Four Professional Marketing Tools You Should Be Using

In today's competitive climate, effective advertising campaigns mean combining a variety of marketing tools to achieve the best results possible. When businesses promote their niche from a number of angles, they are much less likely to leave profits laying on the table. Used together, the following four marketing tools will serve as a solid foundation for building successful campaigns.

Surveys And Contests

Online surveys and contests are valuable marketing tools in a number of ways. While traditional marketing efforts concentrate on closing the sale, interactive surveys and contests will engage prospects and offer value, rather than push them to pull out their credit card. Surveys and contests are also an effective method of list building and demographic research. When a potential customer is offered the possibility of some type of personal gain, they are more apt to subscribe to a customer list or provide important demographic information.

Social Media Marketing

The use of social media sites has become a fundamental tool for most professional marketing campaigns. The popularity of social media has provided another platform for business owners to share content and build their customer, or "fan base." The use of social media helps to cultivate customers who have become extremely comfortable doing business on these types of sites.

Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail marketing is a time-tested advertising tool that is very effective for virtually any business. Direct mail is a very powerful tool for those businesses that focus on developing strong personal relationships with their customers. In the health profession for example, dental advertising strategy focuses on building relationships with patients on a local level. Professionally prepared direct mail pieces offer tangible advertising material to prospects, and help to build a trust and interest on a very fundamental level. While some businesses overlook direct mail, the average return on investment is nothing to ignore.

Video Marketing

Professional video marketing has become increasingly popular with innovations in technology, and the ease of distributing quality videos online. More and more in today's market, consumers are drawn to videos for their entertainment value and their ability to deliver more complex messages than tradition emails or written content. While business owners are able to produce high quality videos on everyday portable devices, professional video production will always yield better results when it comes to attracting new customers.

While each of these four marketing tools may prove to be effective on their own, using them together will result in campaigns that generate new prospects, help to retain existing customers, and promote upsells and other important offers.