Avenue Coffee Leaves Tucson Twittering and Caffeinated

As Twitter becomes more of a business tool every day, there is an emerging trend of smaller businesses using the social media platform as a way to engage customers. Korean BBQ trucks in L.A., snowball shops in New Orleans and sushi restaurants in San Francisco have all found ways to market with a limited advertising budget, achieving outstanding results.

Avenue Coffee, Tucson’s newest place to get your java fix, was extremely successful in using Twitter to drive first-day sales to their store on a day that had many clamoring for their free pastries from a much larger competitor.

Buy low, sell high marketing

“Buy low, sell high” applies just as well to market and mind share as it does to stocks.  Astute marketers recognize that the current weakness in economic activity can be turned into an opportunity for growth.

In fact, a recent global survey of chief executives conducted by McKinsey & Company found that 20% of organizations plan to increase their marketing budgets over the next year.  Now, what do these firms know that the 45% planning to reduce budgets don’t?  Simply that advertising investments during a recession can pay off handsomely.

E-mail Marketing

Part of the “Low-Cost, High-Impact” Smart Marketing Workshop

You probably get them in your inbox frequently: newsletters, announcements, surveys and invitations. In a marketing study conducted by the National Retail Federation, 90 percent of all business respondents identified e-mail marketing as a top priority in their marketing plan.

If you haven’t tried this technique of reaching customers, you should. Not only does it allow you to communicate directly to new and existing customers, there are no printing or postage costs. All you need to get started is a database of customers and their e-mail addresses. If you aren’t already asking your customers for their e-mail addresses, you can ask them to voluntarily sign up for any sales or business news. It’s an easy way to build your own database of customers who want your information and are therefore less likely to treat your e-mail marketing as spam and hit the delete button.

Is Your Message Strategy Outdated?

Every business out there can probably say they offer a product or service relevant to today’s consumers. But do you tell your consumers that? Is your message strategy telling would-be customers what they want to hear given today’s economic climate?

First Impressions .. and Second, and Third

When did you last take the time to experience your business as a customer? First impressions, and second and third, often count. How customers perceive you in person, online or over the telephone can impact your bottom line.

When you walk in the front door is this the impression you want to give to your customers?  Are you greeted?  Does the furniture and décor in the lobby fit the image you are trying to portray?  If you are kid-friendly, do you have small size seating, a play area or both?