Increasing Sales Can Have More Than One Meaning

I recently completed a strategic marketing plan for a company whose main objective was to increase sales. Most people look at this and say "I must increase the number of customers to get more sales" and yes, that would be one way to increase sales. However, you should not overlook your current customer base, and increasing the dollar amount per sale.

A great time to initiate programs to increase the dollar amount per sale is the holiday season. This is the time of year when people are shopping, and better yet, they are buying multiple gifts. Seize the opportunity to capture more of your customers' holiday dollars by putting in place a holiday incentive. So many people offer free shipping, but that is not going to be the deciding factor in purchasing most products, or multiples of the product. Think along the lines of a volume discount. This will incent people to start thinking about who else on their list they can buy the product for. It's hard to walk away if you know you can buy one for say $40, but buy two for $70 and receive a $5 discount/item.

I'm currently helping with a school fundraiser and we sell our raffle tickets for $10/each or 5 for $40. More times than not, we sell the tickets in groups of 5. Again, it's hard to resist the deal...basically buy 4 and get one free. Did we lose? No, because ultimately we sell more tickets than we would have otherwise and we have increased our sales.

Holiday season is fast approaching! Better put together your sales strategy, and while you are doing it, don't forget to look at all the angles, including your current customer base.

Happy selling!






Continuum Marketing www.continuummarketing.com 469.826.4048

Success without Strategy?

...possible, but not likely. Perhaps the stars aligned and you hit the jackpot with your last advertising/promotion campaign, but why even risk throwing that money away, when some strategic thought and research will help steer you in the right direction?

I hear many business owners say they don't know where to start or find the research that will provide solid data for marketing decisions. Well, marketing is not brain surgery, but as a marketing professional, I do know what questions need to be answered, and how to go about getting those answers. Here's just a sample:

Who are your customers? No, I mean who are your customers? If you give a one or two word answer, chances are you have not thought it through, or have data that will show you a solid demographic profile of your customer base. Why is this important? Because "segmentation" allows your marketing efforts to be more effective (think ROI)!

Why would your customers want to buy from you? And by the way, because I have a superior product/service is not a valid answer. Everyone can make this statement. Think "differentiation", what makes you different from your competitors. Don't know? That's just yet another element of strategy...competitive intelligence/benchmarking.

Can you be successful without strategy? Perhaps, but I don't really want to spend my hard earned $$ finding out. Do you?







Continuum Marketing, www.continuummarketing.com, 469-826-4048

A Day In The Life

I often get asked, "So what does a Marketing Consultant/Contractor actually do?" "It varies" would be an appropriate response, yet it also seems like such an understatement. When my phone rings, I'm never quite sure who will be on the other end, or what types of marketing projects we may be discussing.

Case in point, if you ask me what I'm up to now I'll mention that I recently produced a tactical marketing plan for a local school, providing them targeted approaches to increase their enrollment for '08/'09. We are currently implementing the plan. I'm also enhancing and updating some collateral for a growing high tech company. And not long ago, I completed some brochure copywriting work for a healthcare company in Houston.

An independent marketing professional such as myself wears many hats and loves them all, because the bottom line is that Marketing and its many facets has the ability to truly make a positive impact regardless of the industry or business. Marketing is a "universal language" if you will that spans the continuum...


Continuum Marketing - www.continuummarketing.com

Welcome Marketing Mania Blog Readers

Welcome to my blog! As a "journaler" from way back, this age of sharing information so openly is somewhat foreign to me. I mean, after all, my very first handwritten journal had a little lock on it and I can remember carefully hiding the key where no one would find it. However, being the adventurer I am, I'm willing to give this a try.

Don't get me wrong, there are no plans to share my deepest darkest secrets on this blog (sorry to disappoint), but rather focus my posts around one of my passions, which also happens to be my career: Marketing. In fact, blogging could really be described as a form of marketing. As people read posts, they form their own perceptions of you based on topics, writing style, etc. and in the world of marketing, "perception is reality."

Blogging is also catching on as a marketing tool, with many people utilizing blog sites as web sites to get the word out on their products and services. What type of marketing professional would I be if I didn't stay up to date on what is happening?

My goal is to make this blog both interesting and informative, sharing my unique perspective, and some useful marketing information with whoever cares to read about it!

Welcome and happy reading!