By Heather Gallegos Marketing doesnt work. How often have you considered this to be true? Ifso, you are not alone in thinking that spending money on print ads just doesnt workbring you the clients you were expecting. And simply placing advertisements hereand there will never bring you the clients you seek because the act of placing an adisnt marketing. Placing an ad is just one of many activities that is oftenmisunderstood as doing marketing. When you spend your marketing dollarsbecause you think you should, or because an advertising sales rep calls, you aredoing slot machine marketing as you are gambling on the poor odds of a goodoutcome. And changing slot machines to advertise another newspaper or send anew direct mail postcard doesnt work either. However, by answering sevensimple questions (that Ill get to in the next pages) youll know whether that moneyis spent on marketing that will work. But before we get into that, lets make sure we are all familiar with What makes good marketing good? You probably do your marketing to attract new clients. And that is true to a certainextent, but to be good marketing needs to be built into every aspect of yourbusiness. You may have heard about brand marketing and branding as yetsomething else you as a small business owner should be doing. Simply put, brandmarketing is about reserving a spot in your clients mind just for your business.And this spot is a very special spot as it carries emotions, feelings, memories,comments from friends and images of your ads, emails, or storefront facade. Someof these things you have control over, and some you do not. Earning that littletiny spot is hard. Especially in the age of information overload where we receivemillions of marketing offers a day from marketing activities like: TV, the web,internet search engines, the radio, billboards, newspapers, magazines and so on.And hopefully, when you do earn that spot in you clients memory, it is full ofpositive associations with your business where they rave about you and comeback again and again instead of spreading bad reviews. Although it is hard to do, itis done over and over again by small and large businesses that know the key togood marketing. Consistency is the key. Just like good skincare, marketing requires consistency. Changing cleansers orproducts every time your client does skincare has the same disastrous results aschanging your words, images or colors every time you do marketing. You wantyour clients to recognize your marketing in a split second and remember allthose wonderful feelings, aromas or results of being in your spa or salon chair.Being consistent with words (also called messages), images (such as your logo),and colors (your decor, menu, website, advertisements) is the only way you have ahope of reserving that spot in your clients mind. While repetition may be boring inan industry that thrives on creativity, it is absolutely required in marketing yourbusiness. Consistency in your marketing, the delivery of your services, how youanswer the phone, your hours of operationthey all need to be repeated in the samemanner to build on that spot you want to own in your clients mind. Never fear, allhope for fun and creativity is not lost. You can be creative and consistent at the same time. There are many businesses have creative and consistent marketing activities. Youare probably familiar with a few of them as it is required to create a well-knownbrand. Disney does it well everyone knows where to find the happiest place onearth. Everything Disney does is according to a strict marketing strategy thathas consistent images (Mickey Mouse ears, Cinderellas castle), values (family,fun) and words (Disney). From Disneyland to Disney Online to Radio Disney tothe Disney Channelevery singe channel of communicating with their customerhas the consistent appearance, words and emotions. Yet, Disneys marketing isvery creative and you can tell they have fun with it. BMW, McDonalds, Appleand Microsoft are other examples where the marketing executives behind thesebrands are very much in control of their marketing messages. Some corporationseven have brand police that approve every brochure, webpage and advertisementto make sure it is consistent with the marketing plan. I use these corporate brandexamples because most everyone has heard of them, but you dont have to be alarge corporation or even part of a franchise to have marketing that works to attractand retain clients. In fact, consistent marketing is much easier when there are onlyone or two people making the decisions. Marketing that works requires up-front work. Admit it. Creating a marketing plan is usually not on the top of the list whenstarting up or revving up your business. Construction, employee hiring, equipmentand product selectionthey usually take a large portion of your attention duringstart-up. And the day-to-day details of running a business keep you from workingon that ideal marketing plan now. While many businesses manage this way, thepath to profitability and being 100% booked is made much easier by being able toanswer these 7 questions before you spend any money on marketing activities. 1. Is this activity a part of my brand and marketing plan? I know this is a tough question to start with since this question assumes you haveone already. If you dont, it is never too late to create a brand and marketingplan. It isnt a complicated thing, but it does take some thought. A long-termmarketing plan or strategy typically includes defining the words, images,emotions, and colors that make-up your brand. It also includes a plan ofmarketing activities that are regularly, and consistently, spread out through theyear that communicates with current and target clients in the yellow pages, youre-mails, your website, web search engines, community web searches (e.g.,CitySearch, Yelp), spa search engines (e.g., SpaFinder), holiday/themepackages, community newspapers, your answer machine message, your in-spa orin-salon marketing (menu of services, signs, brochures, client protocols), theway you or your staff answers the phone, direct mail post cards, radio ads,community events, educational classes, etc. Beginning with the end in mind is not easy. But youll achieve peace of mindby having a plan or road map or even a simple calendar of events planned out fora twelve-month period. You will be able to be less reactive and avoid those lastminute print runs or rushed holiday package planning. Instead, your marketingactivities can be put on autopilot and become a part of your normal operations even delegated to someone on your staff. 2. Can I measure the results of this marketing?It is sometimes a challenge, or even impossible, to truly track how muchbusiness you are generating with a marketing activity. Knowing how manypeople visit your website is a good example of how you can measure the impactof a marketing activity that directs people to your website. You may be aware ofit, but there are companies that can set up a temporary website address (URL) oreven a special toll-free number for you to use just once in your marketingactivity (such as in a magazine ad or direct mail postcard). Clients who usethem will land on your normal website or having their phone called answered atyour front-desk without knowing the difference. However, youll be able totrack how many people actually called from that one marketing activity. This isa much better way to know that the $800 you spent on an ad actually motivatedpeople to action. Experimenting with different words, promotional offers, colors or images cannow be done AND measured to truly know which works best to attract interestand generate business. You can measure which local newspaper or magazine isbest in which to continue advertising. Once you are able to measure how big theresponse is, your future decisions will be much easier to make about ongoingmarketing spending. 3. Can I afford it? Now, Im not talking about the actual cost of production ormailing costs. Those costs are important (and Ill get to that in a minute), but Iwant you to calculate the cost of any promotional discount. How much profitdo you make on your 20% off coupon? In many day spas, there may not beenough profit margin to cover a 20% discount. When that is the case, they areessentially paying clients to visit their business with these types of promotions.I can hear you asking but dont I have to motivate people to make anappointment? And of course the answer is yes! But you can do this whilemaking sure the service you perform is profitable. For example, offer a freeupgrade or add-on to a common service: Free skin or hair consultation with first serviceFree deep conditioning with hair coloringFree lip or eye treatment with facialFree brow wax with your high-end facialFree shoulder massage with mani/pediFree foot reflexology with 60 minute massage Have fun with trying to define add-ons to your services that adds minimal or nocost and doesnt increase the time on the service. You could even include theseadd-ons on your menu with a price so anyone can add them to a service, as theseare great profit boosters. For medical spas, this question may be easier to answer due to higher servicemargins. Instead of buy-four-get-one-free packages, consider promotions thatdo not greatly impact your profit margins. Consider offering a free skincare kitwith the purchase of a 5 session Botox package. Or a free makeup applicationwith the purchase of a 3-session Restylane package. Neither have a major (ifany) impact on your bottom line, but provide added perks to your clients. 4. Is this the best way to spend my marketing budget? This is the more commoncan I afford it question. As with all investments in your business, you shouldconsider the return on that marketing investment prior to spending it. To dothat, youll need to calculate how many appointments you need to schedule inorder to payback or breakeven on your marketing spending. To many, thisseems like an easy calculation but it can be tricky. The first step is to take acloser look at all the costs. Lets take a look at a hypothetical half-page localmagazine/newspaper advertisement. Assume the magazine has 8,000 readersthat are within 15 miles of your business. Costs: $250 Graphic artist (recommended for a high quality perception of your business) $1250 Magazine Ad $1500 Total Cost So how many of the 8,000 readers need to book (and pay for) a service in orderfor you to earn back that $1500? This is the second step is to estimate theaverage price for all your services. To be conservative well guess an entrylevelservice at $65 is the average price for services booked when clients sawthat ad. The third step is to calculate you profit on that average priced service.It is easy to skip this step, but the breakeven number of services is not 23 ($1500divided by $65). You would be forgetting to account for you your overhead andlabor costs. Remember it is the profit in your business that pays back yourinvestments. So with that in mind, lets assume a simple to calculate 10% profitmargin or $6.50 ($65 x .10) per service. Marketing Payback Calculation: Total costs divided by average service profit $1500 $6.50 = 230 services So, it will take 230 $65 services to pay for that magazine ad. That would bebooking one of your employees solid for about six weeks. How many ads doyou know that will book you solid for six weeks? That has to be pretty good ad!You may be thinking now that with this calculation, youll never pay foradvertising again! While there are exceptions (such as start-up or a really bigevent), I generally do not recommend print advertising for this reason. It isusually impossible to generate enough business from that marketing activity topay for the cost. You may still be able to get your business listed or highlightedin that magazine or newspaper without placing an ad by issuing a press releaseor posting on community calendars. (And there are plenty of other ways toincrease awareness without advertising in a newspaper.) Although this example was about an advertisement, all marketing activitiesshould be measured with this calculation. Try it out with your most recentmarketing activity. You may find that lower cost marketing activities such asprinted and Internet directory listings, e-mails and direct mail postcards usuallymake more financial sense for service businesses like yours. 5. Am I attracting my ideal client? Do promotions and discounts attract yourideal client? If your ideal client sees their health and appearance as a highpriority and has the means and willingness to pay for high-quality results, thenyour 20% off coupons and buy one get one free promotions are not attractingthem. However, maybe you are interested in the value-based client that wantsto do it all on a budget. Either way (you do need to choose one) you can attractthem without constantly giving them a portion of your profits when they walk inthe door. You can do this with a focused effort to plan a marketing campaignthat is both interesting, buzz worth and motivating to take action. If you are placing an advertisement in a printed magazine or newspaper, be sureto ask for readership demographics. Youll want to look for a high number ofsubscribers/readers that are 1) located in your local neighborhood (10 15miles) and 2) fit your ideal client profile. I dont recommend advertising inlarger circulation newspapers that dont have targeted subscribers, as your adwill be expensive and easily overlooked. Local TV advertising might work if aired during a local community show or ahealth/fitness show. But be careful with trading the large exposure off withtargeting your ideal clientespecially if the cost for that one TV advertisementdrains your entire marketing budget. Internet marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) are perfect for targetedmarketing to your ideal client because your website or ad is only displayed whensomeone shows interest in what you offer. Google AdWords offers flexibleoptions and great metrics for pay-for-click advertising. Working with webmarketing specialists to insert keywords and several other techniques to yourwebsite, you can increase the placement of your website in search engine listingswithout having to pay-per-click. 6. Do the graphics and/or words speak well of my business and motivateaction? Whether you do them yourself or use a graphic artist, the words and visualappeal of your marketing activities have to leave a positive and emotionalimpression of your business. This means that you need to double and triplecheck spelling and grammar, all graphics need to be of the correct resolution sothey print properly, and it should be easy on the eye and not be cluttered with toomany images or words. Printing a business card ad (a pretty graphic orpicture with your business name/address/phone number) or a list of every singleservice you perform do not work to leave an emotional impression.Additionally, they do not motivate someone to do take an action that results inincreasing your revenue. When creating your marketing activity, focus on what you want someone to doafter they read or listened or watched it. Do you want them to visit yourwebsite? Call for an appointment? Attend a class? Tell a friend? Schedule afree hair or skin analysis? Whatever it is, make sure that your request and thebenefit they will receive are clearly communicated. A good day spa example isBook your facial and free personal skin analysis. Or for a salon Refer a friendand receive a free hydration treatment at your next visit. Or for a medical spaAttend our upcoming anti-aging class Is it medical fact or marketing fiction? 7. Is this the best way to achieve my marketing goal? If you find yourself stillvery tempted to spend your money on an activity that doesnt look like you canafford it, or doesnt exactly fit your plan, isnt measurable or target your idealclient. ask yourself if this is this truly the best way to achieve your marketinggoal? Hopefully you have defined your marketing goal, but perhaps not (youcertainly arent alone if this is the case). The most common marketing goals are to attract new customers or to simply bebusier. While these are valid goals, you may want to consider this truth..it takes dollars to earn new customers and pennies to keep them.Perhaps focusing your marketing efforts might be better spent on your existingclients through professional newsletters, client appreciation events (which candouble as buzz generators for new customers) or staff training on building clientrelationships? Other marketing goals might be to simply increase awareness for your business(most common for new businesses) or to attract a new type of client for arecently added service. Regardless of the marketing goal itself, it needs 1) some sort to number tomeasure it with (number of clients, increased sales, percentage of capacity, etc.);and 2) to be a realistic number that can be reached using your planned marketingactivities. If not, consider lowering the goal or adjusting your marketing plan.Im sure you figured out that the correct answer to all these questions is yes. Iffor whatever reason you arent able to answer yes to all of them, proceed withcaution. Be very very clear with yourself about what you expect in return forspending that money. Are you looking for the nice, but non-measurableawareness? Are you bending to the pressure of guilt for not doing anything for awhile? Are you just not sure of where or how to start marketing? When in doubt,dont allow a sales person to talk you into where and when you should market yourbusiness. Finally, no-cost marketing activities should always be considered in your marketingplan. Simple touches like a check-in call to your client two days after a service toanswer client questions will go a long way to increase customer loyalty and returnvisits. Role playing with your staff about new customer service techniques andproduct knowledge encourages free marketing of your existing products andservices to clients you have already frequenting your business. Having a solid marketing plan and being consistent are the foundations for goodmarketing. Combined with these seven key questions to answer before you spendmoney on a marketing activity, you can stop doing marketing that doesnt workand start having your marketing work for you! Heather Gallegos spent 12 years in marketing, communications andoperation roles in the high-tech industry before becoming aconsultant to the wellness industry. President of Spa ClientleSolutions (http://www.spaclientele.com), her unique perspective as a salon and day spa client,strong marketing and business background, and affiliation withPreston Spa Business Solutions (http://www.prestoninc.net) complementone another to provide a powerhouse of practical and straightforwardsolutions. She has helped day spas, medical spas and salons create their brand andmarketing plans, monthly e-newsletters, private label skincare lines, customerappreciation events and local PR buzz. Published in Dermascope magazine,Heather is also an active blogger about practical and helpful marketing ideas forsalons, day spas and medical spas at http://blog.spaclientele.comHeather will be speaking live at the upcoming EPIC show in Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Gallegos http://EzineArticles.com/?Seven-Questions-to-Answer-Before-you-Spend-Money-on-Marketing&id=524684 buy tramadol now carisoprodol drug prescription ultram generic order ultram ultram online without prescription
