The Most Effective Marketing Tools in your Toolkit

Marketing specialists generally encourage businesses to use a great variety of marketing approaches spread throughout their fiscal year. “Hit and Miss” marketing approaches are typically a lot more miss than hit, meaning they can be costly with poor results. Marketing is about strategic repetition and perseverance, and then patience. Use the list below to ensure that you are using at least a few key tools from all of the general marketing categories. Is each in development, currently in use, or proven effective for your business?


BRANDING
• A name for my business that is instant, positive promotion
• A logo that reflects the personality of your business
• A tag line that communicates your competitive advantage in seven words or fewer
• A 30-Second Commercial or “elevator speech”
• A jingle – for radio ads or other auditory promos


ATTRACTION TOOLS
• Newsletter
• Booklets or Special Reports
• Free Trials
• Take-ones
• Networking
• Referrals
• Contests
• Speaking Engagements


ADVERTISING
• Classified ads (online or off)
• Display/space ads
• Advertorial
• Yellow pages ads
• Directory listings & ads


DIRECT MAIL – WHICH IMPLIES A CUSTOMER/PROSPECT DATABASE
• 1 page letters
• Long form sales letters
• Post cards
• Flyers
• Faxes


OTHER PRINT TOOLS
• Business Cards
• Tear pads
• Coupons
• Gift certificates
• Inserts (used in joint venture)
• Proposals


ONLINE TOOLS
• Website which is attractive and user-friendly
• Social Networking profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter etc.)
• Email marketing tools (i.e. e-bulletin)
• Banner Ads
• Search Engine Optimization
• Email Signatures


TELEPHONE TOOLS
• Telephone script for outgoing calls
• Voice-on-demand system (“press 1 for hours of operation…”)
• Cold Calling
• Effective use of voice mail


PROMOTIONAL PACKAGE/MEDIA KIT
• Biographical profile
• Biographical feature story
• Business description & history
• Brochure(s)
• Fact Sheet/Product-Service Description
• Notice of event/Tip Sheet
• News Release/Media Advisory
• Testimonials


OTHER TOOLS
Contact the Brampton Small Business Enterprise Centre for more lists of tools your business can consider to incorporate into your strategic marketing plan.