August 23rd, 2010
Unless this is your busiest time of year (which for most companies, it’s not), this is an ideal time to take an objective look at your marketing materials and ad campaigns and determine whether or not it’s time for an update. Ideally, marketing materials are designed to help you close more sales, attract more clients, and save time by explaining your products or services. Unfortunately, many companies neglect their marketing materials and send their sales force out with outdated, incorrect, or ineffective materials. Here are some key points to consider.
1. Current data
First, take stock of what you’re currently using for marketing materials, how many copies you have on-hand, what it’s currently being used for, and at what frequency. Go through the materials to determine how much of the information is accurate and up-to-date.
2. Cost of an update
One of the factors you’ll surely want to consider throughout this evaluation process is how much it will cost you to update your materials. Online marketing is the easiest to change in an instant, and often changes are inexpensive. Conversely, print materials are often expensive (and can take awhile) to replace. However, for many businesses, both formats are essential.
3. Website updates
If you can’t afford (or don’t truly need) to have a webmaster on staff, it may still make sense to have an experienced webmaster on retainer, who performs updates as needed. Alternatively, you may have a savvy staff member or other company employee who could (with a little training) make these changes as the need arises. Information changes (contact info, pricing, additions or deletions to services or products, staff bios, operating hours, press updates, etc.) to your company website should be made immediately, not “saved up” and made all at once. Often times, having someone in-house who can make these immediate changes is easier and more cost-effective than having to go outside of the company.
4. Social media presence
If you don’t already have an established social media presence, what on earth are you waiting for? Whether your demographic includes GenY or Baby Boomers, social media is growing by an alarming rate, and if you don’t have a social media strategy, you are most definitely leaving cash on the table. Likewise, if you launched a Facebook page and opened a Twitter account, but your audience (friends / follower) numbers aren’t steadily rising into the thousands, your campaign is not as effective as it could be.
Be sure to join us next time for the conclusion of our tips for evaluating your marketing materials. In the meantime, you can spruce up your sales presentations and company training sessions with an affordable professional LCD rental projector from Projector123.com. Click here to get started now.
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