Marketing Profs

Every year we conduct a survey of AdCracker.com's subscribers to identify ways that marketers are squeezing more sales from their budgets. Here are some learnings from this year's report:

1. Make stronger offers

The old maxim is, "The more you give the more you will get." Most understand that to mean more sales flow from 25 percent off than from 10 percent off.

But "giving more" does not have to mean "spending more." It does mean creating offers and promotions that are useful or interesting to prospects.

Example: a pizza shop owner in Berkeley, California approached a local video store, and together they launched a "Pizza and a movie" offer. Little Caesars Pizza teamed up with Blockbuster Video on a similar promotion, nationwide.

Whether you are big or small, look for partners to share costs. Also, keep in mind that different demographic/psychographic slices of your list or audience will respond to different offers.

2. Mind the basics

This can be particularly crucial for multinationals such as Citigroup. The campaign that starts in Hong Kong with, "Open a business account and pay no fees for one year" can become, "Citibank smiles every month" in Seoul.

So feature your offer up front. Tell readers clearly what they will get. Tell them how they will benefit. Tell them what to do, what action to take. Set a deadline. And provide multiple ways for them to respond.

It's a formula that works in any language.