As I was settling down to write this post, a friend happened to email about a free tool she’d learned about for measuring the marketing effectiveness of your website. You simply enter your website URL and it returns a report that includes these sections: (Click on the headline for more…)
Marketing Strategy
When’s The Best Time to Advertise?
I’m staggered by the number of catalogs I’m receiving this week: more than a dozen every single day. Where were they when I was planning my Christmas shopping between Labor Day and Thanksgiving? Yes, I’m still placing orders now, but my decisions have long since been made.
All too often, marketers forget that planning and buying don’t always take place simultaneously. This is especially true (click on the headline for more…)
Not Every Sale Is Meant To Be Made
I chuckled at a story I read recently about Tony Avent, the irreverent marketer of highly unusual perennials. If you’re not familiar with his highly entertaining Plant Delights catalog (click on the headline for more…)
Insights Into How Customers Rate Garden Company Shopping
In my last blog post, I emphasized the importance of following best practices in all your customer touchpoints if you want to maximize your sales without increasing your marketing budget. As I mentioned, the Secret Shopper Survey sponsored by the Mailorder Gardening Association earlier this year uncovered an astonishing number of opportunities for improvement in this regard. A new program at the next MGA conference is sure to provide even more ideas for low-cost improvements. (Click on the headline for more…)
Can You Increase Your Sales Without Increasing Your Budget?
These days, every company is looking for ways to get more out of their marketing budget. Experience suggests that an internal review of how you handle information requests and your ordering process is likely to uncover a wealth of opportunities. A couple shocking examples illustrate why I say that: (Click on the headline for more…)
