By Amy Smith
It’s October 31st and the kids have just walked in the door from trick-or-treating. The pillowcases and plastic pumpkins are full of chocolate bars, miscellaneous hard candy, plastic spider rings, and an occasional quarter. Within minutes, the candy is dumped on the floor and the smell of being in a candy store permeates the house.
The Candy Trade: A Lesson in Perceived Value
For a kid, this is one of the greatest smells in the world! Next, the trading begins. The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are like gold. “One Reese’s for two of your Skittles, please.” Now it’s quiet, with the exception of the sound of candy wrappers being torn off the favorite in the pile. Mission accomplished.
Much like kids sorting through their haul for the best pieces, businesses are constantly sorting through strategies to reach the people who will value what they offer most. As businesspeople who are most likely not knocking on doors saying “trick-or-treat,” we are reaching out in various ways to our potential customers. In doing so, we hope for brand awareness and, ultimately, increased revenue.
Why Marketing Strategy Matters More Than Ever
With all of the marketing strategies available, companies are constantly working on how to get that “pack of Skittles” to the person who sees the value in it and wants to buy it. Naturally, there are many different types of strategies that marketing teams use to communicate the benefit of their product or service to the public.
Above all, marketing is a field that is constantly evolving. After all, we all must evolve to grow. According to LinkedIn, “Your company’s offerings, customer perceptions, competition, technology, and even design styles are constantly changing.”
In sales and marketing, these things matter a lot. Each year, companies should be fine-tuning their brand image, their messaging, their tone, and their tactics. Complacency, in other words, is the route to stagnation.
Direct Mail: A Timeless and Targeted Approach
Given this constant need for evolution, one of the most effective strategies in reaching your target audience continues to be direct mail. Direct mail enables marketers to define and target their ideal personas more accurately than ever before. By tailoring efforts to geographics, demographics, and other characteristics, marketers can deliver more targeted and relevant campaigns. These campaigns can be highly creative and offer the much-wanted personalization.
A Real-World Example
For example, the Smith family has resided in their home in the city of Boca Raton, FL, for six months. They have a dog, three young kids, a $500,000+ home, and a good household income. As they are now settled in their home, they may be thinking more and more about saving money for their kids’ college education and, eventually, retirement.
Seeing an opportunity here, a local financial planning firm wants to invest in a marketing campaign reaching families with these characteristics. As a result, an oversized, personalized postcard arrives in the Smith family mailbox offering a complimentary one-on-one financial advising lunch and learn at the local café. Ultimately, this turns into a long-term, successful relationship.
Bringing It All Together
In simple terms, marketing’s goal is to reach prospective consumers and turn them into customers, or to retain existing customers. To do this well, a business must have a deep understanding of their market and the needs and wants of customers. Their marketing strategy, then, is the link between them and their potential customers.
After all, as a child, I always remembered, and returned to, the house in the neighborhood who gave out the best and biggest chocolate bars on Halloween!
Your Opportunity to Connect
Ultimately, this is your opportunity to get in front of a captive audience filled with people and families who are ready and willing to do business with you. With the right approach, you can boost your ROI, brand loyalty, and customer engagement with our suite of marketing options.
Let us introduce you. Contact Welcome Wagon!
