Marketing techniques

[JakeBhatt]

Hi Guys,

I am new to the forum and am in the process of creating my own graphic and web design business.

I was wondering if anyone could share some of their most successful top marketing techniques that have proven to have success - as I am always looking for ways of marketing my business.

Ie flyers, brochures, internet marketing - the methods that you believe have created more business for you.

Thanks in advance.

Jake

 

[BusyVids]

Hi Jake. Have you considered video marketing?

 

[JakeBhatt]

Yes I have, I am actually creating a few videos for my website I just wanted to hear everyone else marketing techniques as I am looking to implement a few more.

 

[webgeek]

Partnering with people in non-competing, yet complementary, industries.

In our case, partnering with PR agencies, old school marketing agencies and website design firms has been very good for business.

 

[HiImDoug]

I'm in a similar position to OP with regards to circumstances.
I've been brought in as a Graduate trainee to an ERP solutions company. In the coming month they want to roll out a large email campaign, and have me designing various PDFs and templates.
Is a straight email campaign going to work? Or is it worth looking at integration with our website etc?

 

[JakeBhatt]

Partnering with people in non-competing, yet complementary, industries.

In our case, partnering with PR agencies, old school marketing agencies and website design firms has been very good for business.

This is a great idea, I would of never thought of this - thanks for the info.

 

[B&H Digital]

Firstly, you need to decide whether you want to market online or offline, or even a bit of both. Then you need to choose the best strategies from other people's experience and adapt them to help your business.

All the best with your new business

 

[JakeBhatt]

Firstly, you need to decide whether you want to market online or offline, or even a bit of both. Then you need to choose the best strategies from other people's experience and adapt them to help your business.

All the best with your new business

Thanks, I am going to marketing both online and offline, just wanted to hear a few successful experiences.

 

[B&H Digital]

If you're doing both. I personally would prefer to aim offline marketing at people in your local area, then online marketing mainly to people outside your local area.

Maybe print a few leaflets, drop them around town, let everyone new there's a new web design company about. Then online you could perhaps buy ad space - however it's a market that's got plenty of companies, so everyone will be fighting for that spot.

Good luck!

 

[JakeBhatt]

If you're doing both. I personally would prefer to aim offline marketing at people in your local area, then online marketing mainly to people outside your local area.

Maybe print a few leaflets, drop them around town, let everyone new there's a new web design company about. Then online you could perhaps buy ad space - however it's a market that's got plenty of companies, so everyone will be fighting for that spot.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info - think ill definitely print a few leaflets out, yes there is a lot of competition.. But if I market it right I could be the one landing that spot!

 

[B&H Digital]

Thanks for the info - think ill definitely print a few leaflets out, yes there is a lot of competition.. But if I market it right I could be the one landing that spot!

Definitely! Good luck with it, it looks as if you have the determination to go on and do well!

 

[FlexF]

Pick up the phone.

 

[Ben Palmer-Wilson]

Obviously I'd say this, but Direct Response marketing is a killer.


Even more so in your case. Your market is FLOODED - everyone and their gran is a graphic/web designer these days.

You need to find some way to set yourself apart from everybody else - direct response can help you do this, if done right.
Get a 'big idea' and a USP, and you're set. When you differentiate yourself from the rest of the rabble, people start paying attention and you get noticed...A LOT.



Ben.

 

[jay82]

The most successful methods i have come come across include SEO (search engine optiization) that brings your website on the top search results displayed in search engines such as google, yahoo,etc. besides that, alot of people use video uploads on youtube to make people become aware of their existence. also, a faster way to make your presence known is to make profiles on social networking sites like Facebook,Twittet and LinkedIn. here, it is vital that your keep the clients updated with the latest happenings of your business, reply to their queries must be quick, promotions provided on such networkds result quite fruitful. so goodluck, hope this helps

 

[jay82]

The most successful methods i have come come across include SEO (search engine optiization) that brings your website on the top search results displayed in search engines such as google, yahoo,etc. besides that, alot of people use video uploads on youtube to make people become aware of their existence. also, a faster way to make your presence known is to make profiles on social networking sites like Facebook,Twitter and LinkedIn. Here, it is vital that your keep the clients updated with the latest happenings of your business, reply to their queries must be quick, promotions provided on such networks results to be quite fruitful. so goodluck, hope this helps

 

[DavidBerryACMA]

Hi Jake

My advice to clients is to be careful when creating a business with regards to investing in marketing material. However much detail you plan things in the early days things won't turn out the way you expect them to. Therefore even a simple investment a business card can result in a pile of wasted cardboard if suddenly things change.

What you are looking for in these early days of your business is a blue print - the pathway to your first sale. Once you have made a sale or two - even if its to family members - you can then talk to your customers. Talking to customers is the most powerful marketing tool you can have. Securing orders from existing customers who are delighted in the service that you have provided will cost a fraction of the price of gaining new customers.

Focus on the simplest, most flexible and quickest way to get an order. Track everything and remember the only way that you are going to succeed is by making profitable sales.

 

[altwebdesign]

What ever you do, ensure you can measure the results and cut out or refine what isn't working... its an on going process!

 

[GeorgeM]

"I am new to the forum and am in the process of creating my own graphic and web design business."

As someone else said earlier - what's different about your offer ?, why should customers use you ?

Having that information will then form the basis of your initial marketing - which will need to be fine tuned over time. Therefore print your early marketing materials in small volumes.

 

[JohnBroderick]

Hi...
Nice discussion by you all...All of you have shared a great way of marketing techniques..The following are the effective marketing techniques:
Business Behavior
Advertising
Promotion
Packaging and Branding
Sponsorship

 

[john014]

thanks for this information.

 

[rashell]

You should create blogs for your site and advertise it to more and more people.this will be a way of marketing.Nowadays blogging has become a common way to advertise and explore your business online.Your blog can help you to create a community and you can establish yourself as an expert

 

[CoretiumMedia]

I would definitely suggest you to use PR and Social Media Marketing, which would help you to grow brand awareness and in a later stage ensure customer loyalty. Those are also very good tools for start-ups who usually have tight budget and can't afford advartising campaigns.

Considering that your are operating in the visual and creative area, you could create profiles in Behance, Vimeo, Tumblr, Pinterest as an addition to commonly used Twitter and Facebook. It is commonly said that "The media is the message", so use medium which is closely related to what you do.

In relation to PR, as it was previously said - find unique selling proposition of your business. Think why are you better or different from other graphic and web design agencies. After that you can start approaching bloggers, journalists or anyone else who could build yourcompany's exposure online.

 

[Ashtechsmith]

1. Flyers
This is the carpet-bombing method of cheap advertising. You find an area that you would like to do business in and you distribute flyers to all the mailboxes within reach. Your flyer should be brief and to the point, highlighting the services you offer and providing contact information. Offering a free appraisal, coupon or discount never hurts.
2. Posters
Most supermarkets, public spaces and malls offer free bulletin board space for announcements and advertisements. This is a hit or miss method, but you should try to make your poster reasonably visible and have removable tabs that the customers can present for a discount. Make each location a different color so that you can get an idea from the tabs where the most leads are being generated. If there is one area that is producing the majority of your leads, you can better target your campaign (flyers, ads in papers catering to those areas, cold calling, etc.)
4. Referral Networks
Referral networks are invaluable to a business. This does not only mean customer referrals, which are encouraged though discounts or other rewards per referral. This includes business-to-business referrals. If you have ever found yourself saying, "we don't do/sell that here, but X down the street does," you should make certain that you are getting a referral in return.

 

[jay82]

You must market yourself to small niche at first, if the marketing strategy yeilds positive results you could always expand your audience plus integrate newer versions to catch different clients

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Promote your service using social media marketing and video marketing.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Also try picking a niche. What makes you different from all the other plethora of web designers/developers out there? Most just say their USP is that they're good, quick, etc but many are....what's your true market niche?

 

[JakeBhatt]

Thanks everyone for all of your informative replies, they are all great techniques and strategies that I will definitely be implementing into my business. Making a web design firm stand out from the others is easier said then done as their are so many out there. Right now I guess my passion for the business is what makes me stand out, but then again I guess all other firms feel the same way.. I will find something to make us stand out, right now I haven't got there yet, but ill keep you posted

Thanks again for all your advice. More is welcome.

 

[fisicx]

Sorting out your website might be a good start.

Using the bog-standard twenty eleven theme doesn't represent any sort of passion for the business.

 

[JakeBhatt]

Sorting out your website might be a good start.

Using the bog-standard twenty eleven theme doesn't represent any sort of passion for the business.

I changed my domain name, to my company name and am currently developing my new website.. I made this change a couple of days ago and haven't changed the domain from my profile. Sorry about that.

 

[cinkevs]

1. Keep Adding Something New
Every time you add something new to your business you create an opportunity to get more sales. For example, something as simple as adding new information on your web site creates another selling opportunity when prospects and customers visit your site to see the new information.
2. Become a Valuable Resource
Look for ways you can be a resource for your prospects and customers. Supply them with free information. Help them do things faster, easier, less expensively. You get another opportunity to sell something every time they come back to you for help.
3. Separate Yourself from Your Competition
Find or create a reason for customers to do business with you instead of with someone else offering the same or similar products. For example, do you provide faster results, easier procedures, personal attention or a better guarantee?
4. Promote the End Result
Your customers don't really want your product or service. They want the benefit produced by using it.

For example, car buyers want convenient transportation with a certain image. Dental patients want healthy and good-looking teeth without suffering any pain. Business opportunity seekers want personal and financial freedom for themselves and their family.

Make sure your web pages, sales letters and other sales messages are promoting the end result your customers want.

 

[AshCasey]

Like Webgeek - word of mouth is the best Advertising and Marketing you can get. Try to team up maybe with some local clubs , charities and maybe offer discounted rate to design posters / flyers for their upcoming events.
Im in the Carrier Bag Industry and Images and catching peoples eye is crucial to us or you loose them. Def integrate your advertising with your Website - if using facebook upload as many examples and videos as possible and try to make people interact so they get to know you better and have a feel for what you do.

 

[Square Social]

Hey Jake,

First of all congrats on having the courage to take the plunge and start your own business - contrary to popular opinion however, the hard part is just around the corner.

There's been some great feedback already. What's your USP for instance as GeorgeM opined. I'd also have to agree with Fisicx point as well - your industry is extremely competitive and speaking from experience, prospective customers are going to spend about 30 seconds when browsing provider's websites. As such, your website has got to be smokin hot - or it's not worth having one. To begin with, I'd advise you search through ThemeForest's premium business themes. If you dont have the budget or time to design an amazing website right now, you can buy a pretty decent theme for £15-45.

As you're just getting started however, perhaps marketing strategies might be a bit premature at this point. It's usually best to take a top down approach and start out with the basics, for instance:

1. What exactly is your product or service that you're offering?
2. What distinguishes you from your competitors?
3. Who is your target market? Are you focusing on the B2B industry for example, if so are you targeting micro or small businesses and in which industry segments?
4. What type of branding/offering will your target market be receptive to? Remember marketing 101 states it's not what appeals to you, but what appeals to your target market.
5. This previous question should help answer your marketing question. If you're going to be focusing on the B2B market (which I assume you are) then schedule your marketing accordingly. Twitter is a huge B2B tool and it will cost you nothing to set up a Twitter account, start some targeted following and educate your followers by delivering valuable content.
6. Facebook is also a great outlet and essential for a designer. You can showcase your skills by creating a really visually appealing cover photo, build up an initial fanbase by asking friends and family to 'like' your page and then move from there.
7. At the end of the day a marketing strategy should be secondary at this point. My advice to you would be to track down local networking groups near you, get out there and start talking to people. Write out an elevator pitch for your business and start building up your network. Networking groups are a very cheap, low cost way to build up initial contacts and work - too often freelance creatives tend to hide behind websites and online marketing strategies. Once you've landed a few clients to start with - work your butt off and deliver an exceptional service, from there you can land more work with referrals.

Some great resources I'd advise looking into and reading at this point:

Entrepreneur.com (anything and everything from this site)
The Lean Startup - Eric Ries

Hopefully this post helped a little - best of luck building your business!

 

[jay82]

Also try picking a niche. What makes you different from all the other plethora of web designers/developers out there? Most just say their USP is that they're good, quick, etc but many are....what's your true market niche?

By the way, i am wondering, on online marketing through facebook or other social networks, how can we do targeted marketing to only our required niche? its a public forum afterall, everyone will visit your page an may decide to participate in commenting so....

 

[captaincloser]

35 posts and one right answer. (It was the shortest post on the thread)

 

[jay82]

partnering with advertising/marketing agencies cannot be adopted as an option for those who want to work on a limited budget. What choice do such businessmen have who have a limited budget as well as want to market the quick way?

 

[LoyaltyCardNetwork]

You have to basically try everything and see which one works, drop leaflets into shops who you think might need websites, go into shops and talk to them face to face, these classic methods will take time but might give you better result with less competition.

Advertising online may cost you more but you can target customers and measure the success more easily. It's always about trial and error in marketing, try everything, ditch the things that don't work, increase the things that do work.

Existing customers are very important and you should offer incentives to retain customers.

 

[HiQ]

KK, havent read all posted comments, so ill just shoot with some off the cuff idea's real quick.

What you wear > Eyeballs are always on you everywhere you walk. Might aswell slap a logo on your clothes sayting what you do, short sweet and memorable. Yes, not mass appeal, but you never know if by chance someone in need is going to step by you.

What you drive > Same as above, but with prolly a few more eye balls on this one. Slap it on yer vehicle, nice, clear and proudly. PS for both remeber to add a easy number or email. Why force them to look you up, give it to potential customers on a plate.

Comms > Slap it on your email sigs (Personal and business), forum sigs.

Affiliate Setup > Chat indivduals, businesses. They do what they do, get you clients you pay them %. Partner with event style bussinesses, ie Events companies (flyers, banners, etc), Wedding planners and so forth. Its ideal to focusss on businesses and individuals whom have "obvious" potential to get new business (lone web developers, etc). But then again this aint gonna cost you anything, so why not spread your influence as wide as possible.

Sponsorship > Doesnt need to cost you an arm and a leg. Sponsor a few peeps doing a run/marathod (Cap or shirts, hell go for a flahg ^^), school sports (pick a kid etc). Dont stop with just offline, lots of opportunities online too. And again, YES, this is not targeted, but if you put some effort into it then you can find idea target audiences and insert yourself into their events, etc.

Free work > Whant new business ? Pick a business, do some designs for their products etc. Watermak em and send em through as suggestions. They like em, they buy em, they dont, they dont . Pretty sure its easy enough to pr3vent business using your designs without your permission. Least this way you get a foot in the door, rather than "ask" and having it closed before they can even see what you got. And yea ofc, some will be totally lost straight in the virtual bin. Worth a shot for bigger contracts.

Social media > For one of my projects i picked a well known personallity on twitter, adressed them directly in relation to my project. Due to the person i picked mass appeal, my "work" was seen by tons and tons of ppl, and even more so when he eventually commented on it. I got a few idea's on how tro go about this method in your industry, but im sure you can figure something out. PS, were not talking harrassment here, prolly more in keeping with the "foot in the door" idea above.

Lots more possibilities, but this is all i got time for right now, gotta run, but will add more later if needed.


Cheers

 

[Marco Casario]

Become a customer-centric business owner. Find, Attract and Keep Customers for Life. Don't go by outdated notions and concepts...read The Customer Magnet and avoid ending up way off-course and wasting precious time and resources. Goog Luck!

 

[Marco Casario]

Become a customer-centric business owner. Find, Attract and Keep Customers for Life. Don't go by outdated notions and concepts...read The Customer Magnet and avoid ending up way off-course and wasting precious time and resources. Good Luck!

 

[Simon Forder Ringhello]

Just a quick note - telemarketing doesnt give the return on investment in web design. we tried it for a couple of different clients and advised them it wasnt worth the money; this is what we advise prospects when they approach us. Honesty is the best policy!