Creative Marketing

Boost customer awareness without spending lots of money. Explore innovative and inexpensive ways to reach your target market. Let people know who and where you are. Turn them into customers. Get them to come back again and again...with their friends. Learn about press releases, partnering, and many other easy and effective techniques that can be put to work for you right away.
 

If you are taking the Creative Marketing class, please print out this survey and answer the questions before coming to class. The first part of the class will be devoted to discussing the following topics and your answers and comments.                   [Home]
 
Getting Started...
Before "getting the word out," be cognizant of where it needs to go.
1. Assess your customers.
A. Who is your customer?
1. How old are they?
2. What is their income level?
3. Where are they located (geography)?
4. Are they male or female?
5. What is their ethnicity?
B. What does your customer like?
1. What do they read?
2. Where do they go for relaxation?
3. Where do they work?
4. Where do they shop?
C. What motivates them to shop?

D. What will motivate them to buy from you rather than from your competition?

E. When do your customers buy?                               Back to top

If you don't know the answers to these questions, survey your customers.
While your're at it, ask them what else you can do for them. Find out what
they believe would make your business an even better fit to their puchasing
habits and needs.

Offer a gift for their help. (A drawing of a small number of substantial gifts,
or a small gift for everyone who fills out a questionnaire.)

F. Do you have a mailing list?

G. Do you keep customer purchase records (both what and when they buy)?

H. Do you follow up with customers to ensure satisfaction with
    your product or service?

I. What do you do with all this information?

J. What can you do with all this information?
2. Assess your business.                                                                       Back to top
A. What are the greatest assets of your business?
(Location? Product? Service? Employees? Size? Hours? Selection? Price? Etc...)

B. What are the greatest liabilities of your business?
(Location? Product? Service? Employees? Size? Hours? Selection? Price? Etc...)

C. Who is your competition? (Think "outside the box." For example,
        greeting cards are sold at card stores, supermarkets, drugstores, by non-profit groups
        as fundraisers, you can make them yourself on the computer, etc.)

D. What are the greatest assets of your competition?

E. What are the greatest liabilities of your competition?

F. How can you capitalize on your uniqueness (assets) and / or their weaknesses?
3. Assess your current method(s) of "getting the word out."
A. What do you currently do to "get the word out?"

B. Do these methods product results? How do you know?

C. What techniques / methods / strategies would you like to use?
    Why? How would you measure these results?

D. Why haven't you employed them?
 

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