Marketing Articles

The following links will bring you to articles published by our business plan consulting team members. The focus of these articles is to allow the individual entrepreneur access to short summaries referring to different types of marketing. This list is updated weekly and is meant to help you understand the different types of marketing prior to, during and after you plan your new business. Should you require individual business planning for you business or if you have a suggestion for an article you would like to see, please email us at info@masterplanz.com

Brand Building
A new business, no matter the size, needs to understand how its brand is viewed by the customer and whether or not that brad is perceived well. The goal of building a brand is to associate your business with name with the items or services you sell in the consumer’s mind.

Chamber of Commerce
Start-up businesses, in particular first time business owners, should register with their local chamber of commerce. A chamber of commerce is designed to help you establish professional relationships with other entrepreneurs leading to direct sales or word-of-mouth advertising.

Charity Sponsorship
Sponsoring a local or national charity, depending upon your geographic market, is a great way to create a good social response to your business. However, it is best if you choose a cause that is not political or religious in nature unless your business is marketing to a specific psychographic segment.

Community Activism
Generally speaking, community activism is one of the most overlooked segments of marketing and promotion for small businesses. Again, with community activism it is best to avoid political or religious hotspots in order to prolong the life and brand of your business with consumer.

Corporate Identity
A corporate identity or logo is the key ingredient to akin your products and services with a reputable and branded organization. Oftentimes, companies use a promotional products blast to launch their logo into the publics mind.

Coupons
Coupons are an effective and oftentimes overlooked method to promote your products or services or to decrease your businesses attrition rate. However, as consumer become savvier, you must ensure that your coupons benefit the customer in some way that is tangible.

Creating a "Buzz"
PR campaigns are highly effective for new businesses, products or services that are on the market. Journalists want to create give the reader something new.

Customer Referrals
Gaining customer referrals can be tricky in today’s fast paced consumer environment. The entrepreneur should institute systems of networking and customer service to ensure that each customer has something good to say.

Customer Relationship Management
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is quickly becoming one of the biggest differentiating factors in winning marketing and sales models. Modern CRM systems have a variety of robust uses and when deployed properly help to create an efficient and effective organization.

Direct Mail
Direct mail is a good way for some businesses to reach a geographically or demographically segmented consumer base. Direct mail can be deployed in such a way that its results are measurable and thus allow you to judge your marketing campaign accordingly.

Direct Sales
The biggest problem in any organization is a strong sales force. One of the best ways to strengthen your sales force is to work to ensure that each member believes in the product or service they area selling.

Email Blasts
Even though there are modern laws that help to limit the amount of SPAM email consumers receive, Email Blasts can still be useful to companies working to maximize their marketing ROI. This is primarily done through “opt-in” lists which can be easily built by your company or automatically by your CRM system.

Email Newsletter
Email newsletters are a strong way to network directly with your customer or potential customer and when used in conjunction with other marketing programs can help to increase your word-of-mouth network.

Flyers & Door Hangers
Flyers and door hangers are a great way to get the word out about your local product or service offering. It can also help businesses that are on a budget create the sales they need.

Follow-up Marketing
Follow-up marketing can be just the competitive advantage your company requires to gain the edge. Follow-up marketing seeks to turn people into prospects and prospects into customer through a manageable system of sales and marketing.

Grand Opening Party
A great way to establish a positive image and deliver a unique message to a local market is through a grand opening party. Grand opening parties can range from hot dog roasts to exclusive black tie affairs.

Guerrilla Marketing
Guerilla Marketing is a form of marketing small businesses that places the value of time, energy and creativity above any marketing budget. Read this article to see if Guerilla Marketing could be right for your concept.

Infomercials
At an average of $0.25 per viewing household, infomercials can be a great tool for launching or delivery a consumer product to a demanding audience. However, companies must be well prepared for both the positives and the negatives that infomercials can bring.

Location, Location, Location
You’ve heard it before, but now read it again – location, location, location. Even a great business will suffer from a poor location, but location doesn’t just apply to brick and mortar stores. As the internet and advertising markets expand location means everything.

Magazine Ad
Magazine advertising is a proven and time tested traditional form of marketing that when done properly can bring significant new customers to your business. However, you must make sure that you are reaching the right audience with the proper magazine and designing your ad in the most dynamic way.

Newspaper Ad
Newspapers are great for reaching local markets whether you are a small business or a national advertiser. The most important thing is to have some sort of call to action in the ad you run and to run the ad on the day and in the section that your potential customers are reading.

Online Banner
Banner Advertising on websites has changed in recent years. Most banner ads run these days are strictly used to increase the brand recognition of a corporation amongst a specified target audience.

Outdoor Advertising
If your company targets primarily men, then outdoor advertising might be the exact form of advertising you are looking for. You can also reach a local audience and have impact on them time and again with a properly placed outdoor ad.

Press Release
One of the most common marketing initiatives a start-up company can do is to create and submit press releases. Press releases can also be great for new products, services, special events and establishing an authority voice in a particular industry.

Public Relations
You must understand public relations if you are going into ANY type of business today. Public relations has much more than newspaper editors at its core, it is a comprehensive system to help shape a company’s relationship with the public in general.

Search Engine Cost-Per-Click
Cost-per-click (CPC) is one of the most rapidly developing and direct-pull type of advertising on the market today. If your business looks to market itself on the web, you need to understand CPC and what your competitors are doing with it.

Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an emerging and complex method of structuring a website and a web community to rank the respective site high for a specific keyword term on a search engine. Sound like a mouthful? It is.

Television Ad
The modern world of television advertising is a progressive form of marketing with multiple ad channels, ranging from local cable static ads to elaborate national commercials. When entering into television advertising you need to understand your marketing budget.

Trade Show
Every new business should try one or two tradeshows. Tradeshows give you an instant look at competitors in the market and allow you to network with businesses that have common customer. They also help other businesses find products and services that compliment their current offering.

Word-of-mouth
Word-of-mouth is actually much easier said than done. Most people think word-of-mouth is a passive form of advertising directed by a “satisfied customer.” While that is one component, it is an idealist way to look at what can be a significant marketing tool.