Business Strategies

Is there anything as good marketing? There is nothing as good marketing but it can be described as excellent marketing. This is the term that can be applied when referring to several companies that have some of the best marketing techniques. These companies simply thought without a box.

Apple. Apple (AAPL) stands as the one technology company that truly gets marketing. It defines the next big thing and creates game-changers in existing markets before people themselves even know what they want. It doesn’t use focus groups or research; Apple is its own focus group. It controls its channel and message better than any company on earth. Not to mention the 1984 Super Bowl, Think Different, and iPod silhouette ad campaigns.

Nike. Let’s face it: Nike (NKE) is a sneaker business that somehow became the world’s largest sports footwear and apparel company, one of the top brands in the world, and a $48 billion S&P 500 component. How? Great marketing: the swoosh logo, “word of foot” advertising, and, of course, sponsoring athletes. I don’t know, I guess Nike Just Did It.

Sourced from: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-companies-with-insanely-great-marketing/

So what does a small business owner do in order to compete with those in the big league? Well they can start by implementing great marketing techniques like cause marketing, close range marketing or even relationship marketing.

Cause Marketing

Finding a cause both your customers and your company cares about can create magic for your business. This requires internal knowledge about what your organisation cares about and who they want to help in the world. A good example of this is Toms Shoes. Instead of doing the traditional “buy one get one free” promotion, Toms built a strong customer following and reputation for giving back by giving away a free pair of shoes to someone in need for every shoe purchase made by their customers.

Close Range Marketing (CRM)

Use Wifi or bluetooth to send promotional messages of their products and services to their customers’ smartphones and tablets at close proximity. Close Range Marketing is also known as Proximity Marketing.

Sourced from: http://cultbranding.com/ceo/52-types-of-marketing-strategies/

How about you drop all those strategies for awhile and simply do some good old fashion connecting with you customers. That is what Starbucks does and so far it is not doing any damage.

Starbucks: Works on Connecting with Customers

Starbucks is all about “connecting,” whether that’s chatting with a customer over a steaming latte, interacting with fans on the company’s Facebook page or posting fascinating photos on Instagram. The well-known coffee chain has effectively created an emotional connection with its customers. In countries like the U.K. and Ireland, this connection made the company’s recent campaign to have its baristas start connecting with customers on a first-name basis that much smoother. The company launched the campaign with a promotion promising customers a free latte to come in and introduce themselves.

Starbucks, a pioneer in mobile advertising, is clearly savvy about connecting in more ways than just in person and online. Named Mobile Marketer of the year in 2010, the company launched an app the following year that accepted mobile payments and, less than a year later, saw 26 million mobile transactions, with mobile devices accounting for $110 million worth of funds reloaded to customers’ Starbucks cards.

Sourced from: http://mashable.com/2012/09/13/inbound-marketing-strategies/#B0jnob7Niuqw