Here at Fusion Creative, we spend most of our time working on digital strategies. We work to ensure our clients get found online. So, just what is a marketing mix? A marketing mix is the group of marketing channels that our clients use to get found.

What this doesn’t mean is that we ignore all traditional marketing channels. Quite the contrary! We leverage traditional channels to drive website traffic to gain sales funnel leads.

Today, I want to remind us that there are amazing traditional channels for your marketing mix. There are many channels that are quite valid to drive traffic to your website.

As you’re starting out on your digital marketing journey, don’t forget the basics. Make sure you’re doing the things that successful business people have done for years. Use traditional channels in your marketing mix to find new leads. Supplement your digital marketing mix with time proven winners.

Marketing Mix Example #1: The Printed Brochure

There’s nothing like having a professionally printed handout that you can use as a leave behind. Have something to leave after those person to person meetings.

The cost of printing out a full color front and back trifold brochure can be quite reasonable. You can get a full color brochure for less than $.10 each. Spend the time and effort to put together a brochure that you are proud of. Be sure to include a specific link to your website to help you close the sale after you’re gone.

The layout of a brochure is important when you want to leverage it for website traffic. Remember the age-old statement, “Don’t Bury The Lead.” If your goal is to send people to your website to engage them in your sales funnel, make it easy for them. Don't use a URL that's hard to translate from a brochure to a computer or mobile device. The shorter the better here.

Businesses often want to cram every feature, service, and offering into their printed material. Don’t do it! Make it easy for someone to do what you want them to do to take the next step.

With a printed brochure, consider using at least two flaps to lay out your digital offer. Lead with a question that you know they are already asking as they read. Make sure your offer makes good on the answer to that question and make it easy to get there.

A brochure is a perfect addition to your digital marketing mix.

Marketing Mix Example #2: The Business Card

You’re using a business card, right? 

Does your business card bring leads to your website to engage them in your sales funnel?

Take a second and look at the layout of your business card. What is the function of the design of your current card? Is it designed so people can find your phone number and title?

What if your business card design brought in internet traffic as well? What’s on the back of your business card? Is there an offer people can take advantage of?

What would happen if you used the back of your business card to advertise a free download from your website? Is your free download compelling enough to move people who have received the business card to action? If the answer is no, then you have a lead magnet issue, and we help companies just like yours fix that issue everyday.

Be active in handing out your business card. Don’t just hand it to everyone you meet, but connect with people. If you understand the law of reciprocity, you can dramatically increase the actions taken from a simple business card trade.

What is the law of reciprocity?

It's the basic tenant of human nature that says, "If you do something nice for me, I feel obligated to do something nice for you in return." We don't recommend only giving in order to receive, but giving freely of your knowledge and expertise helps others understand your value and shows them that you care. 

For each person who takes advantage of your business card offer, you can retarget them with paid ads if you have your Facebook and Google pixel installed.

A business card is another perfect addition to your marketing mix.

Example #3: Printed Postcards

I don’t know about you, but when I think of printed postcards and  advertising, it’s not positive. Like you, my mailbox is stuffed full of postcards that I will never read. So, why include them in this example?

I want you to think of postcards in a new light. Consider printing up a postcard that has a full printed offer on one side. That’s pretty common, right? Here’s the shift in thinking I want you to consider though.

Think about leaving a place to write a handwritten note next to the address block on the other side. Don’t try to force every tidbit of information on to your postcard. They’re probably not going to read that small text anyway.

What your potential clients will notice is that you took the time to write them a note by hand. In a day of mass printings and bulk mailings, the way to stand out is personalization.

How would you feel if you received a postcard in the mail from a business owner that wrote you a personal note? I’ve received one or two in my time as a business owner, and I read each of them. I admit that I even saved one of them because it was so unique.

It’s the rare and special business that takes time to be personally involved in their marketing. How can you stand out from the crowd and be sure your business gets noticed?

Consider sending out personalized postcards to give a glimpse of your customer service. Show your future clients that they matter to you and your business. Stand out by being exceptional in the way you promote your business.

Example #4: Printed Vehicle Wrap

Whether it’s a car, truck or bike, your transportation can serve as a part of your marketing mix.

Is your vehicle a part of your marketing efforts? It should be. A vehicle wrap can get your business an extra 30,000 – 80,000 views per month. Using your current marketing plan, how much would it cost to generate 30,000-80,000 interactions? I’m willing to bet that it’s much more than the cost of a vehicle wrap.

For a total cost of less than $1,500, your mode of transportation can join your marketing mix. That means that the average cost per 1,000,000 impressions is a scant $44. Do you have any current marketing channels that return one million impressions for $44?

Getting noticed is one thing, and a vehicle wrap can do that. Getting those potential customers who notice AND engage is something different. It’s possible if you’re clear with your offer, layout and design.

Success Point #1: Make sure that your website or conversion focused landing page is prominently featured in the design. The purpose of a vehicle wrap is to increase brand recognition and generate leads. Be certain that your new wrap design is optimized to turn your vehicle into a lead generating machine!

Success Point #2: Use high contrast to increase readability. It’s tempting to look at the designs of other companies and opt for a complex design. Stay the course. The best vehicle wrap designs are those that have a high contrast between the background color and the color of the text.

Success Point #3: Be certain that your design takes your vehicle into consideration. We’ve seen too many wrap designs that prints the website address over the door handle. When this happens, it’s unreadable.

5. Develop a customer referral program

Customer referrals are a powerful way to make sure that your positive customer service stories are told. If you can incentivize your customers to tell others, you can have a happy army out there hitting the streets and social platforms telling others about how great you are.

I want to share with you a story of what my local insurance agent does for customer referrals. In his office, he keeps a Christmas tree up all year long. On that tree are tied all kinds of gift cards, presents and other fun trinkets. If you make a referral to his agency, you get to pick anything off the tree that you would like. I’ve seen expensive cookware, clothing accessories, and the latest technology tied to that tree over the years. There’s nothing like visiting your local insurance office and seeing an Apple Watch tied to the reward tree to get the referral engine going.

Consider making an offer to all of your customers that they can pass a discount to each of their friends. Not only will their friends get a discount, but you’ll pass something their way as well. Maybe they get a discount on their next product or service. Better yet, send them a gift card to their favorite lunch place. Something we’ll talk about in just a minute is wearables, and this would be a great time to send customers who give you a good referral some of your branded merchandise.

Now, to be fair, you have to send them something that they would enjoy or at least use. Don’t send them an old T-Shirt from a past marketing campaign. Send them a new branded Contigo Coffee Travel Cup or a Branded Baseball Cap. Something that they would see value in and appreciate. (As well as take/wear around to promote your brand.)

Customer referrals can be very powerful if you learn what your customer likes, provide excellent service and make it easy to refer to others.

6. Develop strategic partnerships

Do you have any strategic partnerships that are actively working for your business? If you don’t, there’s no time like the present to develop some relationships with local professionals to help build your business.

Let’s look at an example of what strategic relationships can look like. If you’re a photographer who focuses on wedding photography, strategic relationships would be other companies or entrepreneurs that also work with the wedding industry. Find a local baker that tends to make most of the wedding cakes in your area.

What about the stationery store that people all go to for their invitations? Which venue are people most likely to gets married in? Is there a representative that you could talk to about becoming the official wedding photographer at their location?

A local tuxedo shop or dress shop would also be a great strategic partnership as well. Put yourself in the mind of the perfect customer for your business and think about the other industry partners that you could develop relationships with. They can be a powerful ally when it comes to lead generation for your business.

7. Birthday, Holiday, and Thank You Cards

This may sound like an old school method, but it’s a method that stands out in today’s digital economy. If you’re like me, you may receive a few hundred Facebook “Happy Birthday” posts. I find that 98% of the posts will be the generic post that Facebook generates. I rarely get a custom written birthday greeting anymore.

It seems that this is an area where we’ve come to expect the minimum. What if your business went over and above? Could your business send a personal happy birthday card to each of your customers?

What if it included a $5 Starbucks gift card on their birthday? Would that be memorable for you? Would you tell others that you received a free coffee from your electrician on your birthday?

I’ve actually received this type of card before, so it’s not at all an original idea. Checking the mail, I once got a birthday card from the company that I purchased a point of sale system from. You could say I was shocked!

I called them up to thank them for the card and for the $5 gift card. I wanted to know what what made them do it, so I asked to talk to their marketing director.

When he got to the phone, I asked him what made him think of this idea. I wanted to know what he hoped to get out of it. He told me that he did the math, and it only cost him a little more than $5,000 per year. He could give each customer a personal birthday card and a $5 gift card.

A common reaction, he said, was to get an email or a phone call from the customer afterwards. Many shocked calls that their company remembered their birthday and sent a gift card.

They decided it was well worth the conversations that customers have with their friends. Once they receive the card, and it ends up generating more business than the cost of the channel. He said it was one of their highest ROI performers.

8. Branded Wearables

There’s nothing quite like seeing someone wearing around a shirt, hat or jacket with your company logo or information on it. It’s especially powerful when you see it “out in the wild” and not in your office or regular work environment. If you can come up with some type of branded merchandise that customers would enjoy using, you can get your name out there through wearables and other branded merchandise.

I have personally found that a baseball cap is a winner for our business. We printed up a good number of caps when we started Fusion Creative and gave them to our first customers and friends. We found that since we bought great quality hats that looked great and held up well that people wore them as a regular part of their wardrobe.

Many of our customers told us that they had quite a few conversations with strangers or friends while they were out and about. Since Fusion Creative isn’t quite a household name yet, people often want to know what it is and what we’re about. This type of conversation is the perfect type for our customers and friends to tell others about our company and a great lead generator.

The only way this works though is if you have something that is perceived of value to your customers and friends. Don’t just screen print a crummy T-Shirt and send it to customers and hope they wear it. Give them something that they would be proud to wear or use and keep as a staple in their wardrobe.

Conclusion:

These are 8 ideas on how to get a greater return on your marketing mix, but there are many more options out there, and we want to hear from you! What are you doing to get a greater return on investment through your marketing channels? Leave a comment below and let’s learn from each other!

If you’re needing a marketing plan for your business to track and evaluate which marketing channels to use and which are working for your business, Fusion Creative is here to help.