Twelve steps to better marketing (continued)

1.  _____
Leaflets are cheap; highlight your website and email address, then distribute them outside high-profile events. Flyposting is illegal but effective for some audiences.

2.  _____
If you send direct mail, make sure you include reply-paid cards or envelopes.  Literature should have freephone numbers, websites should have contact information on the top half of the screen so there is no scrolling required to see it.

3.  _____
Collect them from inquiries, buyers, your website, newsletter subscribers, telephone callers, market research etc. It's easier to talk to someone who already knows your name, so these people are your best prospects for postal or email marketing.

4. _____
Direct mail incentives include free offers and product samples. Choose something that arrives regularly - a regular emailed newsletter is cheaper to produce and distribute than the paper equivalent and a lot more flexible. Don't forget to include a prominent "sign up for free newsletter" on your website.

5.  _____
Make it easy to remember, ideally short and in simple and clear English. Register a few alternatives that redirect the visitor to your site, just in case people misspell it or put in unnecessary hyphens.

6. _____
It's a 24-hour internationally available brochure, salesperson and character reference. Make sure it's worth visiting. Refresh your content regularly. Offer a newsletter, comment, case studies, copies of press releases, a privacy policy, your customer service policy, user surveys. The design and copywriting have to be exactly right - people react differently to something they're seeing on a screen.

7 _____
That means skilful use of labels for content keywords, clever copywriting (the same keywords should appear frequently in the text), link exchanges (several search engines increase your ranking if other websites reference yours), and appropriate page design. Frames, Flash and lots of JavaScript can stop the user from finding search tools.

8 _____
Say "thank you". Make it a habit to write personal thank you notes to clients, colleagues, suppliers. It won't cost you much and they'll remember you the next time.

9 _____
Make sure everyone collects names and comments and that everyone knows about your promotions and special offers.  Also, ensure that everyone understands your USP and can talk about it easily.

10 _____
We're talking about word-of-mouth campaigns, email attachments, free mobile-phone games or ringtones, PC utilities and screensavers - all of which can be passed on from one person to another at no cost to you.

11 _____
It can be very effective to run a press campaign: press releases or even the occasional party. You’d better have something remarkable to get into the national papers or the bigger magazines. One tactic: be controversial, because pushy short comments make good copy.

12 _____
It works if your target audience can identify with the people you're quoting. Encourage customers to tell you how much they like you: enclose a reply-paid comments card with every order, ask people what they think of you when they phone up, get their permission to quote their name as well as their praise.

You can see the titles of the 12 tips in this exercise. Match the name of the tip to the correct paragraph.

Now, read the following statements and decide if they are true or false according to the article.