Never limit your marketing to strictly advertisements

The first thing that people think of when developing a marketing plan for their business is advertisements. Advertisements are a great way to market your business, but they should not be the only form of marketing that you use. If you want to properly market your business, you are going to need to take advantage of a variety of marketing techniques. Using large variety of marketing techniques is also a great way to for your business to reach the largest group of potential customers.

Here are some more marketing ideas that you can try, in addition to advertisements.

Number one: Customers feelings

Make your customers feel special. With our busy life style and wanting to get the lowest prices, personalized customer service has gone the way of the high road. The thing is customers still want to be recognized. By taking a little bit of time and possibly spending a few extra pennies you can make your customers feel special. This is a simple task to complete, for example, you can send them a personal thank you note or enclose a small gist in with their purchase.

Number two: Unprofitable customers

Stop paying attention to your unprofitable customers. While this might seem like a strange idea, you are not losing any business. Your profits are generally made by a core group of customers and by pouring the majority of your time and energy into maintaining and nurturing those relationships you are far more likely to boost your profits.

Number three: Business cards

While business cards can be a form of advertisement, you can still create business cards that your customers will want to keep. Traditional business cards tend to get thrown out the minute people leave the store or clean out their wallets because they are tiny pieces of paper that are just taking up room. Rather than handing out business cards, you can create notepads that have your business information on them, magnets, pens, and a variety of other items that can be used by the customer. The more useful the business cards are the longer the customers are likely to keep them, hence getting you many days of exposure.

Number four: Extra services

Provide something to help the customer stay at your place of business longer. For example, IKEA and other malls provide free childcare or low cost childcare so that parents can spend a longer amount of time finding what they want without having to worry about kids. If you have a business online, you can offer customers certain incentives to return such as free shipping for return customers, discounts, etc. What you are trying to do here is get your customers to come back and spend their money at your place of business.

Number five: Newsletters

Send out newsletters through both email and regular mail. In the newsletters, be sure to include stuff that your clients will be interested in. You should include your current promotions, tips on using your products or services, and be sure to personalize the newsletter by giving your customer something special, like a certain percent off their next purchase or a gift with their next purchase.

The more variety that you use in your marketing the more profitable your business will be. The one thing that you want to be careful of is not going overboard because it can harm your business because it will make you seem desperate for business. To ensure that you do not go overboard with your marketing techniques you should only choose four or five marketing techniques to include in your marketing plan. You can always change the marketing techniques that your business is using if things are not working out.