Part 4. Choosing the Right Marketing Approach for your Design Business

Once you’ve decided and selected the most appropriate marketing strategy (remember our last blog? Chapter 3. Selecting the right marketing strategy for your design practice) to attract your ideal customer you’ll need to decide on your plan of action.

Here’s how it all works together…

Choosing your distribution channel (Chaprer1. Selecting the best sales distribution for your design practice) is about deciding *where* you’ll be able to reach your best prospects.

Deciding on you’re marketing strategy is about choosing*what* you’ll be doing to reach those prospects.

•  Distribution channel = WHERE
•  Marketing strategy = WHAT
• Marketing aproach = HOW

Here’s an example…

You’ve decided that a direct mail would be the best way to reach your potential clients

You’ve decided on your message “come and see me at my pop up store and receive a free gift when you purchase…”

Now, there’s several options to consider… You could send a sales letter, or send a brochure, or you could even send a postcard.

Let’s think about it… A sales letter might work – if it gets opened; and if it gets read. Most people easily recognise business related sales letters and will more than likely throw letters like that straight into the recycling with little consideration.

What about a brochure?

A brochure might work if we designed it as a self mailer – that is, a piece that is mailed by itself rather than being placed into an envelope. Here again though, we may have a problem. A brochure is also easily recognised as promotion and discarded before anyone reads the information.

Would a personal postcard work? Perhaps a hand written invitation? Nice and personal, and not too “salesy”

OK, But what about cost? how much would each option cost? and what about time too? Your time is money after all. So when weighing ups the options we need to consider what the return on our efforts may be.