to double your effectiveness and your budget.

How many ways are you wasting opportunities to collect valuable email names? Review your entire process and make sure you’re asking for email at every opportunity – on your Website, blog, on the phone, in-store, at checkout and more.

On your Website, place your social media button/links in
a prominent position so that it’s easy for people to connect and follow you.

Don’t make it more difficult for customers to remember you when they are ready to buy. Make sure you have an easy to remember 800 number and URL.