With e-retailers expected to buy less holiday season merchandise this year because of the economic downturn, they need to sharpen their strategies in coordinating pricing promotions with available inventory, says Paula Rosenblum, managing director at research and advisory firm Retail Systems Research LLC.

“Plan a pricing strategy, plan your inventory strategy, and make sure the two are in synch,” Rosenblum says.

She adds that retailers this year, worried about overbuying merchandise in an off economic year, may experience unusually high levels of inventory out-of-stock. If that turns out to be the case, it will be even more important for retailers to take several steps to increase gross margins on merchandise sales to help compensate for the loss of revenue, Rosenblum says.

Retailers working with lean inventory levels should take a harder at free-shipping offers and how they’ll affect product sales, for instance, and work with merchandise suppliers to apply the steepest promotional price discounts to products that will be available in the highest volume.

“Work with merchandise vendors to figure out what your sacrificial lambs will be and how you can work together to maximize order fill rates,” Rosenblum advises retailers. She adds that arranging for some suppliers to ship heavily promoted products directly to customers could be a good option for maximizing both order fill rates and gross margins.

“We know there’s a lot retailers cannot plan, and we don’t know what the economy is going to really look like,” Rosenblum says. “But we can plan for all kinds of contingencies. A retailer winner will do that now to have a better holiday season.”

http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=30433

One of the most recent examples of a guerilla marketing campaign that generated a huge amount of press was for the Cartoon Network’s new show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". In nine cities across the U.S., artists placed light boards showing a picture of one of the cartoon’s main characters. In Boston, the boards were mistaken for bombs and the city closed down bridges and sections of the Charles River. The incident was talked about on every major news channel for days as the media followed the story. By the time the story ended, most Americans, like it or not, had now heard about "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" – and the whole stunt cost just a few thousand dollars.

Starting your own guerilla marketing campaign

Most likely, your company’s guerilla marketing promotions will be done on a much smaller scale. Think about who you are trying to reach and what you can do to generate some word-of-mouth buzz. Remember, guerilla marketing isn’t traditional marketing – it’s over the top. For example, if you are a glass company and have come up with a break-proof glass for windows and doors, then why not put a big double-walled glass door or window outside your business and fill it with wads of cash. You can also use this same idea to advertise all over town. It’s shocking and it shows how confident you are that your product really works. There’s a good chance that an idea like this would get picked up by the local media.

The most important thing is that you think creatively. In order to generate buzz, your idea has to be buzz worthy. So, that means the idea is to get your campaign to invoke some sort of reaction in people. Another great guerilla marketing example comes from HBO’s show, The Sopranos . To generate buzz during the show’s early years, the company had taxicabs all over New York and New Jersey hang fake arms out the back of their trunks. On the back of each taxi was a The Sopranos bumper sticker.

It may take several weeks or months to come up with the perfect guerilla marketing campaign but, if done right, it could generate a huge amount of publicity for your business. If your campaign proves successful, then you can choose to do the same thing in other cities and states. You can keep your guerilla campaign running for as long as it’s working. Once the buzz dies down, then it’s time to go back to the drawing board and think of something new. Guerilla marketing works, it just takes some time to get the right idea. Good luck!

Having items that are not practical is another marketing scheme gone awry. Food gets eaten, balloons deflate and get thrown away – this is not very practical when you are trying to increase your name recognition with customers.

Make it appropriate to your audience. For example, t-shirts don’t come in generic sizes, and you run the risk of sending someone a free t-shirt that’s either too big or too small. Hats, on the other hand, are pretty much one-size-fits-all.

Appropriateness also means that it relates in some way to your business. If you sell pet supplies, you’d probably give away something like a pet food dish, right? You want the item to remind your customers of what your business does or sells – if it doesn’t relate to your business, your customers won’t make the connection.

Put your logo on it. If you’re going to give something away, by all means make sure your logo is on it. This is considered brand marketing and recognition…consider it like a billboard for your company that your customers will either be wearing or using. However, if it’s hard to read on your items, then people will not recognize it as well. This will have the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve. Make sure if you’re putting your name on an item, it’s something that will get used by your target audience and that your business name is very prominent on the item.

Quality counts. This is marketing material, so you want to invest some cash into getting your name out there, and increasing your brand recognition. When you are looking at different promotional items, it is crucial that the items are not a waste of your money-if you buy cheap things, your customers will think your business is cheap, which can have the opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve.

Look for something that you can buy a large quantity of and give away to your customers over a long period of time. That way you make the investment once, and your giveaway campaign is stretched out over a number of months.

Personalization can go a long way. If you’re able to, let the customer personalize the item. One way to do this is to allow the customer to pick out the type of item they will receive; another is to have a novelty item made with their own photo on it.
Whatever the promotional items you choose, make sure to put some effort into it. If you send out physical items, send the package via mail. This is a special touch that will leave a lasting impression.

The name gets tossed around a lot but not many people really know what it is or how you do it. That’s because grassroots marketing encompasses a variety of promotional ideas. However, they all have one thing in common – getting involved (really involved) with potential customers. Here are some grassroots marketing techniques that have been successful for both startups and established businesses:

Free samples – Many business owners think, "If I could just get people to try our products I know they’d be hooked!" If you feel the same way, then think about ways of getting your products in your customers’ hands. Trade shows, festivals, events and in-store promotions are all great ways to interact with your customers and let them sample your offerings. Even big companies employ this idea: Did you know that every time a new Coldstone Creamery store opens, the entire first day is devoted to giving away free samples? If done right, free samples are a great way to get your community excited about your business.

Mascots – Having a mascot outside your new store can really help to grab people’s attention and bring in customers. For example, let’s say you own a company called "Liberty Tax Service" and you’re located on a high-traffic street. Why not have a couple employees dress up as Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty and happily wave from outside your storefront? Enthusiastic and friendly mascots can bring smiles to drivers’ and passersby’s faces – and that just might be enough to turn them into customers.

Create a unique (and inviting) atmosphere – One way to draw in customers (and keep them coming back) is to offer them an "experience" as they browse through your store. What about singing and dancing ice cream scoopers? Or offering tea and biscuits to your herbal shop customers? Be creative and you’ll find that the payoff is new customers, repeat customers and buzz-worthy word of mouth!

Talk to potential customers – While cold calling or in-person visits may not be a good idea for some businesses, for others the results can be astounding. If you are an insurance adjuster, visiting damaged homes and businesses after a hurricane can be a terrific way of getting new business. If you own a cleaning business, you might find that cold calling home or business owners and offering them a special deal may result in new business. This type of grassroots marketing has been used for centuries – because it works!

One of the biggest parts of grassroots marketing is being creative and tailoring ideas to fit your particular business. With this form of promotion, business owners are in complete control of the campaign and should carefully plan out every stage. In order to create some buzz about a new business, you should remember that marketing repetition is very important. You need to keep your business’ name in the minds of your potential customers. Keep thinking of new ways to get the word out – day after day, week after week. Soon you’ll notice that your front door is swinging open a lot more often!

One good marketing idea is to offer people something in return for their email address. If you have a site offering advice or a newsletter and you are trying to build up an email list for your newsletter, you can offer something such as an e-book in exchange for an email address.

You can contract with an author to write a short e-book (10-12 pages) for you, or you can buy one with the right to resell/give it away. An e-book serves 2 purposes: it gets you an email address, and you can add links in the e-book to your site or sites that you have.

The customer or prospect is happy because they get a resource to use that contains knowledge and help about something they are interested in. Obviously the e-book you give away needs to be about a subject related to your site and the products or services you offer, or there is no point. Also, the customer or prospect feels valued because you didn’t just hit them up for their email address; you offered them something in return.

Get creative…have a contest!

In order to experience growth, there are also some fresh new ideas you can try that are a little off the beaten path. For example, say you have an online business selling antique tools online. Your niche is selling tools to those individuals who want to invest in and collect antique tools. While the traffic through your site was say approximately 1,000 visitors a month, it wasn’t generating enough traffic or sales in order to make your business viable.

Subsequently, you start experimenting with different traffic-building strategies. One of the ideas you have is to hold a contest, where you give away an antique tool. To gain excitement about your products, you use antique tools to promote selling antique tools.

The contest asks each visitor to the site to register a wish list of the tools on the site in inventory, valuing from $10 to $500. Once a month, an entry is randomly selected and an item from the person’s wish list is given to them and announced online.

After the establishment of the contest, you will notice an increase in visitors to the site, and you can potentially even double your traffic in just a month or two after the contest begins. Additionally, the day after the monthly e-mail goes out to those who signed up for the contest, you will see an increase in sales for that day.

People like free stuff, and people like useful free stuff even more. Promotions, contests, and giveaways are great ideas to spice up the interest level in your website and sharpen the focus of those visitors. Make sure what you give away is related to your site and useful to your prospect or customer, and have fun!

Does your small town have enough oomph to keep your business afloat? It can if you know how to use your community’s resources.

Let People Know You’re in Town

All towns have newspapers or circulars. It’s usually not too expensive to put an advertisement in these papers, and this is a great way to introduce yourself – and your business’ products and services – to the community.

Get To Know Your Town

Unlike large cities, small towns are places where everyone knows your name – if you get it out in front of them. Think of this as free advertising.

The more people that know you and what you do, the more word-of-mouth will send potential customers right to your doorstep.

Get Involved

There are two reasons that your business can become well-known in town – for good reasons and for bad reasons. You want to be known for good reasons. That means when someone contacts you to volunteer for a community event or fundraiser, be the “yes” person who is happy to lend a hand, instead of the person who slams the door and avoids being helpful.

The more of these community events you get involved in, the more people you’ll meet who will remember your name when someone they know needs the products and services you offer.

When you attend a community event, remember to promote your company. Unless there is a particular dress code, wear a shirt or hat with your company’s logo, wear a nametag, and ALWAYS carry business cards.

Give When You Can

All small towns have a tough time raising funds for community events. Often, they look to the local businesses to help them out by donating items that can be auctioned off to raise money. If you have a service or some merchandise that can be auctioned off, offer a gift certificate to be used in their fundraising effort.

Not only will this give you a good name, as a helping business, but also the gift of your goods will bring a new customer – the auction winner – to you.

Create Your Own Event

If you live in a small town that is lacking special community events, look into hosting your own and attaching your company name to it. This doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition. A spaghetti dinner or pizza party is very affordable, and it’s a great way to get people together.

Add a local talent show to the feeding frenzy and you will have created an event that everyone wants to be involved in. If there is enough interest, you may even get some media coverage, which equates to free advertising.

Using local community resources is a great way to promote your small-town business, and may even have some unexpected, positive side effects. In addition to seeing a constant growth in customers, you will form a number of new friendships with those you meet along the way.

But, don’t worry, here are some foolproof ways to make sure your business cards not only contain all the right information, but are memorable as well.

What every business card should contain

* Company name
* Company logo
* A tagline with a description of what you do – make it crystal clear, for instance: "Providing gourmet catering services for companies."
* Your name
* Your title
* Your Phone number
* Your Email address
* Company website address

Taking your business card to the next step to make it memorable

Use both sides of your business card - Most people don’t even think of using this space; but, why not? Printing companies offer the service and it’s usually inexpensive (an extra $15-$25 per 1,000 business cards). Using it means you’re doubling your opportunity to communicate with potential clients. You could use the back to show your company’s services, customer testimonials, service rates, or even a bio about yourself and your achievements.

Write a "memory tag" on each card before handing it out – For instance if you are at the Off-Price trade show and you meet a prospective client, before handing him your card, write "Off-Price Trade Show" on it before handing it over. This will help jog his memory as to who you are and where he met you. Just be sure to write on white space – you don’t want to cover up your phone number or email address!

Make your business card stand out - This could be as simple as a colored background, or a shaped business card or even a folding "card-style" card. In a pile of other cards, you want yours to be remembered and easy to find.

Add your picture - There’s no reason why you can’t add a picture of yourself to your business card – Realtors do this all the time. It not only helps potential clients remember you, but it puts a face to a name.

Making sure your business cards are professional

Now that you have all the necessary information that should go onto your cards, you’ll need to present it in such a way that is pleasing to the eye. The best way to do this is by opening up a blank business card template on your computer and experimenting with text, font size and layouts. It’s very important that the text isn’t overwhelming on your business card – you want people to be able to easily find your contact information without having to sift through a ton of text.

Figure out your target audience - These are the people who are most likely to buy your products or services. For example, if you are selling baby carriers, then perhaps your main audience is pregnant women aged 22-38.

Find your target audience - Make a list of magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs, product reviews, etc. that cater to this audience. This will be the core target of your PR campaign.

Shape your website or store to cater to this audience - Before you get traffic to your site or store you want to make sure you are ready for them. Make sure your website’s content reads in a tone that will be well received by your target audience. A website selling crazy dog toys should have a fun and energetic tone, while a website offering legal services should have a professional and serious tone.

Once you are prepared, it’s time to begin your campaign. Here are a few tactics that can work wonders in the PR department, if executed correctly:

Send out a Press Release - The problem with most press releases is that they are completely self-serving. If you are a company that sells dried food, do you really think anyone, besides you, cares that you added peaches to your product lineup? It’s amazing, but 99% of press releases contain information that is only interesting to the company that wrote it. The key to a successful press release is that it needs to be newsworthy – meaning that it should have a story that is interesting to people outside the company and not be solely focused on the company. Instead of focusing on the fact that the company added a new product, try using a different, more interesting angle – perhaps the health benefits of peaches or that school children’s love of junk food has lead to a growing obesity problem. Then, slowly add in information about the product and company. To really get the press release right, you might decide that hiring a professional copywriter is best.

Send your press release to:

* Your PR campaign’s core target
* Press release submission service (like www.PRWeb.com )

Create a 20-30 second video - The best way to explain your product or service to someone in the media is by showing them a short demonstration video. The video should look professional and quickly demonstrate or describe your company’s products or services. Having the video readily available for interested media outlets will prove to be beneficial by easily explaining what your product or service is. To be proactive, you can call or email media outlets in your core target and ask permission to email them a short video about your company’s offering. You can also put the video up on your website and place it on video sharing sites like YouTube.com .

Send Emails - This is not an email campaign or spam, this is personalized emails to your PR campaign’s core target. You should have a short boilerplate message that can be tailored to each media outlet. The email message should include a brief description of your product or service, and the attachments should be: 1) a photograph of the product or service and 2) your press release. If you have a video, you should also have a link to the video in the email message. You are trying to convince them to run a story on your product or service so make sure your test is short and enticing–definitely not long or pushy.

Of course, those are just some of the ways to get your company’s name in the news. There are plenty of others, but the ones listed here will give you a good start, if done correctly. Just remember that with a PR campaign, you are trying to sell a story, not your product or service.