Robust Marketing Plans Are On Multiple Fronts

Today, we are going to talk about the benefits of creating a marketing plan that has a many-pronged attack. What do I mean? Well, sometimes it gets easy to focus on a single marketing medium; let's say Internet blogging. While effective blogging can be a great marketing medium, we miss out on a lot if that becomes the only way we choose to market our books, services and products.

Consider these marketing fronts. We may not try to add all of the marketing avenues at once, but they represent choices we have at our disposal:

• Internet- This represents everything from blogging to website presence and social media. Though it's my personal pinion that this should be a primary area of focus, it's far from being the only marketing avenue available to us.
  
  
• Offline Meetings- Sometimes marketing can be just as effective and fun when we press the flesh. I love to look at the Meet-Ups in my area (Dallas, TX) to see if there are like-minded people meeting together to share info on something I am interested in. Meet-Ups are just one tool. Check out any offline meeting that has to do with your craft or anything that can reinforce or expand your platform. These can be author meetings, publishing groups, etc...
  
  
• Mail Campaigns- Sending physical mail can be an effective way to market yourself and your product. However, it can get quite expensive, so you will want to do your research and spend time to develop a mailing piece that's well-constructed. Sometimes, you can save money by entering a joint mailing campaign with someone else to help defray the cost.
  
  
• Speaking Tours- Authors have known for a long time about the importance that a speaking opportunity can have on their marketing efforts. Think about these speaking events you can plan:
  
  Seminars
  Workshops
  Key Notes
  Small Groups
  Civic organizations
  Schools
  Businesses/Business Groups
  Churches
  Meet-Ups
  Webinars- (Can also fall under your Internet marketing area)
  
  There are a lot of people out there who would love to learn what you have to teach. Incorporate these speaking engagements into your marketing plan for greater exposure.
  
  
• Business Cards- Business Card marketing is an important activity to engage in. Spend time on the creation of your business card, don't just throw something together. Then strategically put them into the hands of decision makers and people who can be influential in helping you spread the word about you and your books, products and services.
  
  
• Joint Ventures- If you can find a way to go into a JV with someone else, the results can be amazing. The synergy crated with two marketers working together can be more than the sum each can produce by themselves.
  
  
• Offline Media- Radio, television and print media are still an effective way to get marketing exposure, especially since most of them migrate the content to their website and blogs. Rather than focusing on paying for advertisements, try to find a way to become the story by creating compelling, newsworthy content. There is a ton of info available online to show you how you can do that.
  

These are just a few ideas on how you can create a multi-pronged marketing attack for you and your message. Working in concert, these avenues can increase your exposure and help you accomplish your overall marketing objectives. Tunnel vision can keep us from achieving our potential, so don't be afraid to expand into new marketing activities.

Tony Eldridge