Archive for category Business

article by : ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN

This article from the New York Times is a great example of how packaging of a product can help sales of the product.

SALES of facial tissue during the cold and flu season are, appropriately enough, feverish, but not so during the summer. In the four weeks that ended July 12, 2009, for example, revenue for the products totaled $57.8 million, compared with $92.4 million in the four weeks ending Jan. 24, 2010, a difference of nearly 60 percent, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a market research company whose data does not include Wal-Mart sales.

Now Kleenex, the brand that invented facial tissues 86 years ago, is hoping to bolster summer sales with packages that resemble wedges of fruit and look more at home on a picnic table than a bedside table. The A-frame packages, featuring fruits like watermelon, orange and lime, were available only at Target last summer, and are being sold at all major retailers this summer.

“This keeps the category relevant during this time of year,” said Craig Smith, brand director of Kleenex, a Kimberly-Clark brand. Mr. Smith said that with the fruit packaging test run last summer, “we saw close to 100 percent incrementality,” meaning sales of the novelty box did not cannibalize sales of standard Kleenex boxes.

“People who were not engaged by the facial tissue category were pulled in, while regular users were buying this special package in addition to their normal facial tissue purchases,” Mr. Smith said.

Introduced in 1924 as a “sanitary cold cream remover,” Kleenex derived its name both from that cleaning function and to link it phonetically to Kotex, the sanitary napkin Kimberly-Clark had introduced just four years earlier. (The name Kotex refers to “cotton texture.”)

Shortly after Kleenex appeared in stores, a Kimberly-Clark researcher with hay fever began blowing his nose with the tissues. This moment — call it achoo! meets aha! — led Kleenex to recast the brand: advertising proclaimed it “the handkerchief for health.”

Today Kleenex is the dominant brand, with a 46 percent market share, but it has lost ground during the downturn as consumers have switched to cheaper store brands. Private-label sales over the 52 weeks ending June 13 increased 6.4 percent while Kleenex sales dropped 5.5 percent and Puffs, a Procter & Gamble brand, dropped 3.2 percent, according to SymphonyIRI. Private-label brands account for 23 percent of the market and Puffs accounts for 25 percent.

“Private-label sales continue to grow even as the segment declines as consumers find increased quality among private label,” stated a 2008 report by Mintel, a market research firm. Among consumers who still spring for nationally advertised brands, 15 percent of respondents to a Mintel survey said they did so “because the package or pattern on the product is nicer.”

Kleenex has in recent years paid particular attention to aesthetics, introducing an oval-shaped package in 2005, embossed wallpaperlike patterns in 2006 and, for the 2008 holiday season, an oval carton with a pattern of Christmas lights that actually flickered when a tissue was pulled out.

Today the average home contains four boxes of facial tissue, and users purchase tissues about eight times a year, according to Kleenex research. The most popular room for a box is the bathroom, followed by the home office, bedroom and living room.

While the purpose for most packaging is to grab attention from the shelf and to protect products on their journey from manufacturer to retailer to consumer, the package for facial tissues serves as a dispenser for the life of the product — and is prominently displayed in the home.

“With Kleenex we really consider the package as part of the product we’re providing,” said Christine Mau, brand design director at Kimberly-Clark. “That’s what really sets Kleenex apart.”

In Neenah, Wis., where the Kleenex brand team is based (Kimberly-Clark’s world headquarters are in Dallas), designers occupy a section of the offices called the “trend area,” where new designs are developed.

“Designers bring in rugs, pillows, little girls’ dresses — anything they think is building a story,” Ms. Mau said. “We’re encouraged to play in our work.” Along with subscribing to over 50 home décor and design magazines, the team attends numerous home décor shows internationally.

Last year, the design team was given a challenge that “was less about home décor and more about creating seasonal interest during the summer months,” Ms. Mau said. “We were asking, ‘How do you crack the code and take something that you kind of take for granted and create this consumer delight, this impulse purchase right on the spot?’ ”

The team first settled on a watermelon, because “it was the ubiquitous symbol of summer and of fun and happiness for everyone — you don’t have to have a boat or a summer cottage,” Ms. Mau said. The idea for the wedge-shaped box, and for other fruits, followed.

After their limited introduction in Target last summer, the boxes, which feature illustrations in a photo-realist style by Hiroko Sanders, a Los Angeles illustrator, earned numerous design awards, including best in show from Pentawards, an international package design competition. A member of the Pentawards jury, Lars Wallentin, is quoted on the organization’s Web site saying that the Kleenex package is “very attractive, full of joy and freshness” and “shows great maturity, because the consumer is not bombarded with information that he neither really needs nor wants.”

Another indication that the brand is striking a design chord: consumers are less inclined to shroud tissue boxes with either handmade or store-bought covers. According to Kleenex, which tracks such behavior, today only 12 percent of consumers cover tissue boxes, down from 19 percent in 1986.

1. Utilize the latest in varnish and coatings that are available to add special effects. Strike through dull varnish with overall gloss coating creates the effect of offline spot dull and gloss varnish without the additional cost of extra passes on press. It also eliminates the need to “dust” the sheets after printing to reduce the feel of spray powder build up. “Soft Touch” coating can also be done in-line to create the velvet feel of a more expensive paper.
2. When printing on uncoated papers, replace standard 4cp inks with special “kaleidoscope” 4cp to brighten up colors and extend the color gamut range of traditional 4cp inks and minimize the flattening of colors when ink soaks into the paper.
3. Be flexible when it comes to size. Purchasing agents are often given the task of meeting client’s budgets while maintaining the integrity of a designer’s specifications. Often time tests are designed for the short run sheet-fed market. Postcards are a classic example: 6”x9” is a great fit for a 20” x 26” or 28” x 40” sheet sizes with plenty of room for bleeds and color bars. However, when the rollout comes and the quantity is large enough for the web market, the size is a bad fit.
4. In years past the standard for commodity grade offset was 88 bright while opaque papers were typically 92 bright. Today, commodity grade offsets are 92 bright while opaque papers are typically 96 bright. Selecting a commodity grade offset over an opaque for a light to medium coverage project can save as much as 15% on the cost to print. Naturally, some projects with heavy ink coverage will still require opaque for its ability to conceal show-through.
5. However, working with designers early on may help to avoid the need for opaque paper by limiting ink saturation on both the front and back of your project.
6. Try testing 3 different creatives by running them as an A/B/C split, one running over the other. When inserted, every other piece will be different. This is a good way to find out what graphics or offers will pull a better ROI. Three into the cutoff, three different graphics delivered and mixed every impression.
7. For quality issues with folding and cracking of self mailers always try to plan jobs using “grain correct” layouts. At times this is not possible with stock sheets so we will have stock converted to a short grain size to accommodate. A good question the marketing executive/print buyer can ask their printer is if the job is “grain correct”.
8. Many of today’s jobs are run on silks/velvets/dulls where printability is awesome and it’s being used more and more but the downfall is it’s susceptible to easily marking in handling/bindery/mailing. The solution is to add driers to inks/seal with coating/varnish.
9. Generally speaking, most continuous form half web paper comes in stocking sizes of 18” and 23” wide. If the project demands a quick turn time, estimating will use a standard size stock. As a result, an end user will get more value if the form is designed keeping these sizes in mind.
10. If a continuous form has large areas of solid print or heavy copy, running it on a UV press will minimize any potential offsetting issues.
11. Add smell and touch to the visual impact of your printed pieces through the use of specialty coatings. How would you like to have an image of a cherry smell like a cherry, an image of cement feel like cement, a sandy beach feel like sand or a piece of fabric feel silky smooth. These are just some of the available coating options that can be applied overall or by utilizing a Cyrel plate for spot applications.
12. When producing a large quantity on 100# gloss cover, consider changing to 9 pt gloss cover because 9pt can be produced on a web press, but most 100# gloss cover cannot.
13. Avoid final sizes that are a perfect square because they are usually a bad fit on press. You will waste paper.
14. To get the best overall print price find out from your printer the grade and type of papers they stock. This will also allow for more schedule flexibility.

1. If you are looking for an attractive but inexpensive envelope check out flexoprinting and a web-style envelope. Flexo printing has come a long way from when it was called a rubber stamp. You can also produce half tones and solid coverage.
2. By letting the printer/converter have the appropriate amount of time to manufacture an order and allowing them to find the most efficient raw materials for your custom order is the best way to get aggressive pricing. The materials in the envelope process (paper, patch, cartons) represent on average 35% of the envelope cost. The cost can rise 10%-20% if forced to purchase inefficient materials.
3. If you are trying to create a 4 color envelope but have the budget for only 2 color, running 2 PMS colors on a jet press using a mix of screens and solids will provide a more diverse look than just two solid colors.
4. When running three PMS colors, it may be cost efficient to actually run 4CP as many printers discount the set up time running process vs. PMS colors.
5. Envelope converters will experience 1/16” variance in either direction when die cutting envelopes. Designers need to take that into account especially when their design involves colors that they do not want to bleed. Realizing the variance, a designer may choose to avoid designs where color stops at the fold of an envelope.
6. Many envelope converters have switched their traditional window high dies (metal die) to magnetic or flexible die systems. The flex dies are much less expensive making it easier than ever to create unique pistol, double and odd shaped windows designed to help get your envelope opened.
7. The “brown paper bag” envelope is a completely automatically insertable envelope that is manufactured on International Paper 24# Sand Kraft to give the appearance of a brown paper bag. This makes the inference “we’ve cut all corners to give you this special offer” very believable.

There are some questions that immediately confuse business owners. One of them is to ask what their costs are of acquiring new customers. It’s surprising to think that companies don’t know, but a number of businesses simply have no clue, much less where to start. A business could have a fantastic product, with huge growth and profit potential, but if the costs of finding new customers far exceeds the profit generated, then it’s a complete waste of time. In addition, it’s not just about knowing the cost, but about taking steps to reduce those costs. Why are so many companies unable to figure out the costs of getting new customers? More importantly, how does a company figure out these costs and what can be done to lower them? We’ll look at the how and why, and provide insight into how to reduce the cost of getting new customers.

How does a company figure out its cost of getting new customers?

When it comes to figuring out the cost of securing new customers, there really is only one way to figure it out. Better yet, there is only one method to both figure out the cost, and lower that cost. Marketing is the one and only source a company has to figure out its cost of new customers. In addition, marketing is the tool by which companies can use to lower costs, and improve their abilities to secure new customers, and win business. So, how does marketing help find new customers, explain the cost of finding those customers, and ultimately show the path to reducing those costs? Well, it’s all about how efficient a company’s marketing plans are, and how that company goes about tracking the performance of their plans. At the end of the day, the methods are pretty straightforward. It’s the application and follow through that some companies do better than others. It’s this follow through that distinguishes the best enterprises.

How does a company track its marketing initiatives?

There really isn’t any secret to tracking the results of a company’s marketing initiatives. It’s a simple calculation to figure out the cost of each new customer that arises from a marketing plan. For example, let’s assume that a company spent $2,500.00 on an advertising campaign and found that it resulted in the acquisition of 50 new customers. The cost per customer for this marketing initiative is simply $2,500.00 divided by 50 customers, or $50.00 a customer. Now, this is merely a simple example, and the analysis if far more involved than that. The company would then want to know how many customers actually ordered, and what the growth potential would be for those customers. However, the principles still apply. It’s merely taking the total spent on a marketing initiative, and then tracking the results of that initiative. For the above example, if the gross profit generated by the sale of the product was only $60.00, then the cost of this marketing initiative was perhaps not as good as it could be. So, changes would need to be made, and new marketing plans adopted. However, over time, those marketing plans could be modified to produce far better results. A company wanting to know the best and least expensive way to find new customers, would make it a point to track the results of their initiatives. In fact, this is how companies both increase their marketing effectiveness, and reduce their costs of acquiring new customers. Consider the following table below. It shows the different types of marketing initiatives a company may use, with the number of new customers resulting from each initiative, and their appropriate costs. The best companies constantly update and modify each new plan, finding new ways to both reduce costs, and improve results.

What’s the cheapest way to find new customers?

What’s the easiest and least expensive way to find new customers? Well, looking at the table above, it’s rather obvious that word of mouth advertising costs absolutely nothing and produces solid results. If you’ve ever wondered how well your business is doing servicing your existing customers, then take a look at the number of new customers your business secures through word of mouth advertising. If your business is doing a good job, has a solid market presence, and is number one in your customer’s eyes, then you’ll see the results of your efforts in the number of customer references your business receives. This is perhaps the single greatest endorsement of having a good sales and customer service team. If your business is servicing clients well, you’ll see the results.

Tracking the results of marketing initiatives is nowhere near as difficult as it might seem. The easiest way is to simply ask customers how they found your business, and make sure to track their answers accordingly. Other methods include tracking the number of inquiries through your company’s web-site or blog. It is incumbent upon businesses to track the performance of their marketing initiatives and set plans to both improve their performance, and lower their costs. Marketing is not black magic, and the results of marketing initiatives can help put your business in front of customers, and ahead of your competition. Being a strong market presence in the industry your business services, will help position your company for years to come.

There are some great benefits to being a small agency. You might share my philosophy that staying small provides the opportunity for a variety of extraordinary freedoms the bigger shops don’t have, and therefore “staying small” is something worth fighting for. But being small also has its own set of unique challenges.

For example, every employee has a lot more power when it comes to delivering — or not delivering — on your brand promise. Our sheer numbers — employees, client connections, vendor interactions, etc. — are likely on a smaller scale than at a bigger shop. We don’t work in nearly the same volume, and when the canvas is smaller, the imperfections are more obvious. I equate it to this: It’s more apparent that a piece to the puzzle is missing when there are 75 pieces than when there are 1,000, correct? My point is that you’re only as strong as your weakest link. And if your chain is on the shorter end — as is the case with small agencies — each link then becomes that much more important.

Because small agencies can’t always compete with the big ones on things like breadth and depth of services, resources and quantity of staff, we need to stand out in different ways. The most important “different way” is to have a clearly defined brand that’s consistent, palpable, unique, energizing and memorable. When you’re bigger, there are more distractions to bridge and deflect from inconsistencies or inadequacies in the brand. But when you’re smaller, the sum of all parts is easier to grasp, and therefore those same flaws are more noticeable. Small agencies need to clearly distinguish who they are and then weave that into all they do — from what their letterhead looks like to the tone of their e-mails, the form and function of their Web site to the way in which visitors are greeted at the front door.

So where do you start in getting your small agency’s brand on track? First off, I’d begin by laying the groundwork for why this is important, specifically with your internal audience: employees. They likely recognize that bigger shops have size working to their advantage, but could probably use some insight into why smaller shops need to be more systematic and precise in the delivery of their brand. Next, shift to taking action. Here are a few a steps that will provide a framework for the process:

Define a core brand for your small agency and make it something ownable and differentiated. This won’t (and shouldn’t) happen overnight. Take some time to soul search, research, review and refine. Then step away from it for a while before landing on something. This is a huge step — and likely the most difficult — so take it seriously and approach it as strategically as you would for any one of your clients.

Review every single internal and external touch point for your agency — and don’t overlook even the most mundane details. Do those fake roses at the front desk really represent your brand, or should they be live orchids? A bonsai tree? No flora at all? Do your internal processes — like employee-review protocols and meeting formats — match your brand persona? How about marketing plan and reporting formats? E-mail signatures? The way the phones are answered? Letterhead? Take a good hard look at everything from client deliverables to vendor interaction and ensure that your brand is represented in all of it.

Create a feedback loop and make it actionable. Give both insiders and outsiders a medium to illuminate disconnects with your brand that you might not see. For example, we did this internally by establishing employee task forces on everything from our agency’s industry engagement to talent recruitment, and externally with clients and friends of the agency by doing consistent online surveys about our performance, establishing an interactive blog and an ongoing e-mail program. And establish procedures for reviewing your losses as well as your wins so you can continually refine your brand and how it’s lived out. Constantly check in to see how your brand is organically evolving — is it for the better or worse? Then do something with the findings. Don’t let what can be invaluable input sit idly by on the corner of your desk. Make big or small changes and make them swiftly and publicly to demonstrate your commitment to fulfilling your mission.

Be willing to live and die by the sword. If you can afford to do it (and in my opinion, you can’t afford not to), make sure your clients and the work you produce for them align with your brand intentions. If you are a cutting-edge digital shop committed to deploying the latest and greatest technologies, then perhaps you don’t take the car dealer down the street who simply wants a production house to develop a TV ad touting its weekend blowout sale. This sacrifice in the name of the brand is a tough one to swallow, but one we feel speaks volumes and will pay off in the long run.

These steps are things that larger agencies don’t necessarily have to spend time and energy on. And it may not seem fair that they don’t. But while we’re happily small, it’ll remain a priority for me and my agency as I’m confident it’s been what’s fed our growth spurt over the past few years and what will remain a major factor in what helps us thrive in years to come.

Article written by Meredith Vaughan

Article taken from Adage.com

• Always design a folded self mailer so the finished fold is on the bottom. This allows one wafer on top rather then 2 on the bottom saving the customer money.
• When mailing a concentrated flat mailing do not fold to a letter size. By folding it down you are not only required to wafer the piece, you are also unable to attain a DDU postage rate because it is no longer available for letters.
• Do you ever send out a direct mail campaign with multiple copy tests or versions printing in black (i.e., price tests, sales reps’ names, etc.)? These are often time and budget nightmares. When possible, it’s cost-effective to print shells (form or letter) and then ink-jet the copy that varies onto the shell at the same time you’re ink-jetting the address block.
• Consider co-mingling. Co-mingling means sorting your mail with another company’s mail of similar size to achieve the BMC/SCF discounts you wouldn’t qualify for with your mailing alone. With postage generally being half the cost of the job, these savings add up. Consider doing this if you are mailing a project that is nationwide and would normally not go to the BMC/SCF level due to a lack of concentration (meaning a mailing that is spread out thin across the United States).
• Make sure the aspect ratio of your direct mail piece is greater than 1.3 but less than 2.5. This will get you a better postage rate. To determine the aspect ratio simply divide the length by the width. For example, a 6×9 postcard has an aspect ratio of 1.5 which is good (9 divided by 6). This is why square mailers are good and bad. Good because the size is unique and it will stand out in your prospect’s mailbox, but bad because the postage costs will be higher than normal (aspect ratio is 1).
• Make sure you confirm that your direct mail’s address block uses a minimum font size of 8pt of any readable font. If it doesn’t, you might incur extra costs from the USPS.
• If you mail a letter package with a window envelope, make sure you do the tap test. What you do is take your letter package and tap the bottom side against a flat surface. According to USPS regulations, a minimum of .125” space around the entire address area must be maintained.
• Check Tabbing. If you send out self-mailers or booklets, make sure you consult with your vendor on the proper amount and positioning of the tabbing that keeps the piece closed. It may seem like a minor issue, but you could get hit with big postal penalties if you don’t do it right.
• Are you sending out letter packages? If so, make sure the components are sized so that it leaves at least a 1/4” on both the left and right side when inserted into the envelope and a 1/8” minimum throat. The throat is the opening height of the envelope. These measurements are required for efficient and cost-effective machine inserting of the components into the envelopes.

1. Two critical elements influencing email deliverability can be summarized by sender reputation and content relevance. An email sender’s reputation is developed over time by sending consistently to well-managed distribution lists. This is then further influenced by producing content that is highly targeted and relevant to your audience.
2. If your email marketing vendor supports Google Analytics tracking, convert your web links so you can track all the different pages of your website that a customer or prospects visits after they click thru from the email.
3. Before launching an email blast, make sure you test in different email browsers such as Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, etc. Consider testing this tactic: a week or two after you send an email blast download the non-openers and send them a second email with a different subject line. Make sure, however, that you suppress the openers.
4. When writing an email blast, put a call-to-action button at both the top AND bottom of a piece, and make some of the text clickable throughout the body copy. That way whenever the recipient decides to click through and take the offer, they won’t have to scroll up or down to find a “submit” button. Make it ultra-easy to respond at any time throughout the email.
5. If your headline in an HTML email is a graphic and contains the offer, make sure you re-state the offer as the first line of text in the body copy. Some browsers strip out graphics in an HTML email, and if your offer is in the headline that gets stripped out because it’s part of the graphics, then the recipient will not immediately know what the offer is. They shouldn’t be expected to read the whole email before the offer is repeated again in the footer. In general, you should design HTML emails with more copy than images because many email browsers nowadays are automatically blocking images.
6. If you are B2B, keep in mind when creating email campaigns that many professionals use the preview pane. As a result, try to put your offer at the top of the email. You should also keep your subject line to 50 characters or less.
7. If you have the data to do so, consider segmenting your email file into the 4 time zones. This will enable you to accurately test and find out exactly what blast time produces the best results.

1. Based on our experience, PURLs work best for lead generation, not for directly selling something. We encourage you to test, however, because you might get different results based on your product or service.
2. Instead of using an existing domain for a PURL, register a brand new one. This enables you to get very creative and brand your campaign. Simply use Go Daddy’s bulk registration tool to type whatever domain ideas come to mind and then see which ones are available.
3. Make sure you optimize the response form on your PURL landing page. Only ask the questions that are 100% necessary. If there’s information you can get from them after they respond, then don’t include these questions on the form. The path from visiting the landing page to clicking the “submit” button should be as easy as possible.
4. Your PURL landing page should be very relevant with swapping out copy and images. If your PURL vendor can do it, customize the thank you page and thank you email as well. Doing so keeps the relevancy momentum going from start to finish which makes the campaign more effective.
5. Regarding your PURL landing page, aim for relevant, clean and simple. And don’t include distractions like external links unless you absolutely have to, and if you do, make them open up in a new window.
6. A PURL gives you valuable data: who visited the PURL and responded, who visited and didn’t respond and who didn’t visit at all. Make sure you’re using this information to the fullest by personalizing your follow up to these different segments.

1. Customers prefer the look of foil over paper by 16%. Increase your response rates by using silver or hologram labels.
2. Choice depresses response. People are already faced with the choice to respond to a direct mail piece or not, so to give them a choice of offer, a choice of premium or any other thing that makes them stop and think, they are that much more likely to set the piece aside to deal with it later and never get back to it.
3. You have 15 seconds as they are poised with their mail over the trash can to make an impression, so if they take the time to actually read your piece, you want them to immediately say “YES!”, not “I wonder which would be better?”. That being said, the one place where choice does help close a deal is to give the
4. recipient a choice of how to respond — via mail, phone, online, or even fax. Make it convenient for them to say YES and your response rate will improve!
5. Many clients come to us with existing corporate identity that is limited to one or two pantone colors contained in their logo. When designing 4/color work for these clients, it is helpful to “extend” the palette. Using their existing chips as the core for the primary palette, arrange additional chips which extend this primary palette to 4 – 6 colors. These should match the core colors in balance and intensity. Lastly, find swatches that compliment one another and envision this palette working within your design.
6. Some of the most attractive designs are built around a great photo or illustration. When selecting imagery, good designers will always read the copy. Images should support the copy and visually communicate the concept. Gratuitous imagery, while adding visual interest to a design, will usually “muddy” the communication if not tied in some way to the copy. The one exception to this would be the use of backgrounds to add depth and texture overall. Lastly, try to find different and interesting ways to crop photos/illustrations in a layout, i.e. get out of the “box”.
7. White space is your friend! Yes, it’s true… When your audience’s attention needs to be captured within seconds, there’s nothing like a message or image that’s crystal clear and easy to read. Try expanding a piece to multi-page rather than cramming everything into your design. Less visual noise = more visual power.
8. Create your own brand guidelines. Consistency and frequency is key to successful design and marketing. Start with a general set of rules that define even just the basics: color palette, font style and size and the type of imagery used. When used consistently over the long haul it becomes an extremely important and effective tool.
9. Be inspired. When you see something that is visually appealing – clip it, bookmark it, file it and remember it. Realize what made you stop when you first saw it…did it make you smile? Did it get you thinking? Don’t be afraid to use your emotions in your design tactics to create your own inspiring piece.

By Jacob Malewitz

Facebook is primed and ready to break open the social media market. Everyone is on Facebook, but how can you get leads, clicks, and buyers on the social network?

The good news is, the demographics for Facebook and your potential marketing audience are staggering. You need not be a genius to market to 350 milllion subscribers who visit the site often several times a day.

So what ways can you market with Facebook? This guide shows you how, with all free ways for Facebook marketing.

The Online Community and Facebook Marketing

First, the best way to implement Facebook marketing is to create a complete online experience. In order to create a brand, especially online, you need to create a user experience. They need to be entertained, shocked, overjoyed, and curious.

The Profile Page and Groups

Your profile page and the option to use groups are two dynamic, free Facebook marketing options. After all, you can do a lot with both. The group feature may be the best, as it reminds Facebook users to constantly come back for news and updates. With the profile, you give a first look to your company by new users; they can choose to come  back or never visit again, so make it rewarding with pictures and interesting info about your company. For groups, regular updates and specials on your products and services keep users coming back for more.

Marketplace  for Facebook Marketing

Facebook Marketplace is a another free way to engage and sell. While it used to be a place for college students to sell items like games or books, now it’s for smart businesses who offer special deals.

Networks

Networks narrow you down to industry, location, and many other ways to get users interested. This too is free, and all too often companies skip this. Many do go on Facebook looking to buy, either in their specific industry or in their neighborhood; with Facebook’s networks, you can sell to them.

Inbox and Email Marketing

The inbox allows an almost quasi email marketing plan to go into effect. You can send out mass emails to contacts, but not everyone you want. You can also send direct messages to anyone on Facebook. For B2B businesses, it’s even more powerful, as you don’t need to send huge masses of emails to sell one product. And for freelancers or contractors, it allows you to show interest in a company who may not be hiring full time employees.

These are just a few ways to market, for free, with Facebook. So what really is Facebook marketing? It’s the social media strategy to market your company, find new customers, and network with former customers.