by Alex Henry | Jun 29, 2016 | Marketing Strategy, Uncategorized
Fourth Quarter is Just Around the Corner. Are You Ready?
For businesses in the home and holiday markets, July is truly the calm before the storm. While home décor and holiday sales are traditionally very slow in July and August, September heralds the return of the hordes of eager shoppers. They’re ready to outfit their home for the cold weather and make this the best holiday season ever.
It’s no secret that fourth quarter can make or break a home fashion or holiday business. It makes sense to start planning your fourth quarter marketing strategies early. We can help.
The Goal is Top-of-Mind Awareness
When you think of phones, which brands come to mind? When you’re considering a new vehicle, which brands do you look at first? The brands that popped into your head have top-of-mind awareness with you. They are the brands you think of first when you think of that category.
Top-of-mind awareness is one of the most powerful marketing goal. Think of your best customers today. They come to your store often. They don’t complain (much) about price. They’re loyal. You have already achieved top-of-mind awareness with those people. Wouldn’t it be great if you could create the same kind of awareness with hundreds, even thousands, of new customers? This Fall your business goals should go beyond creating awareness. You want to create top-of-mind awareness.
Here in Lancaster County LNP Media Group offers a variety of ways to create top-of-mind awareness. We all know newspaper offers a highly visual medium. But did you know that LNP readers tend to be 40+ homeowners with families and above average income? For many home and holiday marketers, that’s the sweet spot.
That’s why, every Fall, LNP Media Group creates special Fall home sections developed to engage homeowners looking for ways to make this season the best one ever. Contact us to discover all the ways these special advertising opportunities can help your home and holiday business.
Combine the Reach of Print with the Laser-Focus of Digital
Nothing beats LNP for creating brand awareness, but if you want to combine your awareness campaign with super-targeted digital ads, we’ve got some great tools to help drive traffic into your door at the right time. LNP Media Group offers geo-fencing, a relatively new technology that pushes your ads out to customers’ mobile devices when they’re close to your store. That means they’re g
oing to be reminded of your business when they’re already in the neighborhood.
We also help businesses create special promotional landing pages, social and internet ads and help push those ads out to the targeted audiences that are most likely to purchase your goods. Be sure to contact us so our team can explain all the exciting digital options to your business.
Promotional Marketing
Even the most loyal customer needs an occasional push to get them to shop at your business. Break through shopping apathy with exciting promotions and sales. While nothing moves people to action like super low prices, if you want to maintain margins, you may want to consider fun, thematic promotions that pique curiosity and encourage foot traffic. It requires your business to think creatively and get a little less predictable. Have a sale on everything orange. Run a scratch and win promotion. Unveil new merchandise at an invitation-only event.
And then promote it creatively with things like digital landing pages, social media ads and geo-fenced mobile ads. Fourth quarter is a time to make big, bold moves, so be creative and try moving outside of your comfort zone.
We’re Ready to Rock the Fourth Quarter
LNP Media Group is continually growing and adding new, exciting technologies to our suite of marketing and media products. If you have talked to us lately, fourth quarter is the time to get reacquainted. Give us a call and we’ll help you make this your best fourth quarter ever.
LNP Media Group is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to our audiences, our customers, our vendors and our employees throughout Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania. We provide value to our marketing and advertising partners by building effective and innovative solutions and by delivering exemplary customer experiences.
LNP Media Group is a division of Steinman Communications, one of the largest and most experienced communications companies in the Mid-Atlantic. Steinman Communications is an innovative, multi-channel communications company that delivers high quality news, information and entertainment to diverse audiences.
by Alex Henry | Jun 13, 2016 | Advertising, Marketing Strategy, Uncategorized
Is it right for your business?
Marketing to high school athletes is becoming more and more popular among smart businesses. It’s not hard to figure out why. In Lancaster County, advertising to teams and players at the high school level means also getting access to coaches, teachers and principals — not to mention their parents, friends and fans.
High school kids are more getting more sophisticated, and all kinds of brands, from Gatorade to Allstate, are marketing to athletes 14 and up.
In addition to products such as sneakers, sports gear and beverages, other categories are also starting to advertise to this influential demographic. You’ve probably seen a lot of local advertising here in Lancaster County, in local gyms and arenas, for orthopedics and physical therapy. Nationally, big advertisers are also targeting high school athletes for things like personal grooming products, restaurants and even groceries.
LNP Media Group produced the first annual county-wide high school sports banquet this year, reaching thousands of high school athletes and their families.
Why are high school athletes becoming more important to marketers?
High school athletes are important influencers among their peers, but there are also more of them. The number of participants in high school sports increased for the 26th consecutive year in 2014-15 – topping the 7.8 million mark – according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). That’s an increase of over 80% over the past 30 years. The most notable increases are a result of the proliferation of women’s sports and team opportunities for young women.
How do you know if marketing to this growing demographic makes sense for your business? Ask yourself these questions.
Do athletes use your product?
While it’s great to get more access to coaches, parents and fans, if athletes don’t actually use your product, this might not be the right venue for you. High school athlete marketing strategies must promote usage and acceptance with athletes first, secondary audiences later. So if you’re a fertility clinic or a retirement community, this might not be the most effective way to spend your marketing dollars.
Do you want to support your community in more meaningful ways?
Advertising to high school students often means sponsorships. Whether you’re sponsoring an awards banquets or a stadium, associating your business’s name with high school sports can be a win-win situation for you and your sports community
The High School Football Preview gives Lancaster County a preview of who to watch in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
Does your product have a positive effect on athletes’ lives?
While athletes play video games and drink sugary drinks, marketing these products to people under the age of 18 can be politically fraught. These athletes have a team of adults around them protecting and policing them, so make sure your ads will be seen as a positive influence with a “Rated G” message.
Does your product appeal to the people around the athletes?
While marketing directly to the high school athlete can be powerful, even with recent growth numbers, the overall market is fairly small. To make your marketing dollars work harder, make sure your message and your media is built to appeal to athletes AND coaches, families, fans, etc.
Marketing to high school athletes can be profitable for your business, but if the marketing doesn’t feel appropriate, you may experience backlash, so make sure this growing audience is right for your business, and then have fun reaching out to this passionate, engaged audience.
Ready to find out more? Contact us to discuss how your business can reach all kinds of high school athletes throughout Lancaster County.
LNP Media Group is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to our audiences, our customers, our vendor and our employees throughout Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania. We provide value to our marketing and advertising partners by building effective and innovative solutions and by delivering exemplary customer experiences.
LNP Media Group is a division of Steinman Communications, one of the largest and most experienced communications companies in the Mid-Atlantic. Steinman Communications is an innovative, multi-channel communications company that delivers high quality news, information and entertainment to diverse audiences.
