Here is a marketing strategy used by the best copywriters to greatly increase response rates and sales. It is called using "Reason Why" copy.
"Reason Why" copy tells people why you are doing something like offering a special price, having a huge sale, offering a free seminar, giving away 2 for the price of 1, etc. The reason for this is that if something sounds too good to be true, people become very skeptical. However, if you are honest and give people a "reason why" you are doing what you are doing, then people will be more trustworthy and respond.
For example, "We are having a huge 60% off sale on Brand X dog food this weekend because we accidentally ordered way too much and we have no place to store it. Next time we will make sure our purchase order says 60 bags instead of 600. So, now we are stuck with all of this dog food and if we do not sell all of our excess inventory over the weekend, it will go to waste and we will lose money. Our dumb mistake is your opportunity to save 60% on brand X dog food this weekend."
The more honest you are, the more people will respond to your advertising. So, give people a "reason why" and they will be more likely to buy.
To your business success!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Is your marketing program prepared for 2010
It's Peter Geisheker, your favorite marketing strategist, letting you know that it's nearly November and time to prepare your yearly marketing plan and develop your marketing materials for a successful 2010.
With a powerful marketing program, 2010 can be your best year ever!
Those who plan their marketing program succeed. Those who don't set themselves up for failure. Which are you? Ask yourself these important marketing questions...
Have you selected 1-2 niche markets you can dominate? How are you going to dominate those niche markets? What marketing strategies will you employ?
Have you positioned your business and your products and services as being a better value than competing products and services? If no, there is no reason for a customer to buy from you. To be successful in business you must show how you can provide a more valuable benefit to your customers.
Have you analyzed your competition to see how they are marketing their products/services and how you can out-market them? What can you do better than your competition to provide more value for your customers?
Have you talked to your customers to learn what are their hot buttons so you can tailor your marketing to say what customers want to hear so you can make more sales? My guess is no you have not.
Do you have a customer referral program? If no, why not?
Do you have a powerful yet simple slogan that immediately tells your customers the #1 benefit of doing business with you? If you do not, you are missing out on a huge marketing opportunity.
Are you making maximum use of the Internet to generate leads and increase sales?
Are you sending out press releases to generate publicity for your company, your products, and your services? If no, you are missing out on a gigantic marketing opportunity.
Are all of your marketing communications simple to understand and focus on the benefits your customers will receive to make their lives better?
Do your employees and sales force know why customers should do business with you? If I were to ask anybody from your company what your company does and why I should buy from you instead of your competition, would I get the same clear answer or would your employees not know what to say or all say something different? If every person on your team cannot perfectly answer why a customer should do business with you instead of your competition, you have a major problem that must be solved.
To give your marketing program the absolute best chance for success, you should consider working with The Geisheker Group marketing firm. We have the experience and knowledge to create and implement a highly successful marketing program for you.
Because we know times are tough, we are offering to help you finance our services by offering monthly payments. Instead of having to pay our fee in full, you can spread it out over a few months and you can pay with credit card if you want to.
The Geisheker Group Inc. will provide your business with the following marketing services:
1. Develop a strategic marketing plan. We will determine the absolute best strategic and tactical marketing strategies your business must utilize both online and offline to successfully market its products and/or services and dominate your marketplace.
2. Position your company to be the best choice for your target market.
3. Create a powerful slogan.
4. Write powerful sales text for all of your marketing communications materials including brochures, emails, newsletters, your website, sales letters, press releases, direct mail campaigns, print advertising, sales presentations, Power Point presentations, and much more.
5. Publicity. Our PR department writes amazing press releases that have gotten our clients national publicity in newspapers, magazines, radio, the Internet, and trade publications. If you want a PR campaign that generates results, we're the firm you need to work with.
6. We'll get your product into retail stores. If you want to get your product into retail giants like Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Home Depot, Sears, and more, we can help you.
7. Advanced sales training. Leads are worthless if your sales people cannot convert them into sales. We find that one of the biggest problems facing companies that come to us for help is their ratio of leads to sales is horribly low. What this means is their sales team is having difficulty closing the sale. Our expert sales trainers will train your sales force to close sale after sale...effortlessly. If you want your sales team to close more sales, contact us. We'll make your sales team sales rock stars!
If you are serious about making your company a dominant leader in your industry, contact us today. We have produced outstanding results for our clients and we will produce excellent results for your company. Now take the next step and contact us. Remember, success favors those who take action.
Call us today for a no-obligation quote. (920) 471-1638.
To your business success in 2010!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
With a powerful marketing program, 2010 can be your best year ever!
Those who plan their marketing program succeed. Those who don't set themselves up for failure. Which are you? Ask yourself these important marketing questions...
Have you selected 1-2 niche markets you can dominate? How are you going to dominate those niche markets? What marketing strategies will you employ?
Have you positioned your business and your products and services as being a better value than competing products and services? If no, there is no reason for a customer to buy from you. To be successful in business you must show how you can provide a more valuable benefit to your customers.
Have you analyzed your competition to see how they are marketing their products/services and how you can out-market them? What can you do better than your competition to provide more value for your customers?
Have you talked to your customers to learn what are their hot buttons so you can tailor your marketing to say what customers want to hear so you can make more sales? My guess is no you have not.
Do you have a customer referral program? If no, why not?
Do you have a powerful yet simple slogan that immediately tells your customers the #1 benefit of doing business with you? If you do not, you are missing out on a huge marketing opportunity.
Are you making maximum use of the Internet to generate leads and increase sales?
Are you sending out press releases to generate publicity for your company, your products, and your services? If no, you are missing out on a gigantic marketing opportunity.
Are all of your marketing communications simple to understand and focus on the benefits your customers will receive to make their lives better?
Do your employees and sales force know why customers should do business with you? If I were to ask anybody from your company what your company does and why I should buy from you instead of your competition, would I get the same clear answer or would your employees not know what to say or all say something different? If every person on your team cannot perfectly answer why a customer should do business with you instead of your competition, you have a major problem that must be solved.
To give your marketing program the absolute best chance for success, you should consider working with The Geisheker Group marketing firm. We have the experience and knowledge to create and implement a highly successful marketing program for you.
Because we know times are tough, we are offering to help you finance our services by offering monthly payments. Instead of having to pay our fee in full, you can spread it out over a few months and you can pay with credit card if you want to.
The Geisheker Group Inc. will provide your business with the following marketing services:
1. Develop a strategic marketing plan. We will determine the absolute best strategic and tactical marketing strategies your business must utilize both online and offline to successfully market its products and/or services and dominate your marketplace.
2. Position your company to be the best choice for your target market.
3. Create a powerful slogan.
4. Write powerful sales text for all of your marketing communications materials including brochures, emails, newsletters, your website, sales letters, press releases, direct mail campaigns, print advertising, sales presentations, Power Point presentations, and much more.
5. Publicity. Our PR department writes amazing press releases that have gotten our clients national publicity in newspapers, magazines, radio, the Internet, and trade publications. If you want a PR campaign that generates results, we're the firm you need to work with.
6. We'll get your product into retail stores. If you want to get your product into retail giants like Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Home Depot, Sears, and more, we can help you.
7. Advanced sales training. Leads are worthless if your sales people cannot convert them into sales. We find that one of the biggest problems facing companies that come to us for help is their ratio of leads to sales is horribly low. What this means is their sales team is having difficulty closing the sale. Our expert sales trainers will train your sales force to close sale after sale...effortlessly. If you want your sales team to close more sales, contact us. We'll make your sales team sales rock stars!
If you are serious about making your company a dominant leader in your industry, contact us today. We have produced outstanding results for our clients and we will produce excellent results for your company. Now take the next step and contact us. Remember, success favors those who take action.
Call us today for a no-obligation quote. (920) 471-1638.
To your business success in 2010!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Taco Bell Black Jack Taco TV Commercial
I just saw the new TV commercial for the Taco Bell Black Jack Taco. This is going into my list of worst TV commercials I have seen. First of all, they compare the Black Jack Taco to black boots, a black dress, a black dog, and a black eye. Wow, isn't that appealing! Seeing a black dog and a black eye make me want to run out and try the Black Jack Taco.... NOT!
And, the Black Jack Taco itself looks disgusting. The black taco shell looks like it is horribly burnt. It is just plain nasty. My guess is this hideous product will be discontinued within 6-months... if it even makes it that long.
This is a great example of what not to do in advertising.
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
And, the Black Jack Taco itself looks disgusting. The black taco shell looks like it is horribly burnt. It is just plain nasty. My guess is this hideous product will be discontinued within 6-months... if it even makes it that long.
This is a great example of what not to do in advertising.
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
CPG Sales Strategy and Large Count Size
IN CONSUMER PACKAGE GOODS RETAIL SALES THE ANSWER IS ABSOLUTELY YES!
Despite a declining economy, those retailers who years ago adopted the original Price Club business model learned that large count product cash register sales and high transaction velocity meant outstanding cash flow and profits! Imagine having thousands of ATM machines loaded with cash. However, if no one accepts the fee for a withdrawal or takes money out, all you have is dead cash in the ATM machine and you LOSE money on the lease fees. The same business model applies to today’s Channel supply chain retail environment. Your inventory is the cash and the size and speed of the retail transaction ultimately determines what is called “PENNY PROFIT” and cash flow. If you’re not a believer yet, just research the price of stocks like Costco and Wal-Mart/Sams.
Busy consumers who are working parents have increasingly disliked the “shopping experience”. Why do busy working mothers stop at their local Walgreens or CVS to buy diapers or milk at a higher price, rather than stop in the local Mass or Grocery Store with better prices? CONVENIENCE. Sam Walton had one of his early consumer mission principles ingrained in every (I mean every) one of his employees from CEO to associate “the way to succeed at retail long term is to eliminate the aggravation of consumers doing business with Wal-Mart”. This principle is still true today for any leading retailer. Promoting and selling large count packs means higher cash register revenue sales, fewer out of stocks in home (more consumption) and fewer retail store trips which will ultimately enhance the overall shopper experience when they do shop, provided the right mix of product is available.
Club stores like Costco and Sam’s use to be called “CATEGORY KILLERS” by most of the grocery industry due to their limited offerings (usually only a large size of the #1 selling brand in each category) and incredibly low prices per unit. They didn’t charge slotting, ad fees, plan-o-gram and so on. They wanted the absolute best cost from the manufacturer and they passed the saving directly to the consumer. Those leading grocery retailers who caught on early are thriving versus their competition. To get into Costco a single item has to exceed $2,000,000 in retail sales per year. For that large count packing the manufacturer will have its product sold at 14% above cost. The consumer wins and the manufacture does too by selling two times the product per transaction and cash flow for the manufacturer and retailer is optimized.
The average grocery store cash register market basket per consumer shopping trip use to be in the area of $28 to $38 while club stores were averaging $178 and up per shopping trip. Consumers see shopping club stores as a “shopping experience” and often take the whole family. Just for young or large families? No. Demographics are increasingly favoring older people who also enjoy the shopping experience. The fact club stores only carry large count sizes reinforces what most consumer’s prefer, and more importantly, EXPECT.
Yes, size does matter. What’s in your wallet and stock portfolio?
To Your Success!
Gary Pawlovich, Executive VP of Business Development
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 265-9500
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Friday, October 16, 2009
How to create a slogan
One of the hardest and most frustrating parts of my job is writing slogans and positioning statements for clients. The reason for this is because there are so many horrible slogans being used by big companies that people no longer understand the purpose of a slogan.
So here is my soapbox lesson on slogans.
The purpose a slogan is to do one thing – explain your number one most powerful and unique benefit the clients will receive from doing business with you. It is not about using esoteric words and phrases that basically mean nothing. It is all about clearly and very simply stating your most powerful benefit so when your client reads your slogan, they immediately know how your product/services will help them. Most companies completely screw this up and come up with a phrase that means absolutely nothing to consumers. If you have to explain what your slogan means to somebody, your slogan SUCKS! A slogan is not a puzzle, it is not Zen philosophy. People should never have to guess what the heck your slogan means.
Here is an example for a fake management consulting company:
Bad slogan that means nothing:
"XYZ Business Consulting - We define excellence."
Good slogan:
"XYZ Business Consulting - We help businesses find and eliminate hidden costs that kill profitability."
Do you notice how the bad slogan means nothing? What is the benefit? How does this consulting company "defining excellence" help my company if I were to hire them? You are probably thinking to yourself that you see slogans like this all the time. Guess what, most slogans suck.
Now, do you notice how the good slogan promises a strong benefit? You read the slogan once and you know what the company does and how they will help you. Could this slogan be made even stronger? Hell yes, but it is Friday afternoon and I want to call it a day.
To your success!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
So here is my soapbox lesson on slogans.
The purpose a slogan is to do one thing – explain your number one most powerful and unique benefit the clients will receive from doing business with you. It is not about using esoteric words and phrases that basically mean nothing. It is all about clearly and very simply stating your most powerful benefit so when your client reads your slogan, they immediately know how your product/services will help them. Most companies completely screw this up and come up with a phrase that means absolutely nothing to consumers. If you have to explain what your slogan means to somebody, your slogan SUCKS! A slogan is not a puzzle, it is not Zen philosophy. People should never have to guess what the heck your slogan means.
Here is an example for a fake management consulting company:
Bad slogan that means nothing:
"XYZ Business Consulting - We define excellence."
Good slogan:
"XYZ Business Consulting - We help businesses find and eliminate hidden costs that kill profitability."
Do you notice how the bad slogan means nothing? What is the benefit? How does this consulting company "defining excellence" help my company if I were to hire them? You are probably thinking to yourself that you see slogans like this all the time. Guess what, most slogans suck.
Now, do you notice how the good slogan promises a strong benefit? You read the slogan once and you know what the company does and how they will help you. Could this slogan be made even stronger? Hell yes, but it is Friday afternoon and I want to call it a day.
To your success!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Hiring Sales People The Right Way
One of the biggest mistakes made by businesses today is that they have people with limited sales experience interviewing and hiring their potential salespeople. That may not seem dangerous at a glance, but it can have a disastrous effect on sales, and ultimately the growth of the company.
Don’t be fooled! Every salesperson has at least one good sale in him…and he’s going to use it on you if you’re not careful. There probably isn’t a company in the modern world that hasn’t hired a salesperson who seemed to show fantastic promise in the interview only to be a complete waste of time and money.
If you step away from sales it begins to make more sense. If I had to interview and select an IT professional I would very likely pick the wrong guy. I’m sure he would be a team player with a great attitude and personality and someone with lots of energy, but does that make him the right guy to solve my IT issues? Not at all. And I’m not doing him any favors in the process. It won’t take long for him and everyone else to figure out that he was never a good fit to begin with. Meanwhile I have lost precious time and money on someone who never should have been hired!
You see, I am no more qualified to select an IT professional than I would be to judge a dog show. I have no experience with it. I could delude myself into thinking that since I know what needs to get done and I am a good judge of character, I should be able to make the selection, but that would be foolish. I need someone who knows IT to really determine if this person is truly qualified, or just blowing smoke.
Don’t gamble with the future of your company!
Good salespeople can lift your company to extraordinary new heights. Poor ones can drag your company down like an anchor.
The solution: Have sales professionals interview and hire your sales team! There is an art to interviewing, especially when it comes to sales people. Hiring a professional firm to handle recruitment means that you don’t have to worry about being ‘sold’ by the pretenders anymore. What’s even better is that the right interviewers make sure that candidates are ‘sold’ on the exciting advantages of coming to work for you!
Dan Leymaster, CEO
New Paradigm Sales Training and Sales Outsourcing
1-866-472-5374
Don’t be fooled! Every salesperson has at least one good sale in him…and he’s going to use it on you if you’re not careful. There probably isn’t a company in the modern world that hasn’t hired a salesperson who seemed to show fantastic promise in the interview only to be a complete waste of time and money.
If you step away from sales it begins to make more sense. If I had to interview and select an IT professional I would very likely pick the wrong guy. I’m sure he would be a team player with a great attitude and personality and someone with lots of energy, but does that make him the right guy to solve my IT issues? Not at all. And I’m not doing him any favors in the process. It won’t take long for him and everyone else to figure out that he was never a good fit to begin with. Meanwhile I have lost precious time and money on someone who never should have been hired!
You see, I am no more qualified to select an IT professional than I would be to judge a dog show. I have no experience with it. I could delude myself into thinking that since I know what needs to get done and I am a good judge of character, I should be able to make the selection, but that would be foolish. I need someone who knows IT to really determine if this person is truly qualified, or just blowing smoke.
Don’t gamble with the future of your company!
Good salespeople can lift your company to extraordinary new heights. Poor ones can drag your company down like an anchor.
The solution: Have sales professionals interview and hire your sales team! There is an art to interviewing, especially when it comes to sales people. Hiring a professional firm to handle recruitment means that you don’t have to worry about being ‘sold’ by the pretenders anymore. What’s even better is that the right interviewers make sure that candidates are ‘sold’ on the exciting advantages of coming to work for you!
Dan Leymaster, CEO
New Paradigm Sales Training and Sales Outsourcing
1-866-472-5374
Monday, October 12, 2009
dealing with cancer - cancer awareness
As you probably already know, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the USA. The only way to stop cancer is to raise awareness and raise money for cancer research. Please show you care by purchasing a "1 Million Against Cancer" t-shirt to show your support for victims of cancer and to help raise money for cancer research.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Peter Geisheker
The Geisheker Group Marketing Firm
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Peter Geisheker
The Geisheker Group Marketing Firm
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Google Adwords Tips part 3
In this, my third article in my series of tips on how to correctly use Google AdWords to drive targeted buying traffic to your website, I am going to discuss what I see as the most powerful yet most underused strategy for successful advertising with Google AdWords - using negative keywords to block the wrong type of traffic from seeing and clicking on your Google Ad.
Negative keywords are words people include in their search queries that make them a bad prospect for what you are selling.
For example, let’s say on your website you sell very high quality new metal bird cages and you are bidding on the key phrase “bird cages.” Now would a person who searches for “cheap bird cages”, “free bird cages”, “glass bird cages”, “used bird cages”, or “bamboo bird cages” be a good prospect for you? No. They are looking for something you do not sell. Therefore, you do not want them seeing your Google Ad, clicking on it, and wasting your money.
So how do you add negative keywords to your Google AdWords campaign? Very simple. Once you have created a campaign, click on the “keywords” tab. Then scroll down toward the bottom of the page and you will see a link to add negative keywords. Click on it and start adding words that would bring the wrong type of traffic to your website such as: free, cheap, glass, wood, bamboo, used… etc.
The way Google handles your list of negative keywords is once you have added your list of negative keywords, if a person conducts a search on “glass bird cages”, which contains your negative keyword “glass”, your Google ad will NOT be displayed to that person. And if your ad is not displayed, the person cannot click on your ad and waste your money. On the other hand, if a person searches for “bird cages” or “metal bird cages”, your ad WILL be displayed because no negative keywords are included in those searches. Do you see how adding negative keywords to your campaign allows you to filter out the people you do not want while letting the people you do want see your ad, click on it, come to your website and buy your products? Pretty cool isn’t it! It is honestly the most powerful advertising tool I have ever seen.
Now that you understand what negative keywords are and how they will dramatically improve your success with Google AdWords, the next question is, how do you find negative keywords? Here is where you fall in love with me. Instead of spending a day guessing, there is a fantastic FREE tool you can use at Word Tracker at http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com. To use this tool, just type in your main search phrase for your ad campaign (in this case your main search phrase for people to see your ad is, “bird cages” (without the quotes) and click the “Hit Me” button. You will then see a list of all searches people are conducting based on your search phrase of “bird cages”. Your job is to review this entire list and add all of the wrong search words to your negative keyword list so people who are conducting searches using words for products or services you do not offer do not see your Google Ad.
The key to success with Google AdWords is being very focused on driving ONLY the correct type of traffic to your website. Every click on your Google Ad costs you money. Do not waste your money by advertising to the wrong people.
This very powerful tip I just gave you on how to use negative keywords is one of the biggest secrets of Google AdWords consultants (like me) and the businesses that make a lot of money advertising with Google AdWords (like me).
If you need help with Google AdWords or any type of marketing and advertising, my marketing firm can help you. For a free quote give us a call at (920) 471-1638.
Click here to view my Google AdWords tip 1: How to write a headline
Click here to view my Google AdWords tip 2: How to write ads that get a high click through rate.
To Your Success!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Negative keywords are words people include in their search queries that make them a bad prospect for what you are selling.
For example, let’s say on your website you sell very high quality new metal bird cages and you are bidding on the key phrase “bird cages.” Now would a person who searches for “cheap bird cages”, “free bird cages”, “glass bird cages”, “used bird cages”, or “bamboo bird cages” be a good prospect for you? No. They are looking for something you do not sell. Therefore, you do not want them seeing your Google Ad, clicking on it, and wasting your money.
So how do you add negative keywords to your Google AdWords campaign? Very simple. Once you have created a campaign, click on the “keywords” tab. Then scroll down toward the bottom of the page and you will see a link to add negative keywords. Click on it and start adding words that would bring the wrong type of traffic to your website such as: free, cheap, glass, wood, bamboo, used… etc.
The way Google handles your list of negative keywords is once you have added your list of negative keywords, if a person conducts a search on “glass bird cages”, which contains your negative keyword “glass”, your Google ad will NOT be displayed to that person. And if your ad is not displayed, the person cannot click on your ad and waste your money. On the other hand, if a person searches for “bird cages” or “metal bird cages”, your ad WILL be displayed because no negative keywords are included in those searches. Do you see how adding negative keywords to your campaign allows you to filter out the people you do not want while letting the people you do want see your ad, click on it, come to your website and buy your products? Pretty cool isn’t it! It is honestly the most powerful advertising tool I have ever seen.
Now that you understand what negative keywords are and how they will dramatically improve your success with Google AdWords, the next question is, how do you find negative keywords? Here is where you fall in love with me. Instead of spending a day guessing, there is a fantastic FREE tool you can use at Word Tracker at http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com. To use this tool, just type in your main search phrase for your ad campaign (in this case your main search phrase for people to see your ad is, “bird cages” (without the quotes) and click the “Hit Me” button. You will then see a list of all searches people are conducting based on your search phrase of “bird cages”. Your job is to review this entire list and add all of the wrong search words to your negative keyword list so people who are conducting searches using words for products or services you do not offer do not see your Google Ad.
The key to success with Google AdWords is being very focused on driving ONLY the correct type of traffic to your website. Every click on your Google Ad costs you money. Do not waste your money by advertising to the wrong people.
This very powerful tip I just gave you on how to use negative keywords is one of the biggest secrets of Google AdWords consultants (like me) and the businesses that make a lot of money advertising with Google AdWords (like me).
If you need help with Google AdWords or any type of marketing and advertising, my marketing firm can help you. For a free quote give us a call at (920) 471-1638.
Click here to view my Google AdWords tip 1: How to write a headline
Click here to view my Google AdWords tip 2: How to write ads that get a high click through rate.
To Your Success!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Private Label Marketing - The upside and dark side
Private label - The upside and dark side for the retailer, consumer and bottom line profits
Every economic downturn has retailers expanding their offerings on private label products to meet the expected change in financially strapped consumer purchase habits. The perceived win for the retailer increases margins. However, leadership retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, Walgreen's, and Costco have learned that in good times and difficult times, you don't put margin in the bank, "YOU DEPOSIT PENNIES" or DOLLARS. It's called "Gross Margin Return On Investment: or GMROI and they have perfected it after years of research on their consumer purchase habits and put the learning into developing business models that evaluate dollar profit per square foot of shelf space. If you had seen the Wal-Mart ad this past week, It was all branded products. Branded companies do the marketing, generate consumer interest to purchase a category product and motivate them to go to a store. These are the 20% to 40% of the shoppers that buy 80% of the high value products they like to sell because they are the most loyal and they BUY MORE ALL THE TIME...... All the consumer insight data supports that fact. They always tend to buy branded products which are larger transaction builders and the total cash register ring per trip is the highest of any consumer base.
Private label has never done the consumer research or introduced new products that created a category or new segment. They are followers and they can actually hurt category sales, now the dark side!
- A retailer can sell a box of private label at $1.39 per unit with a 35% margin while the branded comparison sells for $2.19 and the margin is 25%. The quality and units of measure may not be the same, however, the consumer appears to save money. First, for each sale the retailer just lost $ .80 in their cash register as sales revenue generated. Multiplied by 100's of categories and 10,000 or more items in each store and you can understand why Channel retails sales can be down sharply with an overly aggressive private label campaign.
- In this example, for every consumer traded down to the private label for a branded item, the retailer made more margin but made $ .49 on the private label sale, but missed the $ .55 the branded sale would have generated or they lost $ .06 on the potential sale. That's what is called managing and merchandising to generate cash flow and "PENNY PROFIT".
- Back to GMROI and it's impact on Channel cash flow and working capital. Many retailers today still "buy and hold" due to big deals. However GMROI is an industry standard which it deals with velocity of a product, the cash/revenue and profit generated from each individual product. If you have an item on the shelf with a 45% margin and only one is sold every couple of weeks or less, the GMROI would be terrible and most retailers would discontinue the item ASAP! That's not smart cash management any more and lowers available working capital.
My wife shops at a nationally known store and some of their tactics has been to eliminated selected branded products and only offer private label. After several months of this frustration, she no longer shops that store close to our home and drives further to find the products she wants. Great example of not catering to your best consumer and reward consumer loyalty for the sake of margin. We have had five children and would suggest the store manager never knew my wife stopped shopping there, she just left.
If you need help with retail marketing and channel management, please call Gary Pawlovich at (920) 265-9500.
To Your Success!
Gary Pawlovich, Executive VP of Business Development
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 265-9500
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Every economic downturn has retailers expanding their offerings on private label products to meet the expected change in financially strapped consumer purchase habits. The perceived win for the retailer increases margins. However, leadership retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, Walgreen's, and Costco have learned that in good times and difficult times, you don't put margin in the bank, "YOU DEPOSIT PENNIES" or DOLLARS. It's called "Gross Margin Return On Investment: or GMROI and they have perfected it after years of research on their consumer purchase habits and put the learning into developing business models that evaluate dollar profit per square foot of shelf space. If you had seen the Wal-Mart ad this past week, It was all branded products. Branded companies do the marketing, generate consumer interest to purchase a category product and motivate them to go to a store. These are the 20% to 40% of the shoppers that buy 80% of the high value products they like to sell because they are the most loyal and they BUY MORE ALL THE TIME...... All the consumer insight data supports that fact. They always tend to buy branded products which are larger transaction builders and the total cash register ring per trip is the highest of any consumer base.
Private label has never done the consumer research or introduced new products that created a category or new segment. They are followers and they can actually hurt category sales, now the dark side!
- A retailer can sell a box of private label at $1.39 per unit with a 35% margin while the branded comparison sells for $2.19 and the margin is 25%. The quality and units of measure may not be the same, however, the consumer appears to save money. First, for each sale the retailer just lost $ .80 in their cash register as sales revenue generated. Multiplied by 100's of categories and 10,000 or more items in each store and you can understand why Channel retails sales can be down sharply with an overly aggressive private label campaign.
- In this example, for every consumer traded down to the private label for a branded item, the retailer made more margin but made $ .49 on the private label sale, but missed the $ .55 the branded sale would have generated or they lost $ .06 on the potential sale. That's what is called managing and merchandising to generate cash flow and "PENNY PROFIT".
- Back to GMROI and it's impact on Channel cash flow and working capital. Many retailers today still "buy and hold" due to big deals. However GMROI is an industry standard which it deals with velocity of a product, the cash/revenue and profit generated from each individual product. If you have an item on the shelf with a 45% margin and only one is sold every couple of weeks or less, the GMROI would be terrible and most retailers would discontinue the item ASAP! That's not smart cash management any more and lowers available working capital.
My wife shops at a nationally known store and some of their tactics has been to eliminated selected branded products and only offer private label. After several months of this frustration, she no longer shops that store close to our home and drives further to find the products she wants. Great example of not catering to your best consumer and reward consumer loyalty for the sake of margin. We have had five children and would suggest the store manager never knew my wife stopped shopping there, she just left.
If you need help with retail marketing and channel management, please call Gary Pawlovich at (920) 265-9500.
To Your Success!
Gary Pawlovich, Executive VP of Business Development
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 265-9500
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Online Travel Business
Below is an interview I did for Entrepreneur Magazine on how to start an online travel business.
What type of marketing research should an entrepreneur wanting to launch an online travel business do in advance?
The first thing I recommend an online travel business does is to choose one or two popular niche travel markets they want to specialize in, such as France, England, Brazil, Costa Rica, New Zealand, major US Cities, etc. To try and compete directly with large established online travel services is very difficult unless you have incredibly deep pockets. The best way to build a successful online travel business is to be the #1 specialist for very specific travel location. This is known as niche marketing.
Before choosing specific travel locations, you will want to do research to find out what travel destinations are most popular. A great website for researching the world’s top tourist destinations is the World Tourism Organization website found at http://www.unwto.org.
Do you have some quick start-up ideas for someone wanting to launch a travel business?
The first thing to do is to research and choose a niche market. This is the most important thing you can do. Then, become a specialist at that market. For example, let’s say you decide you want to become an authority on vacations to Mexico. You should travel there and learn about the culture and the tourist hotspots. Once you have decided that Mexico is the niche market you want to pursue, then you need to create travel packages. Consumers want one stop shopping and the easier you can make their life by handling all travel arrangements such as booking airline tickets, hotels, car rental, getting tickets for entertainment, etc., the easier you make it for your customers.
Keeping in mind that a majority of the readers will be budget-conscious, what are some internet marketing strategies that you would recommend?
Now that you have chosen the niche market you want to pursue, your next job is to create a website. Your website should be attractive and have a lot of pictures. It should also contain very strong sales text that excites people about the amazing travel packages you offer and why you are the best service in the world to use. The job of a website is to sell, so make your sales pitch as powerful as you possibly can. Make sure to include your contact information on every page (phone and email). Also, list any customer testimonials you have. People want social proof that they can trust you and having testimonials from happy customers is the best way to accomplish that.
The most powerful Internet marketing strategies I recommend are as follows:
1. Setup a Google AdWords pay-per-click advertising campaign (http://adwords.google.com/). This service allows you to bid on specific keywords that people search for so when they search on a specific search term, such as “mexico beach vacations”, which just happens to be searched on over 3,000 times every single day, your website is displayed in the “sponsored links” results in the right hand column of Google. To learn how to create successful Google AdWords advertising campaigns, I highly recommend you purchase the ebook, “The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords” at www.perrymarshall.com. Buying this $49 ebook will be one of the smartest investments you will ever make in building a successful online travel business. Once you have created a successful Google AdWords advertising campaign, you should create a Yahoo pay-per-click advertising campaign by going to http://sem.smallbusiness.yahoo.com/searchenginemarketing/
Then, create an MSN (Bing) pay-per-click advertising campaign by going to http://advertising.microsoft.com/ad-programs
2. Perform search engine optimization on your website so you are listed in the top 10 results on Google, Yahoo, and MSN for your most popular search terms. So, for example, if you specialize in Mexico beach vacations, you would want to have your website listed on the first page of the natural search results when a person searches on “Mexico beach vacations”. As search engine optimization is a complicated and long-term marketing strategy, I highly recommend you hire a search engine optimization firm to perform this service for you, or you study books on how to get top ten search engine rankings. A great website for learning about search engine optimization is http://www.highrankings.com/seo-resources.
3. Write 1-page 600 word articles on traveling to the location you specialize in and post your articles on article distribution websites such as www.ezinearticles.com and www.isnare.com. This will get your articles posted on many websites and help send traffic to your website. It also shows that you are an expert on that specific travel location, and people want to do business with an expert. So, try to write at least two articles each month and post them on those article distribution websites. Please note that when you write these articles, they should not be advertising or promotions for your business in the article itself. Instead, these should be “how to” type articles or general interest articles. For example, an idea for an article could be the top 10 beaches of Mexico, or why Beach XYZ is Mexico’s best family beach. Then, in the about the author section of your article, list your name, your business name, and your website address.
4. Write press releases on exciting news about traveling to the destination you specialize in such as why traveling to Mexico makes a great family vacation or The Secret Beaches of Mexico. Or, if you have done something very special such as making it far easier or safer for people tor travel by using your services, write a press release. When you write a press release, your press release as a new story to excite the media into wanting to contact you and interview you for articles. Think of a press release as a news teaser to grab the interest of reporters. Press releases are a great way to get free publicity and to make yourself viewed as a top expert in your field. One of the best places to post your press releases is www.prweb.com. I recommend posting at least one press release per month. You should also fax your press release to travel magazines. For more information on how to write a great press release, I recommend you go to http://www.publicityhound.com.
How effective do you think offline marketing would be, such as direct mail or print ads?
Offline marketing can be of value if it is done repetitively. However, as it is much more expensive, I recommend that you first do everything you can with Internet marketing before diving into offline marketing.
When you do decide to perform offline marketing, you want to choose a niche market that you know travels and that can afford to travel. You can post small ads in travel magazines and airline magazines and you can send direct mail to the subscribers of those magazines. A great place to get quality lists for direct mail campaigns is Best Mailing Lists at http://www.bestmailing.com .
Any trends or statistics in the travel industry or internet marketing that you would like to comment on?
The Internet has become the #1 place people turn to when researching vacation destinations and purchasing travel packages. As an online travel business, you need to do everything you can to make sure when people are searching for the travel destination you specialize in, your website is found! This is done with Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Advertising Campaigns on Google, Yahoo, and MSN, writing articles (1-2 per month or more), and sending out at least one news-based press release every month.
To Your Success!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
What type of marketing research should an entrepreneur wanting to launch an online travel business do in advance?
The first thing I recommend an online travel business does is to choose one or two popular niche travel markets they want to specialize in, such as France, England, Brazil, Costa Rica, New Zealand, major US Cities, etc. To try and compete directly with large established online travel services is very difficult unless you have incredibly deep pockets. The best way to build a successful online travel business is to be the #1 specialist for very specific travel location. This is known as niche marketing.
Before choosing specific travel locations, you will want to do research to find out what travel destinations are most popular. A great website for researching the world’s top tourist destinations is the World Tourism Organization website found at http://www.unwto.org.
Do you have some quick start-up ideas for someone wanting to launch a travel business?
The first thing to do is to research and choose a niche market. This is the most important thing you can do. Then, become a specialist at that market. For example, let’s say you decide you want to become an authority on vacations to Mexico. You should travel there and learn about the culture and the tourist hotspots. Once you have decided that Mexico is the niche market you want to pursue, then you need to create travel packages. Consumers want one stop shopping and the easier you can make their life by handling all travel arrangements such as booking airline tickets, hotels, car rental, getting tickets for entertainment, etc., the easier you make it for your customers.
Keeping in mind that a majority of the readers will be budget-conscious, what are some internet marketing strategies that you would recommend?
Now that you have chosen the niche market you want to pursue, your next job is to create a website. Your website should be attractive and have a lot of pictures. It should also contain very strong sales text that excites people about the amazing travel packages you offer and why you are the best service in the world to use. The job of a website is to sell, so make your sales pitch as powerful as you possibly can. Make sure to include your contact information on every page (phone and email). Also, list any customer testimonials you have. People want social proof that they can trust you and having testimonials from happy customers is the best way to accomplish that.
The most powerful Internet marketing strategies I recommend are as follows:
1. Setup a Google AdWords pay-per-click advertising campaign (http://adwords.google.com/). This service allows you to bid on specific keywords that people search for so when they search on a specific search term, such as “mexico beach vacations”, which just happens to be searched on over 3,000 times every single day, your website is displayed in the “sponsored links” results in the right hand column of Google. To learn how to create successful Google AdWords advertising campaigns, I highly recommend you purchase the ebook, “The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords” at www.perrymarshall.com. Buying this $49 ebook will be one of the smartest investments you will ever make in building a successful online travel business. Once you have created a successful Google AdWords advertising campaign, you should create a Yahoo pay-per-click advertising campaign by going to http://sem.smallbusiness.yahoo.com/searchenginemarketing/
Then, create an MSN (Bing) pay-per-click advertising campaign by going to http://advertising.microsoft.com/ad-programs
2. Perform search engine optimization on your website so you are listed in the top 10 results on Google, Yahoo, and MSN for your most popular search terms. So, for example, if you specialize in Mexico beach vacations, you would want to have your website listed on the first page of the natural search results when a person searches on “Mexico beach vacations”. As search engine optimization is a complicated and long-term marketing strategy, I highly recommend you hire a search engine optimization firm to perform this service for you, or you study books on how to get top ten search engine rankings. A great website for learning about search engine optimization is http://www.highrankings.com/seo-resources.
3. Write 1-page 600 word articles on traveling to the location you specialize in and post your articles on article distribution websites such as www.ezinearticles.com and www.isnare.com. This will get your articles posted on many websites and help send traffic to your website. It also shows that you are an expert on that specific travel location, and people want to do business with an expert. So, try to write at least two articles each month and post them on those article distribution websites. Please note that when you write these articles, they should not be advertising or promotions for your business in the article itself. Instead, these should be “how to” type articles or general interest articles. For example, an idea for an article could be the top 10 beaches of Mexico, or why Beach XYZ is Mexico’s best family beach. Then, in the about the author section of your article, list your name, your business name, and your website address.
4. Write press releases on exciting news about traveling to the destination you specialize in such as why traveling to Mexico makes a great family vacation or The Secret Beaches of Mexico. Or, if you have done something very special such as making it far easier or safer for people tor travel by using your services, write a press release. When you write a press release, your press release as a new story to excite the media into wanting to contact you and interview you for articles. Think of a press release as a news teaser to grab the interest of reporters. Press releases are a great way to get free publicity and to make yourself viewed as a top expert in your field. One of the best places to post your press releases is www.prweb.com. I recommend posting at least one press release per month. You should also fax your press release to travel magazines. For more information on how to write a great press release, I recommend you go to http://www.publicityhound.com.
How effective do you think offline marketing would be, such as direct mail or print ads?
Offline marketing can be of value if it is done repetitively. However, as it is much more expensive, I recommend that you first do everything you can with Internet marketing before diving into offline marketing.
When you do decide to perform offline marketing, you want to choose a niche market that you know travels and that can afford to travel. You can post small ads in travel magazines and airline magazines and you can send direct mail to the subscribers of those magazines. A great place to get quality lists for direct mail campaigns is Best Mailing Lists at http://www.bestmailing.com .
Any trends or statistics in the travel industry or internet marketing that you would like to comment on?
The Internet has become the #1 place people turn to when researching vacation destinations and purchasing travel packages. As an online travel business, you need to do everything you can to make sure when people are searching for the travel destination you specialize in, your website is found! This is done with Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Advertising Campaigns on Google, Yahoo, and MSN, writing articles (1-2 per month or more), and sending out at least one news-based press release every month.
To Your Success!
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing firm
(920) 471-1638
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)