Charities, just like any other organisation, have to advertise and market themselves effectively in order to survive.

Their goal is to convince their target audience that the cause they support is worthy of a donation, or indeed, a number of regular donations.

This can be a tough challenge; especially when advertising budgets are tight.

We therefore thought it would be appropriate to produce a short piece of information to help small charities make the most of their limited funds when it comes to advertising and promotion.

Much of this information applies to charities and small businesses alike, so it’s worth a look even from the ‘for-profits’ amongst us.

Make use of the media

Although you enjoy less control over this medium of promotion than you do via conventional advertising channels, it’s free. So make the most of it.

Invite the local media to any events or special occasions, send out press releases with newsworthy stories about your charity, and keep an eye out for any new PR opportunities (maybe a local radio or TV station would like to hold a live interview on a subject related to your charity’s cause).

Sensitise your audience

It’s always a good idea to familiarise and ‘sensitise’ your target audience to your charity and its cause before pursuing more personal methods of solicitation. Doing so adds credibility to your charity and gives it some degree of recognition amongst the target audience, making them more receptive to requests for donations.

You might find it useful to combine press ads, posters and other non-direct methods with direct solicitation such as mailings, door-to-door campaigns, and public collection for maximum effect.

Be inventive

This one applies to all organisations. Be inventive, or be ignored.

In a society where people are becoming increasingly numb to advertising and promotion, it is paramount that you differentiate your communications in a way that demands attention.

To put this into perspective, there are over 169,000 registered charities in England and Wales. Many of which actively request donations from the public.

It is not feasibly possible for everyone to donate to each one of these charities, so they have to be selective and choose the ones that they feel are supporting the most important causes.

Your job then, is to communicate your charity’s cause in such a compelling and engaging way that, after viewing, or listening to, your promotion, your target audience feels just as strongly about the cause as you do.

Take a look at ‘be a guerrilla marketer’ below for a few unconventional, attention-grabbing advertising ideas for your charity.

Be a guerrilla marketer

Take a leaf out of these charities’ books: http://bit.ly/107pfb

One word of warning, however, many guerrilla marketing techniques can have ethical, and indeed legal, implications. Make sure your campaign doesn’t end up like one of these: http://bit.ly/xguz6

If you would like a hand with getting your charity’s message across to your target audience effectively, we can help.

It’s no secret that, in the 21^st century, to be successful, companies need to think beyond the single transaction and focus more on the ‘lifetime value’ of each customer.

No longer can business owners rest on the assumption that customers who like a product or service will continue to buy.

Most markets are just too competitive and not maintaining contact with your customers can mean losing them forever, thus jeopardising the longevity of your business.

Existing customers are the most profitable source of income for any business. One, because winning this custom requires much lower (if any) advertising and promotional costs; and two, because this group have purchased from you before, they are more likely to have confidence in your product/service and make an even bigger order the next time round.

Arguably then, more time and attention should be devoted to retaining existing customers than is devoted to winning new ones.

Sadly (and rather disturbingly), this is not often the case.

It’s not a challenging task to employ a little relationship marketing in your business activities. Here are a few simple methods for maintaining contact with your customers in the interest of encouraging repeat purchases:

Send an email or letter out to your customer a couple of weeks after they made their purchase to see how they are getting on with the product/service and whether they need any help with anything.

Not only does this portray a caring attitude, it also serves as the perfect opportunity to collect a little market research on your customers’ preferences.

Send them a weekly/monthly/annual newsletter. During your dealings with the customer, kindly ask them if they would like to be part of your mailing list. Newsletters are a great way to show off your expertise in a particular field alongside keeping your brand fresh in the customer’s mind.

Send personalised messages on special occasions such as Christmas and Easter. If possible, you should try to capture each customer’s date of birth when they make their purchase, in order to send them personalised greetings on their birthdays.

Use social networking to maintain contact with your customers and keep them up to date on any developments in your company. Encourage customers to befriend or follow you on websites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook etc. You could also encourage them to subscribe to your blog.

Present them with special offers and exclusive discounts. Remember, these people are familiar with your company and your brand so are much more receptive to communications and special offers than ‘cold’ prospects would be. Use this to your advantage.

By putting these simple tips into practice you should see a substantial increase in the amount of repeat business that you and your company receive.

 ‘Guerrilla Marketing’ by Jay Conrad Levinson

An updated and expanded version of the original 1983 publishing. In this edition, Levinson gives his readers an in-depth look at the possibilities of marketing and promotion in the twenty-first century.

This book is filled with leading-edge strategies for marketing on the internet, putting new technologies to work, targeting prospects, cultivating repeat and referral business, and managing in the age of telecommuting and freelance employees.

It is arguably an essential read for small business owners as it looks at how to utilise a shoestring budget to compete effectively with large competitors by using unorthodox marketing strategies and promotional techniques often overlooked or dismissed by big companies.

I’m really enjoying this book but I can’t help thinking that Levinson has attempted to write a 100 page book in 368 pages. The content appears quite diluted with Levinson talking around each subject before actually saying anything useful. Despite this, if you can sift through the ‘filler’ with which the book has been generously padded, you will find this an informative and interesting read.

‘Anyone can do it’ by Duncan Bannatyne

Yes! I too am a fan of the BBC’s Dragon’s Den so I decided to buy my favourite dragon’s autobiography.

Now, for me, autobiographies can be a bit hit and miss. In order to remain interested in an autobiography it has to inspire me. It has to fill me with enthusiasm and give me something that I can use to fulfil my own aspirations and ambitions. Suffice to say, this did exactly that!

The book takes you on a tour of Duncan’s life, allowing you to gain an insight into his ideas and thought process as he makes his journey from ice cream man to health club tycoon. And the book isn’t just concerned with the business side of his life; it touches on everything from seeing off extortion attempts to throwing his Navy commanding officer overboard. He truly has lived an eventful life.

Whilst I disagree with Duncan’s claim that ‘anyone can do it’, I think the book serves as inspiration for anyone who already holds the mentality and personal attributes to ‘do it’. A great book and a great entrepreneur, essential reading for those aspiring for success in business.

One of my favourite pastimes is mountain biking and when I’m not scribbling away at the office I like to don my cycling jersey and hit the rough terrain for some invigorating exercise.

What I love about mountain biking is that it’s simple good fun. You equip yourself with a bike. Helmet. Clothing. Maybe a few accessories and you’re on your way.  

Or not.

Last month I bought myself a set of high-strength, cross-country wheels after becoming increasingly frustrated with the amount of money I was spending on repairing and replacing buckled wheels.

When they arrived they were encased in a fancy cobalt blue box boasting improved radial and lateral strength, highly efficient seals that minimise chain slackening, and superior rigidity. I tore the box open to be greeted with 2 gleaming, brand-new, top-of-the-range, twin-spoked wheels. 

At this point, as you can probably imagine, I was delighted with my purchase . . . despite costing me over £500!

I fitted them to my bike that evening and I was off to test them out. After less than 2 hours on the trail my rear wheel was buckled.

To the manufacturer’s credit they repaired it under warranty in super-quick time. But after hitting the rough stuff for a second time, one of the wheels buckled again. At this point I began to feel very disappointed with my purchase. In fact, I can safely say that I will not purchase any equipment from that manufacturer again.

I have experienced ‘post-purchase dissonance’.

The reason for this story?

You can wax lyrical about your product or service in your promotion and sell something that does not fulfil these claims . . . but a consumer can only be fooled once.

In order to achieve any degree of longevity in your sales performance, you must ensure that your promotional claims and activities are appropriately suited to your product or service.

If you’re selling an apple, promote an apple, not a pear. If you are selling a mid to lower-range wheel set, promote a mid to lower-range wheel set, not a high-range set.

Be honest with your advertising and promotion, it will pay dividends in the long term.

I received an atrocious direct mail piece the other day from a print rental company and thought it appropriate to use as an example of how NOT to write a good sales letter. Here it is (please be reminded that neither myself nor my employees have anything to do with this sales letter, it was received by our office as a direct mail piece from a print company).

High inflation

High interest rates

The credit crunch is defiantly here!

If all this sounds all familiar you are probably aware of all the gimmick calls suggesting

“saving you money on click charges and consumable costs”

“Free Digital Printing Machines if you sign your life, house and porches to us”

Small print suggests you commit to a million prints month at a rate Bill Clinton would struggle to keep up with.

Are we ready for a change? . . . . . .

Change is revolutionary, change is a fresh approach whether its small work group printers for proofing, or full critical COLOUR! Digital devices to suite your Individual needs. We supply and specialise in the sales and after care of Olivetti & Oki equipment for the office and studio.

Our dedicated sales team will be in touch shortly on how we can help your business reach its goals.

You can fax back or e-mail your request and we shall try our best to help.

(Email address  and website given)

Kind regards

Marketing Department

Now, if you can see past the terrible grammar and spelling and the fact that they clearly do not understand what a credit crunch involves, refer to Bill Clinton as a print-fanatic and confuse Porsches with porches, there are more serious issues. Most importantly, what is the point of the mailing? There is very little, if any, call to action. So, essentially they are giving us the ‘heads up’ that their sales team will be in touch shortly. What a waste of paper!

 It wouldn’t be as bad if the copy itself actually portrayed some of the benefits their service has to offer, at least then it would allow us to decide whether or not we would like to listen to their sales team when they get in touch, but it doesn’t. I am none the wiser of what their service offers now than before I read the letter.

When you receive a birthday card from your parents does it say ‘Happy Birthday Darling. Lots of Love, The Parenting Team’? Or when you receive an email invitation from your friends to attend a birthday party, is it signed ‘See you there, The Best Mate Team’? Of course not! Why then do companies feel the need to end their sales letters with things like the ‘marketing department’ or the ‘marketing team’?

Departments and teams are impersonal. Departments and teams can’t form meaningful relationships or rapport with customers. People don’t like receiving anonymous letters, they like receiving letters from other people. Individual people.

There are no offers i.e. discounts to entice the reader to act quickly and they offer no keepsake or free gift e.g. business card, promotional pen etc. with the mailing for the reader to save and refer to at a later date.

Ultimately, this is a very dull, uninteresting mailing and I can truly say that this is one of, if not the worst direct mailing I have ever encountered. To top it all off, the web address given in the faint call to action is so complex I would be surprised if anyone could type it into their browser without having to take a second or third look.

I think it would be appropriate to say that this company needs our services more than we need theirs.