2009-04-24

Winning Contest and Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes are consumer-focused sales or awareness promotions which utilize the excitement and enthusiasm generated by a prize incentive to draw entries for the opportunity to win the offered prizes through a chance based drawing.
Sweepstakes are generally quicker and easier for the Sponsor to administer and for the public to enter than “Contests,” however Contests have their own special value and appeal. One other major difference is that winning a Sweepstakes is based on the operation of an element of Chance, as opposed to being entirely skill-based. Some tips are here for your sharing:


First, sweepstakes should never require a purchase to enter. They should list at least one way to enter free. However, contests are allowed to charge for entry.
Second, make sure you actually want the prize offered. If you enter a contest for a prize that you don't want, that's time taken from entering a contest for a prize you do want. Check marks the contests or sweepstakes that you have entered, so you do not get disqualified by entering again.

Third, consider entering some of the little contests if you have the time to enter more than those BIG contests, because the chances of winning are greater. Just make sure it is for a prize you want.

Fourth, some contests are running on the websites and give away freebies to increase the amount of visitors to their site, and increase subscriber ship to their newsletter to tempt you into buying something. This is a fair trade-off, but don't feel obligated to do so.

2009-04-21

Word of Mouth Marketing

We all know that economic times are tough. But it is not a wise decision to cut off the marketing budget blindly. Then how much should companies marketers should put on their marketing?

However it is not an easy question to give an exact number. For those new companies, their priority is testing the right marketing method which provides the best return on investment. Mature companies or businesses that have been in business for a considerable amount of time know which vehicles work for them; if they don't they are in trouble.

The purpose of marketing is prompting new brands and improving the places of their product in the consumer’s heart. Simply, it is getting word of mouth for your business. Word-of-Mouth marketing is the most difficult to measure, but it's also the most cost effective, because it costs you nothing.
Your target customers are the best media for your word-of-mouth marketing campaign. So the most important is how to make your consumers talking about you.

Ask them to try your product.

The simplest way perhaps is asking them to try and then to tell others about it. This is an effective way to build excitement and genuine recommendations.

Taking consumers’ opinion
It is necessary to take the opinion of consumer seriously. You should give them the feeling that you really care them. Create a list that shares with them upcoming events, product or specials that are coming up.

Provide quality service
Give your consumer something good to talk about. Show them quality in service and treat every customer with respect. Starbucks set a good example in this respect.They provide quality and experience, that's why customers paid $4.00 for a latte.

2009-04-15

Follow Your Client’s Wish

As a business person, no matter what kind of business you are doing, the competition is cut-throat, especially in recent declined economic environment. In order to do better than your competitors, you must try to obtain as many clients as possible. So you must make your product or service meets what your client need.

When consumers buying things, they do have one clear purpose or reason in mind. Only when what you provide can help them enough can they pay for it willingly. Thus, it will be better for you if you can offer a kind of product or service that other businesses would not have. And this is not a one-time deal either. Once they know what you offer can meet their need well, then every time they or someone they know need such product or services, they will think about you first.

When you are trying to start your next marketing campaign, make sure your next product or service is just what your target client are looking for. In this way, you can not only gain new customers, but also give your current client more confident to go on believe in you.

2009-04-09

Low Cost Marketing Strategies

It is necessary for companies to cut down their expenditures confronting with the difficult economy. The most effective strategies that can help companies continue to develop while with low cost is adjusting the marketing methods. That is to say, it is extremely necessary for company owners to choose the right marketing solution. The following are 3 low-cost marketing tactics that businesses can effectively integrate during this difficult economy.

Your website should be nice to see with valuable content. The products or services that your business provides should be plainly visible and attractive. You may also consult to professional search engine optimization companies, who can help you to improve your ranking in search engine results with the overall goal of increasing the traffic to your site. Online forums and social networking is the third factor you could implement and goes hand-in-hand with SEO. Both of these areas are very instrumental in building relationships, which is one of the most important aspects of sales and marketing.


Then another important and low cost strategy is Sweepstakes. Sweepstakes are consumer-focused sales or awareness promotions which utilize the excitement and enthusiasm generated by a prize incentive to draw entries for the opportunity to win the offered prizes through a chance based drawing.

Lastly, email marketing and promotion can produce great marketing benefits in spite of the economy. Email marketing is an older area of marketing, but is still effective and most importantly right now, is inexpensive. Your promotional message should be clear and compelling. Avoid using words such as "free" or "win" in order to eliminate falling into spam filter.
In order to promote your marketing in this special time, consider implementing low-budget tactics such as the 4 discussed here.

Tell you Important Tips of Winning Contest and Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes are consumer-focused sales or awareness promotions which utilize the excitement and enthusiasm generated by a prize incentive to draw entries for the opportunity to win the offered prizes through a chance based drawing. Sweepstakes are generally quicker and easier for the Sponsor to administer and for the public to enter than “Contests,” however Contests have their own special value and appeal. One other major difference is that winning a Sweepstakes is based on the operation of an element of Chance, as opposed to being entirely skill-based.

Several tips for contest and sweepstakes are given to you for your sharing.

First, read the sweepstakes rules first. Basic information will be listed, like prizes, times you can enter, expiration date, etc. So if you want to take part in the sweepstakes, you will check it out even it is bother. Time is money. If you enter a contest and get disqualified you have just wasted time that you could have used entering other contests or sweepstakes.

Second, it's a good idea to check out a site’s privacy policy. You can avoid getting a LOT more SPAMS. SPAM is not opt-in newsletters. Do not subscribe a newsletter if you signed up it and didn't mean to. It's always a good idea to know who you are giving your private information to, as well. If you are not sure about it...don't do it.

Third, never and ever send money for a prize. Almost all scams are run this way. It will be the fastest way to lose your money. You should never have to send money in order to receive your prize. Use your own judgment for shipping and handling requests. Smaller companies may ask for it. They are using this as a promotion and cost of prize and shipping should be something they can write off on their taxes as a business expense.