Wesley Day Advertising

• Consumer Trends to Watch
• Online Feeding of the Sales Funnel
• Marketing Plan Simplified
• Top marketing Mistakes and Their Remedies

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CONSUMER TRENDS TO WATCH

The international research firm trendwatching.com is forecasting the following branding trends to watch:

• Random acts of kindness
This starts with knowing your customers (social media, etc.) and then responding in a more flexible and generous way.

• Urbanomics Appeal
to these more experienced and daring consumers with new products tailored to their "urban pride."

• Pricing pandemonium
Take advantage of technology (always-on connectivity, etc.) to drive price-conscious shopping. Examples include group buying (Groupon), member sales, flash sales (DellOutlet), local discounts (Foursquare), and dynamic pricing (airlines).

• Made for BRIC
Tap into the rapidly growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China with Western prestige items and "cheaper" mass-market goods.

• Wellthy
Tout the health benefits of your products.

• Brand-me
Provide consumers with ways to promote themselves through inside information, special opportunities, and recognition.

• Eco superior
Promote the "green" benefits of your product.

• Owner-less
Provide opportunities for leasing, fractional ownership, and sharing.

Contact us for more information and ways to capitalize on these and more trends. Return to top.

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ONLINE FEEDING OF THE SALES FUNNEL

Intuitively we know that online marketing efforts can help fill the sales funnel. But how do we measure it?

We can start by measuring exposure to your ideas. After all, people can’t purchase what they don’t know about.

Rather than getting lost in different metrics that turn into more of a burden than enlightenment, focus on a few key activities to track. Some relatively easy elements to track include:

• Where do you rank in the search engines?

• How many people read your Blog?

• How many people "like" your Facebook page?

• How many people follow you on Twitter? How many re-tweet you?

• How many views do your YouTube videos get?

The more exposure you get, assuming they're prospects, the more sales opportunities you create. Return to top.

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MARKETING PLAN SIMPLIFIED

1. Visualize your desired brand in three years.

2. Write it down in as much detail as you can.

3. Reverse-engineer it to create your three-year plan. Return to top.

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TOP MARKETING MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDIES

When marketing efforts are not succeeding, many companies double their efforts and are still left disappointed and frustrated with languishing sales and underused resources.

What'’s going wrong?

The high-level answer is that marketing must be a well-coordinated effort that takes planning, consistency, and fortitude to accomplish.

The underlying answer comes from addressing these common marketing mistakes.

1. Marketing without a strategy
You believe your product does everything, your target market is anyone who has money, and/or you don’t have competition.

Recovery plan: Make a marketing plan – and fast. Stop all marketing activities immediately and take the next three to six weeks to plan your new approach.

2. Inconsistent branding
Changing your company’s positioning depending on the audience, marketing vehicle used, or person delivering it.

Recovery plan: Develop a positioning language that clearly defines who you are and what you offer, strongly differentiates you from your competition, and can be delivered consistently by every employee.

3. Marketing and sales disconnect
Your marketing programs or materials fizzle out in the sales process and never get used by the sales team.

Recovery plan: Include your sales team in marketing planning.

4. Marketing what you can’t deliver
Aggressively marketing a skill set, technology, product, or service that has not been tested or validated, or is simply not available.

Recovery plan: Get company leadership to immediately realign the efforts of marketing and operations. "Fake it until you make it" doesn’t work.

5. Fixating on only one marketing vehicle
Not utilizing all available marketing tools.

Recovery plan: Touch your prospects from the many angles they conduct business. Return to top.