It’s been ten weeks since we launched the “Steal This” blog series here on Zach Heller Marketing. In those ten weeks we’ve highlighted a number of successful marketing strategies that companies use, and showed you ways that you can take them and apply them to your own business.
Let’s take a look back at the 10 Marketing Ideas You Should Steal:
Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, Steal This. Each week I’ll highlight a marketing activity that a company is using and suggest ways that you can model it and make it work for you. Last week’s topic was – Promote Urgency.
Today’s topic is: ING Referral Program
ING Direct (now CapitalOne 360) launched onto the online banking scene and saw tremendous growth from 2005-2007 and beyond. They attributed much of that growth to their referral program, which was one of the best and most successful referral program in the industry.
It worked very simply. ING Direct customers could refer friends and collect $25 per person that signed up for an account. In addition, the person you referred got $50. It’s cash in your account, just for signing up.
So how can you steal it?
Create a referral program that actually benefits people. $75 in free cash has a lot of appeal. It benefits both people, and the potential market is very broad.
The keys to a good referral program are 1) offer something people actually want and can clearly see the value in, and 2) make it easy for people to use.
Here’s a quick presentation on creating a referral program:
As always, tell me what you think of this week’s idea and suggest other marketing programs to “Steal” in the comments below.
Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, Steal This. Each week I’ll highlight a marketing activity that a company is using and suggest ways that you can model it and make it work for you. Last week’s topic was – Outside the Box Thinking.
Today’s topic is: Promote Urgency
This week’s subject came to me while I was checking the weather on my phone last week. See below.
The ad at the bottom counted down (I was too slow to capture the screenshot before it got to 1 second). I thought it was a creative way to get someone to click. It hits on a key marketing strategy, which is using urgency to sell.
When you add a time constraint to your marketing, you’re forcing customers to take action. It’s a very effective strategy in the direct marketing world.
So how can you steal it?
There are too many ways to use urgency in your marketing to name them all, but here are a few.
Employ deadlines to all of your special offers, and promote the deadline. This is common among car companies who use commercials to highlight a one month sale, or stores who highlight one weekend of discounts.
“While supplies last” is another way to promote urgency. You might create a landing page or product page on your website that promotes an offer and lists the number available. It triggers consumers to take action now or miss out on the offer.
Include “add-ons” to your offer. You might present your standard product pricing but tell people that if they buy now, you will also throw in one year of free live support, or you’ll double their order, or you’ll offer free shipping. These are popular techniques in infomercial style ads.
As always, tell me what you think of this week’s idea and suggest other marketing programs to “Steal” in the comments below.
Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, Steal This. Each week I’ll highlight a marketing activity that a company is using and suggest ways that you can model it and make it work for you. Last week’s topic was – Movie Trailers.
Today’s topic is: Outside the Box Thinking
An interesting story surfaced last week about a Japanese advertising agency that found a new place to sell ads: women’s thighs.
The agency will pay women to wear an ad on their thigh, provided they are over 18, they meet the minimum number of friends on social media sites, they wear skirts and high socks, and they take a photo of the ad and post it online from two different geographical locations.
Regardless of what you think about this idea, you have to see the innovative thinking behind it.
So how can you steal it?
Granted, this one is a bit more vague than earlier posts in this series, but the point is that you need to find things that no one else is doing. Where can you advertise that no one else is advertising? How can you find people that no one else is finding? What can you offer that no one else is offering?
This may sound stupid, but it’s this type of innovative thinking that has created every new industry in our history. What seems crazy today might be main stream in a matter of years. So how can you beat your competitors to it?
As always, tell me what you think of this week’s idea and suggest other marketing programs to “Steal” in the comments below.
Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, Steal This. Each week I’ll highlight a marketing activity that a company is using and suggest ways that you can model it and make it work for you. Last week’s topic was – Quiznos Lunchtime Email.
Today’s topic is: Movie Trailers
Movie trailers are a unique form of marketing for one specific industry. It’s essentially a sneak preview, where potential customers get to see small pieces of a movie and decide whether or not they think they’d like to see it.
They showcase the characters, important scenes, and key plot lines, without giving it away. It’s a “wet your whistle” type of advertising that is meant to leave you wanting more.
So how can you steal it?
You may not be in the movie business, but you have something that you want people to want. So make your own movie trailer for your product or service.
Figure out how to let people get a sneak preview of your offering. For some companies, this may mean free samples. For others, it might mean a limited access to certain goods or services that expires after a certain amount of time. It could even just be a video showcasing real customers using the product and talking about it.
Anything that let’s potential customers “experience” your offering before they buy it, to get their attention and boost their interest in what you’re selling.
As always, tell me what you think of this week’s idea and suggest other marketing programs to “Steal” in the comments below.
Zach Heller Marketing is all about perfecting the way you and your company communicate with consumers in the digital age. Our specialties include email marketing, social media marketing, direct mail, and website design and development.
My name is Zach Heller. My goal is to create a place of open communication about marketing, advertising, small business, etc. I invite comments, emails, and connections of any kind. Want to trade links? Trade stories? Share posts? Connect with me today!
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