CreativeXchange Marketing Blog

Recently our company was awarded a job in which we were up against several other companies. One of the key reasons we received the job was our exceptional follow up. One of the most powerful sales techniques is follow up. Having exceptional customer service and follow up is imperative to getting the...

Read more about A Powerful Sales Technique

Disparate marketing, ineffective marketing, low to no ROI marketing - whatever term you choose to use, it is out there and it is being sold. I am starting to educate people about this and today's brief story is about a wonderful business owner who really needed some qualified leads. She spent $3,600...

Read more about Disparate Marketing - We need your story - Part 1

Many companies go into business without doing any research. As a result they chose a wrong location, start a business whose market is already over-served, or develop a product with no consumer testing that may have major flaws they did not see because they are too close to it. It is very important to...

Read more about What is Market Research?

In our last blog we talked about how to evaluate networking events. Attending these events won't produce instant results normally , it is just the start. What you do after the networking event is what will have the pay off. When you meet a potential referral partner or client at a networking event, it...

Read more about Networking Follow Up Procedure

This blog focuses on the benefits and possible pitfalls of networking. There are many different types of networking events to attend in an effort to meet other business people and market your business. Which one is right for you? Will it be a good return on investment? Consider your time as well as money...

Read more about Networking–Does it pay?

What will differentiate you from your many competitors? One powerful marketing tool is testimonials. There are walking testimonials and written testimonials. You may have clients, current or past, who are walking testimonials for your company. Knowing who these people are can be very beneficial when...

Read more about Testimonials - A Powerful Marketing Tool

Have you ever advertised in print and found yourself saying, "That ad or direct mailer didn't work!"? Frustrated you say you will never spend money on advertising again. This is a common occurrence for small business owners. The business owner usually blames the print advertising vehicle. In...

Read more about Print Advertising that Gets Results

So, what is your marketing budget? Do you have one? What goes under marketing? How much should it be? These are great questions. How much should your marketing budget be? There is not a one answer fits all here. Many different factors need to be considered. According to the United States Small Business...

Read more about What's Your Marketing Budget?

Every business needs to have a SWOT done annually. NOTE - before you embark on a SWOT Analysis, you need to have a thorough knowledge of your target market and have completed a competition analysis of your top three competitors. So what is a SWOT Analysis? SWOT stands for: STRENGTHS - what are your company...

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Have you taken a good look at what your competitors are doing? Have you ever thought – I don't have any competitors, my product or service is one-of-a-kind? Well, we all have competitors. If you think you don't, you do. It's true, you may have a very specific niche or one-of-a-kind product or service...

Read more about Conducting Competition Analysis

In our last blog we discussed the importance of clearly defining your target markert. This blog will cover how to determine your target market. To start, first determine why someone would buy your product or service. Why did you create the product or service you did? Once you know this, there are three...

Read more about Target Market Review - Part 2

Your Ideal Client or Customer: How do you know who they are? Often times when I ask my clients, "Who will buy your product?" or "Who is your ideal client?" they either do not have a clearly defined customer, or they think everyone will be interested in their product or service. Typically...

Read more about Target Market Review - Part 1

Our last few blogs have addressed the need for defining your 4 P's of marketing. As mentioned in our first 4 P's of marketing blog , the 4 P's are: Product/Service Pricing Promotion Placement/Positioning Let's discuss the last P, "Placement". Placement typically refers to the location where...

Read more about Placement - A "P" with Different Meanings

Our last few blogs have addressed the need for defining your 4 P's of marketing. As mentioned in our first 4 P's of marketing blog , the 4 P's are: Product/Service Pricing Promotion Placement/Positioning Let's discuss the third P, "Promotion". There are so many traditional and non-traditional...

Read more about Best Practices of Promotion

Do You Have an Effective Pricing Strategy? Our past couple of blogs have addressed the need for defining your 4 P's of marketing. The first "P" discussed in our last blog was the "Product" (or service) "P". As mentioned in our previous blog , the 4 P's of marketing are:...

Read more about Pitfalls of Pricing Strategies

Do you know your 4 P's of Marketing? Whether you have a start-up business or established business, clearly defining your 4 P's of marketing is critical to success. It will help you develop a strategic marketing plan . Without this strategy, any marketing tactics you implement could be ineffective. As...

Read more about Start with your 4 P's of Marketing

Marketing is the process of researching, developing, promoting, selling and distributing a product or service. Advertising is just one of many marketing tactics to promote a business, product or service. I often hear, "I don't need to do any marketing." Or, "Marketing doesn't work."...

Read more about Marketing - that's advertising - right?

There are many social media companies popping up left and right - some very well schooled in it and others not. The ones that are not well schooled in it know just enough to be dangerous. I was talking to a referral partner on the phone today and he mentioned how a friend of his has spent tons of time...

Read more about When Social Media Doesn't Work

This is a loaded question. Pricing strategy (one of your four P's of marketing ) is often overlooked in marketing plans . Your pricing stratgey is critical to your success. Heavily discounting your products and services can de-value the worth of your products/services and recovering from this after the...

Read more about Should You Discount in a Recession?

Keeping up with the latest studies on web usability is imperative for a web and marketing company. In doing our weekly research of the latest technology and web trends, we uncovered another great resource from Samashing Magazine . Test you own web site against it....

Read more about More Great Web Design Usability Tips