Four States Small Business Blog

As a small business, finding an effective mix of marketing channels is essential to increase your ROI and ensure steady growth for your business. But with an increasing number of available marketing channels every day, especially in the digital space, narrowing down your options and finding the best fit for your company can be difficult. With that in mind, let's look at some helpful tips for finding your ideal marketing channels.

1. Identify Your Marketing Audience

Your first step when planning for any upcoming marketing campaign should be identifying at least one target audience. Doing so will immediately help you eliminate any marketing channel with little reach to your audience or audiences. If you come up with more than one audience segment you would like to market to, you should rank the importance of each listed segment. That way, you can apply limited resources where they will be most effective.

2. Plan for the Buyer's Journey

Individuals that may purchase a product or service from you always occupy a point on a conceptual model called 'the buyer's journey.' Buyers move from the awareness stage through the consideration stage, and finally to the decision stage, where they will decide whether to give you their business. The most successful marketing campaigns reach a person while they are in each step of the journey. For instance, a broad-reach marketing channel such as radio is particularly useful for reaching people in the awareness phase. On the other hand, running ads in a search engine can be ideal for the consideration and decision phases. Choosing the right marketing channels will depend on selecting channels that blend well in an integrated marketing approach.

3. Set Clear Campaign Objectives

Not all marketing campaigns have to culminate in the immediate purchase of one of your products or services. It's important to clearly define your campaign objectives, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, driving sales, or enhancing customer engagement. For instance, your primary objective could be building your mailing list so you have an already interested audience segment you can target in future marketing campaigns. 

4. Consider Your Budget

Budget is one of the most essential considerations when deciding on a mix of marketing channels. Opting for marketing channels that you can't allocate enough financial resources to run effectively could be a complete waste. Likewise, your budget may be stretched too thin if you choose too many channels. It's best to opt for a couple of channels that support each other and provide each with ample funding. 

 

Putting It All Together

The ideal marketing mix for your business will reach your market audience at various points in the buyer's journey, satisfies your campaign objectives, and fits your budget. If any of your chosen marketing channels don't align with the above considerations, you should go back to the drawing board and review some other options. Of course, getting some professional support when planning integrated marketing campaigns can also be helpful. If you would like help with your campaign, we invite you to get in touch with one of our marketing consultants.

Contact Zimmer Marketing

 

 

Topics: Integrated Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing ROI, Digital Marketing, Advertising, Branding

In today's fast-paced digital world, businesses constantly search for ways to connect with their target audience and stand out. One powerful way to achieve this is through storytelling. Storytelling has been a fundamental part of human communication since the dawn of time. It is an incredibly effective way to convey a message, create emotional connections, and inspire action. For these reasons, it's also one of the central tenants of the marketing system we recommend here at Zimmer Marketing:   Brandsformation. In this blog, we will explore why storytelling is so important in marketing and how it can be used to help businesses succeed.

 

Storytelling Builds Relationships

Storytelling helps you to create a personal connection with your audience. By sharing stories about your brand, your team, or your customers, you can help your audience to understand who you are, what you stand for, and why they should choose you over your competitors. When you tell a story, you invite your audience to become part of your narrative, see things from your perspective, and empathize with your experiences. This can be a powerful way to build trust and credibility and create an emotional bond with your audience.

Storytelling Answers "Why?"

As humans, we understand our lives in terms of progression and presume that things happen because of the forces of cause and effect. We think in terms of narrative. As a business owner, your marketing success depends on your ability to position your brand in terms of a story. And your story must answer for your potential customers why they should buy your product or services. Vehicle manufacturers do this excellently when they show their products enabling the lives people want to live. Why would you buy this car? Because it will get you where you already know you want to go, to your next ski trip, business deal, or family wedding. The product must make sense in the story you tell.

 

Storytelling Simplifies the Complex

By telling stories, you can help to make complex ideas or products more accessible and relatable. Presenting information in a narrative format can help your audience understand and remember key points more easily. This can be especially useful if your business sells technical or complex products or services. By telling stories illustrating how your products or services have helped real people in real situations, you can help your audience see the value in what you offer.

 

Storytelling Differentiates Your Brand

Creating a compelling story that succinctly describes your business can help to differentiate your brand from your competitors. It can take a lot of work in a crowded marketplace to stand out and capture your audience's attention. By telling unique, memorable, and emotionally resonant stories, you can create a point of difference that sets your brand apart. Whether you are sharing stories about your brand's history, your team's values, or your customers' experiences, the key is to find a way to connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Start Your BrandsFormation

For small, local businesses, there is no more effective way to establish your company as a growing and recognizable local brand than to follow the BrandsFormation system. BrandsFormation has helped dozens of businesses in the Joplin area find their unique and compelling stories and tell them impactfully, staking their claim to growing market share in their industries.

Get in Touch with a Marketing Consultant

 

Topics: BrandsFormation, Branding

Local radio is one of the most powerful tools small businesses can leverage to advertise their products and services. It's cost-effective, broad-reach, and the broadcast area of a given station is often consistent with the region the business serves. On top of that, the format of radio stations does a good job of sorting people by interests, age groups, gender, or other group characteristics, making it easy for businesses to advertise their products to valuable target audiences. So, why do some companies struggle to get the most out of their radio advertising? The answer usually boils down to branding, or rather the lack of branding. 

Topics: Radio Advertising, BrandsFormation, Branding

It's no secret that we've been in strange economic times. The last several years have presented unprecedented challenges to businesses, especially small, midsized, and local ones. Of course, there are ways to navigate economic challenges, and some are more effective than others. Let's consider some problems and solutions to these issues.

Topics: Marketing Strategy, BrandsFormation, Branding

Topics: Radio Advertising, Marketing Strategy, BrandsFormation, Branding

There is no doubt that video marketing is on the upswing, with more companies turning to the medium to drive brand growth than ever. Why is that? There are many reasons, not least of which are the ever-increasing opportunities for distribution. This week, we'll look at four reasons we believe video marketing can positively impact your brand growth.  

Topics: Digital Marketing, Branding

The goal of any brand is to be instantly recognizable. Each year, businesses, both big and small, spend untold amounts of effort to earn a place in the minds of their target audiences. That brings up a couple of important questions. First, how can you be sure that your marketing efforts are working? And second, how can you take advantage of that knowledge? Let's explore both these questions.

Topics: Radio Advertising, Marketing Strategy, Branding

As we move into the holiday season and, ultimately, the new year, now is a great time to take stock of your business and marketing goals. Whether this is your first time marketing your business or you've been at it for many years, annual vision casting and planning is a necessary and rewarding event. To aid in the process, we want to offer some tips to get you started on your marketing strategy creation or renewal. 

Topics: Integrated Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing ROI, Branding

In 2022, Zimmer Marketing's creative team won several awards from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, including a full sweep of the commercial campaign category! We won first, second and honorable mention for three radio branding campaigns for our clients.

Topics: Radio Advertising, Website Design, Team Zimmer, Branding

In a difficult business environment, it is more essential than ever to have a solid branding plan. Branding allows you, as a small business owner, to take control of your messaging to maintain steady growth even during tight and uncertain economic conditions. That's why Zimmer Marketing is hosting BrandKamp this fall.

Save the Date
Tuesday, October 4th
Time: 11:30 am
Where: Joplin Holiday Inn

Topics: Small Business Resources, Marketing Strategy, BrandsFormation, Digital Marketing, Branding