Think LONG TERM

From Small Fuel:

5 Tips for Successful Long-Term Marketing

We all try to convince people to buy on first contact, but the reality is that this situation rarely occurs. Some report that it takes about seven or eight points of contact before you convince someone to buy

This is why taking a long-term view, and marketing consistently, matters so much. The more a person sees your logo, your name or your product, the more likely that person is to move from prospect to buyer. Exposure counts and you need to do everything you can to make that exposure happen.

Most people make half-hearted attempts at marketing. They skimp on expenses and advertise only every now and then. It's true that it can get expensive to continually buy ad space or maintain marketing campaigns.

But if you don't have the consistent exposure, you're losing out on sales.

Focusing on the short-term immediate costs isn't the way to go;. Marketing is a long-term affair. Its goal is to increase your sales over time and grow your business from a clientless entity to one with a solid base of customers.

Here are five tips to help with your long-term marketing ventures:

1. Have a long-term plan.

   It's not enough to know where you want to be in six months or a year. Know where you want to be in two years, five years and even in ten years with your business. By knowing what you want to attain over time, you can create a strategic marketing plan to help you achieve growth milestones along the way.

2. Follow through with every contact that occurs.

   If you receive someone's email address, send a note a week or two after they contact you to follow up and ask if they have questions. You could even call them – a voice has greater impact than a text message.

3. Find ways to achieve long-term exposure.

   Short marketing bursts are nice, but maintaining advertising in a location that many consumers can notice over time produces better results. Posters are a good idea; banner ads on websites are another. Visual impact counts.

4. Focus on one marketing strategy at a time

   When you create three separate means of exposure, for example, it's tough to know which one made clients noticed you more and which method was the most effective for the cost involved.

5. Examine immediate costs of versus long-term income.

   In many cases, investing $500 sounds like a lot of money to a new business owner, but if the expense offers the potential to bring in $10,000 worth of sales over one year, the immediate cost becomes negligible.

Always try to plan the goals you want to achieve from your marketing campaign. Analyze the related expenditures and the potential gains before making a decision. With a clear milestone in sight, you have a better opportunity to choose the method or strategy that works best with the budget you have.

And when you do make your choice for the tactic you think will work best? Measure, measure and measure again. By doing so, you'll make more informed decisions later on down the line.

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