Marketing must be taken on as a long term commitment, not only to build up the brand of a business but also to secure a steady stream of customers and constantly appeal to potential ones. A marketing strategy is a detailed plan of the marketing initiatives that you intend to conduct during a set period of time. Supported by a constant system of evaluation, a marketing strategy will help you to determine areas that you need to focus on more, those you are wasting your time on or which methods work best against certain consumer groups.

When putting together a marketing strategy it is important to evaluate some key elements of your business. For instance, you must underpin and clearly define your unique selling point or business mission statement; this may seem a simple task, but defining your statement allows you to see the point from which your marketing will develop and it provides all employees a consistent point of reference when dealing with customers.

A difficult task when determining your marketing strategy can be defining your target market, but it is imperative that you do this. It is obvious that all businesses want to attract as many customers as possible, however it is naive to label your target market as ‘everyone’; the products or services you provide will not appeal to everyone and it is not practical or cost effective to try and target your marketing materials towards so many different kinds of people. You must be selective and choose those consumer groups that will be more likely to be interested in your business.

For most people, public relations will conjure up thoughts of ‘spin’ and often derive negative connotations; something purely interested in commercial gain while exploiting customers’ views merely to drive sales. PR is often assumed to have the same definition and purpose as marketing, and while there are certainly areas where the two fields cross over or support each other, PR is a unique practice with its own benefits.

The precise definition of public relations can be hard to pinpoint, but PR is essentially about communication. The ability to communicate effectively with all targeted publics, both external and internal, is an essential aspect of public relations; two-way communication allows potential customers to feel their own opinions and views are valued by an organisation therefore allowing a relationship to flourish. PR can be very subtle and usually focuses on securing third party endorsement for organisations, normally through the media or other reputable organisations, thereby developing a positive image and a solid reputation.

Within PR there are different aspects of the practice that contribute to developing a great business image; proactive PR and crisis management. The proactive aspect of PR would include ongoing activities that work towards creating media coverage, building the brand image or managing social media platforms, actions that will ensure constant communication from an organisation. Crisis management is an extremely important facet of public relations; when something goes wrong within an organisation, or with a specific product, there needs to be PR support in order to minimise the damage to the organisations reputation. This can involve everything from issuing a press release or statement, recalling products, even training senior employees to talk to the media and most importantly, reacting as quickly as possible to prevent consumer backlash.

The media is a continuously growing industry and now holds more influence over the general public than ever before, setting an agenda that can often greatly harm or greatly benefit certain organisations. Media relations is an important part of PR; creating an exciting newsworthy story surrounding an organisation will often result in free media coverage, the ultimate third party endorsement that has the potential to reach thousands of people.

Public relations has always been considered a powerful tool for all different kinds of organisations, provided it is done correctly and with respect to potential customers, however, with new technology evolving all the time, PR can now influence many other aspects of everyday life and more specifically target their chosen publics. With the growth of social media and blogging, public relations is now able to target more niche markets where their most loyal customers might exist and more easily communicate with them. The meaning of what is newsworthy has also changed over the years, allowing PR practitioners to emphasise or create certain stories that may now make headlines where they once would not. Public relations must always remain ahead of the curve.

Whether it’s a newspaper BOGOF promotion or an on-line deal such as Doorstep Deals or Groupon, these special offers all have one thing in common: the way they are written.

Understanding how to write great copy for special offers is vital if you want your offers to work for you.

Using our  seven step guide,  you can’t fail to attract new customers and increase your sales.   Just fill in your email in the contact form below and we’ll send you our Sevent Steps to Writing Great Copy by return email.