Want to be the centre of attention - well Marketing can help !

Want to be the centre of attention -
well Marketing can help !

Whether you are a Business, a club or association, or the next 'Boyzone' - to be noticed you have to use 'marketing'.It is not as boring as you may think - it actually means using a lot of common sense and planning.

We all use marketing in our every day lives; when we apply for a job, when we go shopping; the clothes that we wear; and in all the different communications we use. We are either promoting ourselves or assessing the promotions of others, and everyone of us knows what we like and dislike. So, if we can find out the likes and dislikes of others, we have a good chance of being noticed.

Right, lets use the example of a Computer Club.
You and a couple of your friends think it would be a good idea to set one up, but how do you go about it.

1. Find out if anyone else is interested, by each of you asking family, friends and colleagues, as well as the sort of times they would want to attend.
2. Find out where existing computer clubs are, and what they provide and how much it costs to join.
3. You can now work out who would definitely join and who may possibly join.
The size of venue required, the equipment needed, when it would be best to open etc.
4. Check out possible venues, these may be your home, the library, or school, or computer shop, and how much will it cost. Will the equipment be borrowed, rented or bought. What about talking to an established club; by using the facilities at different times, the costs can be shared.
5. Having decided what and where the club will be, how much it will cost to administrate and what will be the cost for each member to join. Make sure that there is an allowance for profit, this to be used for new kit, software, advertising or those unforeseen emergencies.
6. Now, you can start shouting about your new club, which can cost a little or a lot of money, dependant on your approach. Perhaps, you have enough members to start with, in which case promotion can be very simple. The main one here would be through recommendation by other members, and guess what - that's the best advertising you can get !

Advertising and Promotion Tips on a shoe-string :

· Start a newsletter, talking about how the club is going, new kit or games, or members like new ones that have joined. These can be done on your home computer and printer as a simple leaflet, with a bit of Clip Art or a photo to add visual interest. Then send them to all the members, possible members from the list you created from item 1, hand out at school or at work, or anywhere else that would be relevant. Monthly or Quarterly is fine.

· Write Press Releases about any interesting event, person or feature of the club and send this to your local paper, or computer magazine like Compute-it. Perhaps ask if they would do an editorial piece or support the club in some way. Talk to Computer and Software Manufacturers to ask for support. After all, your PR is their PR, and if you don't ask, you don't get! They may say NO but they may say YES, give it a try.

· Surf the Net and involve News Groups - or is that too obvious.

· Cards in the Newspaper Shop window can be cheap advertising. Use the sale of some computer part or software to promote the club at the same time, by advertising free on the Supermarket, school or work noticeboards.

· Sales representatives - or rather the members. Everyone can drum up business and spread the word, it is not just the domain of 'the committee'.

· Similar to the newsletter, produce a leaflet, which can be quite a simple piece. Deliver door to door, or hand out at school or the office. Though this is not a selective method of promotion, the success rate will be very low, approx. 2 to 3%, on a good day! The rest of the leaflets will be thrown away - so the best way is to have identified potential customers first.

· Run a competition - the prize - free membership for a year, and incorporate this into all press releases, newsletters, leaflets etc.There are many other ways to advertise, but what ever you do make sure your promotion follows the A.I.D.A formulae. It has been around for years - and never fails when used properly.

Attention: make the main benefit very visual
Interest: explain why the benefit is so important
Desire: expand on the other benefits, give testimonials from happy members - these must be real - do not try to fake these statements.
Action: make it easy to respond and that it must be done - nowLook in your local papers and magazines, to see the adverts that work for you, and why.

Before you release any advertisement or promotion, test it on a couple of people, to see if its an AIDA !

Having done all that, try to remember when people contact the club, that they are asked where they saw the advertisement. It will help you to gauge what works and what doesn't, and before you know it - you'll be opening another Computer Club.

Now, this was only an example, and it shows that you can use promotion and advertising in ways, that do not have to be expensive. It only takes a dollop of common sense, a lot of planning, assessing, reviewing, some creativity and a big bucket of fun - and that's all there is to it!

Best of luck, and let us know how you get on, write in to the editor with any funny stories about your successes or failures - you never know but you may get some free coverage.