New Marketing Ideas for ’09 - The month of January has been interesting. The economy is still in the toilet and the light at the end of the tunnel would seem to be a long way away. But I also think that it is in these dark days that new ideas begin to emerge as we think about how to do things differently in this economy, how to drive traffic and how to build business. More good ideas maybe spawned in bad times than in the good. I think that is because we do better job of thinking things through and a better job of making sure that the precious dollars we spend will provide the return on investment that justifies the expense. Here are three marketing ideas that we are excited about for our clients.
- Pegasus News is an online newspaper for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. With declining readership of traditional newspapers, Pegasus News is offering its readers the chance to customize the news and information they receive. One of the particularly interesting aspects is the ability to customize based on location. There are over 400,000 unique visitors to Pegasus News each month. For the United Methodist Churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area we are planning a schedule prior to Easter that will promote the Easter Sunday Services of every United Methodist Church in the D-FW area. Visitors will get information on the churches closest to them. There is also an I-Phone Application that will enables users to find the church closest to them based on their current location.
- Via Media TV is one of how real recommendation right now. While cable tv advertising isn’t new Via Media is new. Via Media represents Verizon Fios and Grande Communications in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Eash of our clients that have been runnign with Via Media are getting outstanding coverage and feeling a real responmse to their schedule. At The Crouch Group, we are subscribing to the old paradigm for cable tv advertising…frequency. Every client that we have runnign with Via Media is running volume schedule with 500 or more spots per month. In January, The Crouch Group clients who ran with Via Media were Bill Utter Ford, Ramey King Insurance, Access 1st Capital Bank and Denton Municipal Electric. We also ran a very successful schedule for Zone Press in December. We highly recommend our sales rep Tammy Smolen.
- Denton Originals is a new advertising tool from The Crouch Group that combines print and web. The primary goal is to highlight businesses that are original to Denton. (Chains and franchises need not apply) Each issue will celebrate those businesses that help to make Denton unique. The web site www.dentonoriginals.com will feature each business, discounts and coupons for the budget conscious and upcoming events in Denton. In addition, each participating business will receive a Denton Original window cling to brand them as a Denton Original. The idea is create a cost effective tool for local businesses to brand themselves as part of the unique Denton culture.
One of the keys for marketing and advertising plans this year to look for new ways of reaching potential customers. It is tough out there right now. We have sales people coming at us from all directions. At The Crouch Group, our goal is to ferret out the best of these ideas for our clients and to deliver the maximum return on their marketing investment.
Tim Crouch is a partner in The Crouch Group, Inc. a marketing and public relations firm with offices in Denton, Texas and Springfield, Missouri.
