Taking advantage of free marketing ought to be a given. Social media is proving to be a lasting trend that not only reaches far beyond the regular scope of a simple marketing campaign but is also constant, versatile and universally accessible.

Bolster your campaign with your companies best perceived strengths – use this opportunity to give your brand a signature that marks you as different from your competition. Hone in to specifics creating a distinctive message.

We have got special tools and resources that can help you with this winning technique. Be your own marketing analyst. With some simple research techniques you can determine what is best for your business, even more important when funds are scarce.

Re-evaluate your target or niche markets. Utilize simple strategies that help to distinguish where you need to be spending your marketing dollars.

“Focus on quality rather than quantity when it comes to marketing.”

Once you have identified your key audience and defined your message the next focus is on representation. Employ both direct (more costly) and indirect (less costly) measures to deploy your message. Consider offering seminars or teach courses that mutually benefit sales for your industry, sponsor events or promos that may engage your target audiences or consider a partnership with a non-profit organization that may highlight and be a benefit to both of you.

Business cards and stationary are a classic but solid method. These days printing costs are very low and this method is one of the easiest ways to gain exposure. Leave your card wherever is appropriate, asking friends, local business owners and colleagues to help you pass them on.

Your team members may well interact with your target market at times that you don’t expect. For this reason it can be a very effective investment, and good for morale, to equip them with their own business cards as well.

Join local community groups and clubs. As well as making a contribution to your community you may well find opportunities that would not otherwise be available to you. The cost is negligible and the potential for exposure is at a constant high. Offer free consultations, trial periods or sample products or even consider putting on a contest that will get your service, product or name out there.

Asking for referrals should be a normal part of your business so make sure you involve friends, loyal customers and family. Not all marketing has to come at a hefty cost. Stay afloat and gain exposure in the tightest of times with some simple tactics that merely require your implementation in order to work.

Depending on what research you look at, selling a product or service to an existing client can be five to eight times more profitable than selling the same product and service to a new client.

Think about the contribution your long-term clients have made to your business over the period they have been dealing with you. It can be quite considerable. So it makes sense to try to keep your existing clients happy.

Take another look at your marketing priorities and make sure that you have allowed financial and time resources to properly care for your most profitable clients – your long-term ones.

Insert cards or vouchers with their regular purchases or even change the signature panel on your email template to include a holiday message.

Another tip is to forge partnerships with other local businesses, and offer service/product trades as a reward. If you sell paper, join up with an ink supplier and offer cross-business discounts or gifts as a holiday incentive.

“Small incentives will give you a better chance of keeping your clients in the wake of major discounts or offers from competitors.”

With these relationships you can not only improve relationships with your suppliers but also keep your long-term clients happy with something they were not expecting.

Start the New Year by promoting a carefully designed customer rewards system. Offer your dedicated clients an incentive for their loyalty. With the technology available today these systems can be relatively easy to implement. Award points for purchases that can be redeemed at the end of a quarter for discounts or small gifts.

Factor in a small budget for the year that is dedicated towards the program and set aside inventory at the start of the year if necessary.

Whatever the situation, your firm can benefit! With these seven holiday sales tips, you can come through the foggy end-of-the year haze with your fires brightly burning!

1. Use your media outlets and acknowledge the holidays. While you never want to alienate potential clientele or appear politically incorrect, there is nothing wrong with a simple holiday greeting posted up on your website, in your window or in your monthly newsletter. Just remember to be fair and respectful in your acknowledgment.

2. Create a holiday promotion. Create a quick and easy email marketing campaign and advertise a special holiday promotion. Offer this discount or deal to any and all existing clients and reach out to previous customers or on-the-fence potentials. Make it different than usual, offering an exclusive service, pertinent to the holidays.

3. Don’t underestimate a little holiday cheer. A little goes a long way; a simple update of your web banner, email tagline or newsletter to include festive holiday tidbits can create a seasonal mood that can invite a more generous and giving spirit with your clients.

“Recognizing the holiday can put you in favor with clients, and will rarely discourage others, if done right.”

4. Utilize the holiday partying fever. With get-togethers, social gatherings and parties on every agenda, use your networking skills to their greatest advantage. Pack in as much as you can, taking advantage of these easy to hit markets by attending equipped with business cards, flyers or just a friendly soft-pitch. Don’t make it all about the business but do not shy away from light marketing during the holidays.

5. Keep communication fluid. During the holidays, if you plan on adjusting work hours, closing or even extending your business hours, let your clients know well in advance. Send an email blast and use word of mouth to ensure that your clients and customers are not caught off guard by your adjusted holiday schedule.

6. Thank everyone. Take time out to create a sincere thank you agenda; thanking your clients, suppliers and vendors and team members. A simple email, a mention in your newsletter and as many verbal encounters as possible go a long way in keeping your relationships solid into the New Year.

7. Don’t get lazy. Set goals to reach during December and January to help prevent slipping. Striving to reach these goals will keep you on your toes during a season of otherwise general, widespread malaise.

Prepare for a close by testing your techniques: run analytics on your offer using questionnaires or mock interviews. This preparation will leave you feeling confident and will reduce the chance of a client throwing a curve ball.

Make it clear from the start that closing deals will be beneficial to both you and the customer. Address your customer’s needs directly and provide solid reasons for why and how your service can best attend to their needs. Create space for the customer to step in and ask questions or pose objections: your pre-meeting preparation will have you ready and willing to take on these obstacles.

Always be ready with testimonials and client feedback. Show them how well you have succeeded in the past. Respect your previous customers by asking permission to use them as references and offer contact information, as you would in a job interview.

The best closers are people who seamlessly create urgency in the client’s eyes – the client would have no reason to turn down the offer. Pay attention to the flow of the meeting and realize when you have completed your piece – do not offer pleasantries to fill space. Give the client those moments of silence to reflect.

One of the best ways to become a better closer is to ask “why” when a deal falls through. If you have a client hooked all the way into a closing meeting and the deal does not go through, do not hesitate to politely inquire as to why. Using this as a critique, you can improve your future sales prospects.

Always follow up, no matter how the deal went. If you were successful in your close, a follow-up cements your positive relationship. If your client is still hesitant, a gentle follow up may be the nudge they need to take the next step.

Step into your close with the utmost confidence in the product or service you are selling. Sincerity and trust, conveyed through your verbal communications and intention to engage in an ongoing relationship with your client, will be the strongest selling point at the end of the day.

Digital signage can be seen on updated traditional billboards, in front of buildings or major attractions, and in storefronts and office windows.

Your firm’s message and promotion of advertising content can be easily managed, creating a more diverse and swiftly changing content platform, maximizing your use of space and time. Also known as screen media, digital merchandising and digital out-of-home; digital signage provides target-specific advertising and a direct link into niche markets. 

Static signs, or non-digital signage, are still beneficial (and if you don’t have digital signage in your area they may be the only option). But with digital signs you can manage the changes and updates more simply. Make your messages adaptable to the audience within a few moments and stay in a constant flow.

With the growing popularity of this new media outlet, the services are becoming more affordable, allowing even small businesses to budget for this kind of advertising.

Many agencies can aid in the selection of programs, initial set up and display location evaluation. Make sure to find an organization that also offers maintenance and servicing. Usually these companies also provide you with a content manager who handles your account.

Taking a direct approach to targeting your niche markets with digital signage can only increase your presence in unknown areas, and boost your reputation where your services may already be widely received.

The prevalence of social media necessitates re-evaluating your communication strategies: especially when it comes to sales. Social networks are infusing youthful energy and a fresh perspective into conventional sales techniques.

Start by creating a Facebook business profile. It’s like creating your own Facebook page, but for your company. Facebook connects your business to more than 500 million internet- savvy users – just a handful of those 500 million even have to view your profile to potentially generate business. 

Applications available through Facebook such as the Business Card take your promotional information wireless in seconds. And you can ask your favorite customers to put reviews on your page with the testimonials application.

“Getting in on the so-called ground floor is in the past.”

A Facebook business profile is not just free marketing. It seamlessly connects to even greater audiences through ‘discovery engines’, sites that find and recommend websites and content to users based on their preferences. Discovery engines are free, and drop your product directly into the laps of interested consumers. It is a simple and effective strategy, and it’s currently being employed at even the highest levels of industry.

If you have the budget you can also try advertising on Facebook with Facebook Ads, or sell your goods on Marketplace (an eBay-like classifieds page).

Getting in on the so-called ground floor is in the past – now it’s get in or get off of this fast-moving social network train.

An image overhaul is the first step, including a newly revamped marketing plan. Consider what has worked and not worked in the recent past and also consider future plans for the firm. Here are some more tips:

• Make deadlines and timetables for making sales: treat the sale like any other task in your ‘to do’ list with step-by-step plans to completion. Mark tasks, starting with initial sales calls, and map out step-by-step follow up-plans, ending with closing the deal.

• Don’t discount the little things or the more classic and traditional methods – not everything has to be new fangled and fancy. A solid and information-rich, easy to use website; or brochures and flyers still have credibility. Employing both the classics and the trends can broaden your target audience and generate the maximum amount of business.

• Include more client-friendly information such as testimonials, guarantees, feedback, referrals and surveys that offer real life ‘proof’ to your advertising campaign. Plus you can align yourself with recognizable groups that stand for solid and sound business to classify your firm as trustworthy and secure.

“ Treat the sale like any other task in your ‘to do’ list.”

• Never let your own belief in your product falter – stay enthusiastic and find ways to truly believe in what you are offering. Upgrade and maintain your service levels so that you always feel that what you are offering is honestly the best product for the job. Potential clients can see right through an insincere sale and will look immediately to the competition.

• Look into offering specialty services, or find a hole in the market that might need to be filled. Engage your team members with these challenges by offering incentives or recognition for instigating new strategies or generating new business.

• Don’t discount the continuous exposure that advertising can provide. Try something new and venture into a niche previously ignored. Be creative and think outside of the box on how your service or product can benefit non-traditional markets and venture into them with zeal.

Successful marketing comes from a clear understanding of your unique core differentiator – that’s what differentiates you from your competitors. If you aren’t sure about the compelling reason why your prospective clients should be contacting you then it might be a great time to contact us. We have resources designed to help you with this critical phase in a cost-effective way.

Services for tracking mentions of a firm or personal name are available for many social media sites. Tweetbeep monitors Twitter and will tell you when a customer has had a good or bad experience with your rival. You can also follow your competitors’ Twitter account by signing up to it with your personal account or setting up a search column in Twitter for each topic, firm or person that interests you.

Google has a service called Google Alerts that uses its search engine to find all instances of a name in its daily trawling of blogs, videos, groups and news articles. Sign up to Google alerts online and enter your competitors’ business names as keywords.

Another great tool is LinkedIn, the professional social media website. LinkedIn will show you when people join or leave a firm and where they go afterwards. It shows when a team member has been promoted and when new roles have been created. LinkedIn is also useful for snaring competitive talent and studying changes in strategy.

Popular searches on Google, known as keywords or key phrases, are a good indicator of activity. You can see how much a competitor is spending on particular keywords using a service such as SpyFu, or you can track which keywords are sending traffic to their site with Compete. Keywords, whether organic or paid, are essential to driving traffic to websites. Keeping tabs on the most popular words for your client base is a great strategy to improving your online revenues. 

“Getting emails on the go is no longer a luxury afforded to high level executives – it’s an industry standard at all levels.”

Another good way to compare your performance with your competitors’ is to try buying something from their website. While the temptation to check their price and try to beat it is always strong, there are other ways of competing without sacrificing margins. 

First, take a look at their site and see how well it draws a visitor into making a purchase. Is it more logical or inviting than your site? Does your site need a redesign to emphasize new products or services? 

Another marketable difference is making it easier to pay. Do your competitors offer better payment terms or options? A competitor might take payment from a wider range of credit cards. 

When comparing pricing, use it as a barometer to see where you fit in the marketplace. Are you pitching at the high end or looking to entice the budget conscious? Price can tell you a lot about the kind of clients you would like to target. If your competitors’ prices are different, perhaps it’s worth investigating their choice of suppliers. They may have found a larger manufacturer that can produce items at a lower cost.

“Even if your competitors don’t use social media, you can bet their clients and suppliers do.”

Services for tracking mentions of a firm or personal name are available for many social media sites. Tweetbeep monitors Twitter and will tell you when a customer has had a good or bad experience with your rival. You can also follow your competitors’ Twitter account by signing up to it with your personal account or setting up a search column in Twitter for each topic, firm or person that interests you.

Google has a service called Google Alerts that uses its search engine to find all instances of a name in its daily trawling of blogs, videos, groups and news articles. Sign up to Google alerts online and enter your competitors’ business names as keywords.

Another great tool is LinkedIn, the professional social media website.

LinkedIn will show you when people join or leave a firm and where they go afterwards. It shows when a team member has been promoted and when new roles have been created. LinkedIn is also useful for snaring competitive talent and studying changes in strategy.

Popular searches on Google, known as keywords or key phrases, are a good indicator of activity. You can see how much a competitor is spending on particular keywords using a service such as SpyFu, or you can track which keywords are sending traffic to their site with Compete. Keywords, whether organic or paid, are essential to driving traffic to websites. Keeping tabs on the most popular words for your client base is a great strategy to improving your online revenues. 

Another good way to compare your performance with your competitors’ is to try buying something from their website. While the temptation to check their price and try to beat it is always strong, there are other ways of competing without sacrificing margins. 

First, take a look at their site and see how well it draws a visitor into making a purchase. Is it more logical or inviting than your site? Does your site need a redesign to emphasize new products or services? 

Another marketable difference is making it easier to pay. Do your competitors offer better payment terms or options? A competitor might take payment from a wider range of credit cards. 

When comparing pricing, use it as a barometer to see where you fit in the marketplace. Are you pitching at the high end or looking to entice the budget conscious? Price can tell you a lot about the kind of clients you would like to target. If your competitors’ prices are different, perhaps it’s worth investigating their choice of suppliers. They may have found a larger manufacturer that can produce items at a lower cost.