The August issue of Entrepreneur Magazine highlights the top 10 places for starting a business, according to its editors.

Phoenix, Arizona is Number 5 on the list and nicknamed “The Expander” because it has grown by 50% over the last twenty years. This quick growth rate means that the city has all the basic services a company needs to get started.  The article also mentions Phoenix’s strengths in the tech industry.

The complete list of best places to start a business are:

1. Las Vegas
2. Portland
3. Orlando
4. San Diego
5. Phoenix
6. Chapel Hill, N.C.
7. Atlanta
8. Madison, Wis.
9. Youngstown, Ohio
10. Austin

Phoenix, Arizona marketing agency, Thrive Marketing, helps Start-up’s with logo design, website design, shopping carts, copywriting services for websites and brochures, marketing materials, tradeshow booth and materials, and much more – all at very affordable rates.  Check out our Portfolio and Request a Proposal today.

If you are having trouble getting people to say yes, you don’t need to change what you are proposing; you need to change how you present what you have to offer.

Robert Cialdini Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Arizona State University, summarizes the concept behind his “Principles of Persuasion.”

Principles that can change the way you think about marketing.

Influence is an art – the following six principles are the canvass to enhance your business, sales and marketing skills!

1. Principle of reciprocation. I’m obligated to give back to you what you first give to me.

This rule requires that one person try to repay what another person has provided. By obligating the recipient to an act of repayment in the future–the rule for reciprocation allows one individual to give something to another with the confidence that it is not being lost. This sense of future obligation according to the rule makes possible the development of various kinds of continuing relationships, transactions, and exchanges that are beneficial to society. Extended to marketing and sales, this is a very powerful principle that companies use all the time!

• Free product samples…
• Free test drives…
• Free workouts…

…are all implemented to get the customer to try the product or service, but also so that we become indebted at a psychological level. Another key example is business relationships…if someone refers a customer to us or utilizes our services, then we will remember that particular person when we need their product or service or we will refer someone over to them that does.

2. Principle of scarcity. People want more of what they can get less of.

You have to convince prospects that your offer is unique and rare, and that they will lose something if they don’t take advantage of your offer. How does this tie-in to your marketing? Consider your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and how you can convince your prospects that they will be losing out if they choose not to purchase. This can include money, health, youth, looks, success etc. Or, next time you write a promotion, try placing a limit on your offer, “limited to the first 1,000 customers,” and watch your response skyrocket.

3. Principle of authority. People want to follow legitimate experts.

It is important to position yourself as an authority with the media, your clients and your target market. Getting media publicity on TV or in your newspaper, giving presentations or workshops and even distributing a monthly email newsletter with an article like this one are a few ways to show your expertise. Don’t be embarrassed because you think you sound boastful! As strange as it sounds, you could also mention a weakness in your position, which will establish you as both powerful and honest. Immediately after admitting a weakness is when you need to deliver your strongest argument.

4. Principle of commitment and consistency. People have a tendency to live up to what they write down.

Simply stated – obtain anything in writing that might result in additional sales. For example, if you convince someone that overexposure to the sun is bad, then it’s easier for them to agree they need your products, whether it’s sunscreen, sunless tanner or a baseball cap. After making a commitment, taking a stand or position, people are more willing to agree to requests that are consistent with their prior commitment. This principle also applies to terms and payment for products or services rendered; though this doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t get ripped-off, it does decrease the likelihood as it is physical proof you can take to court! To apply this principle to your marketing, add a money-back guarantee and/or warranty to show you stand behind your product/service.

5. Principle of consensus or social proof. People tend to follow others.

In the end, most people are followers. You might decide what you should do by looking at what others do in that situation. For example, you could decide to use a product or service that is strongly recommended by another business associate. This comes down to “Word of Mouth” and testimonials—provide those that are most similar to your prospects, and use clients who refer others to you as communicators for your services. Be sure to include testimonials on your company website, brochures, newsletters and any other marketing communication.

6. Principle of liking. People who like you will buy from you.

This last principle applied to business means that your prospects will buy from you if they admire and feel a bond with you. People want to do business with someone that they know likes them in return and that shows a genuine interest in helping them and their company. In one word, Relationships! Colleagues and associates will purchase products and services from those who go that extra mile to help their businesses. Those that are great at networking are often able to refer individuals to other business owners or influential individuals who can help grow their business. And like any great counselor, this involves listening more than talking!

Reciprocation, scarcity, authority, commitment, consensus and liking…all six are suggestions that will enhance your sales and marketing skills, build confidence and increase your chances for marketing success!

Located in Phoenix, AZ, Thrive Marketing is a full-service marketing and advertising firm specializing in website design, full-service search engine optimization and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) online advertising services. Thrive offers the expertise to assist with your marketing campaign so that you will see better results and a return on your investment. Every thing we do is done with the end result in mind: more clients for your business.

Getting your marketing to keep its best foot forward

There’s no question about it—the economy is tough.  However, as we discussed in last month’s article, a business can still thrive in downtimes.  In fact, ThriveMarketing can help you double your sales with some creative marketing automation and some inside knowledge that can make your website a more effective selling tool.  You can be more efficient at what you do.  Here we are, one month later and, you maybe missed a month of improved sales.

Since most Americans like us are not in line for a billion-dollar government handout, we must push ahead and keep ourselves in the winners’ circle when it comes to making money in a downturned economy.  Now, more than ever, it is important not to miss an opportunity due to lack of follow-up on a sales contact.

Automating your follow-up

Are you being as efficient with your prospect follow-up as you should be?  Much of the time, the more you try and make your business grow, the less time you have to enjoy life which is why you wanted to be your own boss, right?  We can help.  Many of the repetitive tasks that eat up your time can be automated.

Not only does that provide you with more time for growth and leisure pleasure, it also provides you with more income per hours spent.

One customer in recent months who used the automated marketing systems reported that they MORE than doubled their sales units within three months and unit value was up of over 16% due to up-selling in the website shopping cart.

Tweaking your website to work harder for you

After setting some of the most time-consuming tasks on automated marketing systems, a review of their site revealed it was not working as hard as it should be.  That’s true with all of us who are going as fast as we can—something has to be a lower priority.  Often it is the website.  Here are a few things that we would expect the website to be doing, automatically, that were not happening in this case.

• Capture leads from the website
• Segment the leads
• Promote products with follow-up marketing sequences
• Us a referral system to sell more products
• Upsell products on the website.

Is your website doing these things for you?  If you are not sure whether your website could work harder for you, give ThriveMarketing a chance to go through it with you to be sure.

If you had any doubts about the reality of really being able to prosper in a downturned economy, this is proof that not only is it possible to work smarter and improve your return, but if you plan it right and use the right tools, it is almost assured.

With more selling time, improve your presentation

Here’s a thought for improving your presentation to your leads when you make an initial contact.  Have you ever thought about writing a short commercial for yourself?  Actually, this is a practice with résumé development.  Not only is it an excellent and succinct way to present yourself, it forces you to organize your thoughts around what you do, what you represent, and who you are to your client.

First, develop a short statement about your strengths and attributes.  Second, you should be able to memorize it and be able to say it (without sounding memorized) in about thirty seconds. The real beauty of it is that you will be able to use it both as an introduction and response to the question of “Tell me a little bit about yourself.”

Add your half-minute commercial to your brochures and introductory selling material.  However, developing a concise and articulate statement is a great way to begin gathering your thoughts around who you are and why you are qualified.

Trust that this is no easy task and that it will take some thought, some note taking and several rounds of editing before you get it the way you want it.  Have another person read it and provide feedback on whether it suits you or not.  If you think this is an easy exercise, watch how tongue-tied you get when you start talking about yourself, but it is well worth the effort.

Yes, the economy is the pits again this year.  Things are not going to look much better for a long time so give us a call and let us help you accomplish your goals.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Quoting the Lords of Kobol (Battlestar Gallactica) “Everything that happens, has happened before and will happen again.”  So, don’t be surprised when it does.  Just be better prepared.

So how do you avoid this fool’s errand? Constantly tweak your marketing and never rest on your laurels.

Are you just sitting back expecting the money to roll in?

If so, you need to understand that marketing is much more than just sending one piece to potential customers or creating an ad on the Internet.

Two critical components to the success of any marketing strategy – tweaking and measuring!

Tweaking involves making minor modifications to your website, direct mail campaigns, even presentations to obtain results, and potentially an increase in profit. And measuring is an important task to see if those changes are actually bringing in revenue. Though timely, both tweaking and measuring are the keys to improving your response rate!

What Marketing Works for Your Business?

A 24/7 Salesperson: Your Website

Simply getting potential customers to your site is not enough…Google Analytics is a powerful measurement tool including:

• What’s the average time spent on your site? For example, if visitors are staying for a small amount of time – say around 10 seconds, there’s probably something that’s turning them off – be it the copy or the images. If so, it’s time to tweak!
• What Internet Ads yield the highest conversion rate? For example, you might find out that your Yellow Pages ad converts 1 out of every 100 visitors, but you might convert visitors from Google at a rate of 4 out of every 10 visitors. In this case, you could drop your Yellow Pages ad and concentrate your marketing dollars on more lucrative websites. By running split A/B tests, you can tweak the ads that aren’t working and keep the ones that are for a possible overall increase in response rates.
• Determine what day you have the highest activity on your website, so you can “tweak” your email marketing campaigns and send out email promotions on those high traffic days.
• Find out where people are abandoning your shopping cart, so you can tweak your shopping cart process, making it easier for visitors to make purchases and thereby, increase your sales.

Knowing the answers to these questions and more will help you to know what is working, and what needs tweaking. Many of our clients benefit from us interpreting their website reports and making the appropriate tweaks to the marketing for them on a monthly basis.

Tracking Direct Mail on Your Website

The Internet has literally changed the role of direct mail! A 2004 Direct Mail Association study indicated that 33% of direct mail recipients prefer to respond online. Intrigue prospects by adding personalized URL’s to postcards or other direct mail pieces (some clients report a 10 – 25% response rate compared to the average response of 2-3%!) in combination with a VIP landing page developed specifically for your campaign.

Today’s digital printing technology allows for you to send specific messages to each of your prospects – called “variable printing.” This allows you to automatically personalize each postcard with the person’s first name or company name, as they are being printed. You can also create a list of “A” clients and “B” clients and send different creatives to each list without expensive set-up charges. It also means you can mail fewer, more targeted pieces for a better ROI.

For the best return on investment, make sure your direct mail project is a campaign, not a one-shot chance. For example, you might mail your prospects one letter, a personalized post card and then send an email. Nowadays must make a number of contacts (anywhere from 3 to 23 times!) before they will remember seeing your message and respond.

Placing a Print Ad is Not Enough Anymore

Don’t place an ad in the newspaper or Yellow Pages with just your logo, phone number and website! Entice your audience with a benefit driven headline and a compelling offer such as a free gift with purchase. Measure results by asking new customers how they heard of you or create a specific 800 number, unique domain name, or email for them to respond to. Then, remember to track your results and measure them against your other marketing campaigns to determine which campaigns are returning an investment.

Tweak Your 60-Second Commercial

Great marketing is not just print and online material…it also relies on your personal sales skills. If you are not satisfied with the number of business cards you are getting or with your conversion rate, consider tweaking your sales pitch.

How Do You Measure Up?

You can’t be successful without measuring the efforts of your advertising dollars. Compare your results to those of industry standards to see where you rate. According to the Direct Marketing Association, the average direct mail response rate is 2.77 percent, email is 2.48 percent and telemarketing is 8.55 percent. According to FireClick statistics, e-commerce websites enjoy an average of a 2.3% conversion. However, there are many factors involved which include number of prospects, target market and how effective your message is.

Thrive Marketing is a Phoenix marketing firm specializing in website design, full-service search engine optimization and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) online advertising services. Thrive offers the expertise to assist with your marketing campaign so that you will see better results and a return on your investment. Every thing we do is done with the end result in mind: more clients for your business.

Is the internet right for your customers?

Does your demographic audience use the internet?  Do you market products to audiences that you feel may not really use the internet to shop and make purchases?  There are a lot of assumptions made about who does and who does not use the internet but the actual data is probably going to be somewhat surprising.

The internet is the place to be — for almost everyone

What modern-day business would not present itself on the internet?  Well, there are a lot of them, but very few of them could probably give you a good reason why they are not.  Many people might tell you there are a lot of people who do not have computers at home.  In the United States, there are some but, by now, there are not likely many who do not.

Virtually everyone has access to a computer either at work, or at the library or other public places designed around internet access and research.  At least in this country, and most of the western world, pretty much anyone who wants to look up something on the internet is able to do so.

Not only do older users use the internet, they do it better and longer

Now, what about those audiences?  Many believe that the baby-boomers are not a good target for internet promotion. They are seen as too old and “too out of it” to do their buying through the internet.  Many of the younger generation feel that boomers still buy through the newspaper and yellow pages.  In fact, that is a rather common misconception.  At the very beginning of internet availability, or when it was just beginning to be a research tool in business, most baby-boomers then were aged 35 to 45 and entering their searches as command line entries—doing things the really hard way.  That was “the good-old days” when everyone worked at the command prompt.

Maybe they are a better internet audience because they have had more practice

Actually, older (age sixty-plus) internet users are now the fastest growing demographic in America’s internet market. Regardless of the prejudices toward older citizens and their use of the internet, these users access the internet more often, stay on longer, and visit more sites than their younger counterparts according to the media research company, Media Metrix.  The over-60 group will be growing from 17.7 million Internet users in 2006 to 25.3 million by 2011– 43% in two years notes the market surveys of eMarketer.  Moreover, according to the United States Census, adults over fifty will be the only growth age demographic between now and 2015. Your company could do a lot of effective selling in that time.

Practice makes perfect

A company whose focus is on the baby-boomer market has particular advantage marketing on the internet.  Why?  For the reason that many of the competitors are not competing in this arena — and it is the best one.  They are not always there because of the preconceived notions we have already mentioned.

Where your company’s focus wins, is that these older internet users are more apt to click on a sponsored link (you may know this as Pay-per-Click marketing). For people in their fifties, the click rate is 80%.  For people in their sixties, the average is actually over 90% are apt to click if they see the sponsored link as relevant (eMarketer).  It would be tough to train an audience to behave any better.  They are the perfect audience for marketing in the search engines, especially Pay-per-Click marketing.

What are the products that are well-suited to this segment?

Certainly all age-related and discretionary products and services such as cosmetic dentistry, cosmetic surgery, hair products and treatments, exercise equipment, hearing aids and amplifiers, medical products, convenience products for bath and garden, assistive products, finer clothing, and finer automobiles.  Use your own imagination and see if your products or product features fit this market.

Something for post-boomers to remember . . .

The post-boomer generations of Generation X, GEN-Y, and the iGeneration are still learning a lot from the boomers.  Remember this:  first, the internet sells your products 24/7/365 and the post-60 audiences are clicking more than you are; and second, remember who in this world still has most of the money and the willingness to spend it.

ThriveMarketing provides expertise in many of the products and markets mentioned and through their knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and automated marketing techniques can help drive your customers to your products and your websites’ shopping carts.

About ThriveMarketing

We measure our success by your success. Through creative marketing strategies, we help our clients generate more leads, build more profits, shorten sales cycles and strengthen brands. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be effective. Not to mention right for you. We work with all types of marketing budgets and have become experts at working with what you have – with one goal in mind: to produce results. For more information, please visit www.ThriveMarketing.net or call 1.866.521.0827.

ThriveMarketing is a proud recipient of multiple American Marketing Association Spectrum Awards and is ranked in the Top 25 Web Design Firms by The Phoenix Business Journal.

So many companies are in trouble and the economy shows us the trend won’t be over soon.  At the same time, many companies are flourishing – even now.  There are a lot of things that a company can do to assure its survival.

In the next several issues of this newsletter, we will show you how to improve your marketing effectiveness and help you turn your lemons into lemonade.

In future issues we will discuss:

• how better follow-up can bring untapped sales,
• how to measure effectiveness and adjust marketing efforts,
• how creating websites will attract new customers efficiently, and
• how better targeting help make the bad times good and good times better.

Worrying won’t pay the bills

Would you believe that according to a recent survey, one in four American small business owners believe that their businesses may not be able to survive the recession?  In our lifetimes, we haven’t seen such a pessimistic view of running a small business and it is a fact according to an article published in the Phoenix Business Journal that cites a poll conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business.  In addition, one in six is certain that the recession and its downturn in the overall economy has hurt business prospects for the foreseeable future.

For the independent business owner, what exactly is the basis for the problem?  Is it the inability to secure ready credit?  Is it that so many larger companies are failing?  Is it because people are being laid off and are therefore not buying products and services?  No.  These are results.  The problem behind those results is poor sales. Almost half of those business owners identified falling and lost sales as the root of their problem.  Fewer than one in ten identify credit problems as the culprit.  Typically, those who cannot get more credit cannot get it because they would be unable to absorb more debt into their business.  Therefore, it is easy to see that pouring cash into a creditor is not really going to provide much help.

How can I activate myself and my company to meet this difficult challenge?

Right now, the best thing a business owner can do is stop staring at the graphs and pie charts, quit pouring over the financial statements and look ahead to making the sales effort much more efficient.

Sales are six times more effective with existing customers than with new ones.  Statistically (according to Forrester Research), it will take six or seven new prospect contacts to turn one of them into a customer.  Depending on your business venture, cultivating that new customer out of six or seven prospects can be quite expensive and time-consuming.  On the other hand, by marketing and closing further sales with existing customers, you can increase your sales effectiveness by 600% compared to the alternative of finding one more new customer to take that sale.

A modern, innovative solution to a common, traditional problem

Email marketing is an excellent way to reach your existing customer base and can serve as a central focus in cultivating new sales with existing customers.  Keeping your customers informed and you in their memory is the best way to keep good customers and boost your own sales.

One effective and proven email marketing tool, automated marketing follow-up is a fantastic new way to accomplish that goal. Automated marketing follow-up uses email to keep customers informed and continue the follow-up efforts following a sales contact and it works.  This 21st century marketing tool is described in greater detail in a recent article, Tweaking Your Customer Base—Automatically, published on our website.

Possibly one of the most important things you can do to help assure surviving, and even thriving in a sour economy is keeping positive while looking forward to such new and creative solutions that strengthen your business.  It is difficult to be creative when under stress.  This is where getting some professional outside help may be just what you need and ThriveMarketing wants to be there to help.  Being on the front edge of using technology to generate greater sales through more efficient marketing is what we do.  Let us show you new ways that will allow you not only to survive, but to thrive.

About ThriveMarketing

We measure our success by your success. Through creative marketing strategies, we help our clients generate more leads, build more profits, shorten sales cycles and strengthen brands. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be effective. Not to mention right for you. We work with all types of marketing budgets and have become experts at working with what you have – with one goal in mind: to produce results. For more information, please visit www.ThriveMarketing.net or call 1.866.521.0827.

ThriveMarketing is a proud recipient of multiple American Marketing Association Spectrum Awards and is ranked in the Top 25 Web Design Firms by The Phoenix Business Journal.

• Are you your own best salesman?
• Do you often find that all the other little matters of business operations get in the way of both sales and sales follow-up?

While you are trying to grow your business, you depend on a sales staff to broaden your base of clients. However, your best sales person – you – can’t really take on any more. Perhaps your focus is on sales calls when it should be on marketing programs. The increased revenue you seek might well come to you through other marketing channels.

Good marketing is more than just good sales

The fuel that keeps the company engine running is sales. The typical owner of a sales-based company would agree that the sales department is where the real fun is. Sales is also the core activity in marketing, but sales is not the only activity.

Where even the best salesmanship falls short

The problem with sales is the time and effort it takes to follow-up. In order to grow the business, which takes increases in sales, you need more productivity from the sales people. With new sales contacts being the priority, there seems never to be enough time for other follow-up. That fact that business has grown by even one sale means that the company and its staff is stretched – even a little – with each new sale completed. Business owners wear so many hats. While they wear them, they must search out new clients. Further, while doing that, they put out the fires caused by friction in other projects. There has to be more to the sales activity than just person-to-person sales.

More sales people isn’t always necessary for more selling

Sales activity is people intensive. In order to increase sales (assuming your selling staff is already efficient and hard-working) a company would have to hire more sales people to make those additional person-to-person contacts.

The traditional sales process begins with generating leads.

Following that, sales people need to educate the prospective client about the products or services. Third comes the closing. Odds are that in any given 1000 leads, 100 prospects will arise that your sales staff can take to the next step: educate. From those 100, maybe ten new customers will develop.

What of the other 90-out-of-100 prospects?

If they were interested at first contact and became a prospect, they were likely still interested after the first contact. What happens to them? Often, it is about timing, but after the first contact, and before the follow-up, it is anybody’s game. A good share of them just waits to buy, as they are not in that big of a hurry. Maybe they come back to you but more likely they end up buying from someone else. The point is, if you don’t follow-up your contacts in those nine times out of ten, someone else will make the sale.

In addition to those ninety, sometimes prospects just come to you through word of mouth reference or a through a cold call. The time to educate the new prospect is devoted by a sales person but the follow-up is often not followed-up. Someone once said that you could make a million dollars in follow-up. The way to overcome the shortfall is through marketing automation.

Automated marketing tools to follow-up, educate, and cultivate

One of the great tools of marketing in the twenty-first century is the use of automation for sales follow-up. Automation can relieve your sales people of the follow-up, which, unfortunately, often doesn’t get done anyway. Through automation, you can carry-out the necessary follow-up on the remaining ninety prospects, cultivating them through other marketing and communication channels, and converting a few more each time you use it to live, paying customers.

New users of new tools need skilled help

This web-based software helps you double your sales by automating your marketing, sales, and customer relationships.

Using Automated Follow-up Technology, we can help you fix follow-up failure and:

• Convert more leads
• Get repeat sales
• Grow your business

Ready to see it in action?

Sign up for a live demo to experience first hand the power of Automated Follow-up Marketing.

About ThriveMarketing

We measure our success by your success. Through creative marketing strategies, we help our clients generate more leads, build more profits, shorten sales cycles and strengthen brands. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be effective. Not to mention right for you. We work with all types of marketing budgets and have become experts at working with what you have – with one goal in mind: to produce results. For more information, please visit www.ThriveMarketing.net or call 1.866.521.0827.

ThriveMarketing is a proud recipient of multiple American Marketing Association Spectrum Awards and is ranked in the Top 25 Web Design Firms by The Phoenix Business Journal.

Before you do ANYTHING, you need to determine the value of a single lead or a single visitor to your website. How much can you afford to spend getting just one person to look at your business?

You don’t want to guess - there is actually a formula to this!

Here are three metrics that can help you develop a smart web marketing strategy:

When you take all three of these components together, it will be easier for you to determine your proper marketing strategy.

Example 1: If your ROI is 1000% and your CPA is one cent, but your profit is $10, that’s not too exciting.

Example 2: However, if your ROI is 50%, your CPA is $10 and your profit is $5000, that’s a little more exciting.

As this shows you, ROI and CPA alone can’t determine how effectively your advertising dollars are performing. If a campaign has little ROI, you could still invest in it as long as it generates real profits.

Knowing this, you can make money EVERY TIME you launch a marketing campaign – you will have unlocked the secret to having an unlimited marketing budget. You can spend as much as you want, as long as it makes you more money!

50 Marketing Ideas

How much should you spend on marketing? The rule of thumb is to invest approximately 3% of your annual gross revenue into Marketing: capturing new leads, closing sales and retaining your current clients. You should also have about 10 different marketing strategies working for you at the same time. Marketing strategies don’t have to cost much – or anything for that matter. Check out the list of 50 marketing ideas we put together.

Luxury Marketing. Does anyone really need an iPhone G3? For that matter, is there anyone who could not actually live without a cellular mobile telephone? Probably not, but in the recent introduction of the iPhone G3 in the United States, Australia and several other countries, millions have scrambled to be the first to get one and among them are people who really cannot (or should not) afford it. The iPhone G3 is probably one of the best, recent examples of an effective luxury marketing campaign.

Luxury marketing is not exactly a cakewalk

Luxury marketing is to marketing what cake is to bread—it is similar, has similar ingredients, but the expectation is nothing alike. Marketing luxury products is one marketing segment that is the more unfamiliar and more confusing to the marketer than other consumer products. Marketing luxury products is a specialized area that most marketing professionals avoid because of that lack of familiarity. Yet, luxury marketing is the most recession-proof. If a business wants to protect itself in tough economic times, it would be a good idea to keep luxury products in the product line. The reason luxury products are resistant to bad economic times is that buyers do not base decisions to purchase on need, durability or utility; they base their decisions on style, quality, glamour, and because they wish to stand out in a crowd. These buyers want the product; they do not need it.

“What’s all the hubbub, Bubba?”

The new model of iPhone was introduced a few months ago and the line-ups to purchase one were reminiscent of the line-ups for the last Star Wars movie. What causes such a remarkable hoopla over such a pedestrian product as a telephone device? Many of those lined up to purchase the iPhone would sleep in a car to save money, yet spend hundreds on the phone and up to $2,000 a year at ATT Wireless just to use its features. It isn’t the product that is needed; it is the status the product provides that is needed. The iPhone fulfills a need for status and exclusivity. The newest generation of consumers sometimes referred to as Gen-Y is picking up where Generation-X left off: a blurring of the difference between wants and needs. The basic characteristic of the generation is an “it’s all-about-me-and-what-I-can-do” attitude.

What is the main focus for branding luxury products?

Luxury marketing is largely about personal selfishness and indulgence. The primary audience is Gen-Y (the twenty-somethings), its predecessor, Generation-X (thirty- and forty-somethings) and the affluent buyers. Further, luxury marketing is not subject to the ups and downs of the economy because price is not the object. Actually, the price of the product is not a measure of quality or reliability as we all learned in past generations. Price is more of an indication of its scarcity or uniqueness. Think back three or four years ago to the introduction of another cellular telephone, Motorola’s RAZR. Although the RAZR commanded a high price, it was subject to failures and flaws that kept Motorola busy with its customers for many, many months. Quality and durability simply were not there but the uniqueness and cuteness of the product still commanded large sales, even throughout the troubled introductory phase.

What we once thought of as “rich people” has been replaced

Even the new definition of the luxury marketing audience is not the same as it was thirty or forty years ago. Our old definition of “rich people” focused on the “old money” population of inherited wealth, the elderly and white, male-dominated population. These were the children and grandchildren of the nineteenth and early twentieth century captains of industry. This audience bought Paris fashions, fine furs, and real gems in their handcrafted jewelry of unassailable workmanship.

The new products and the new “rich people”

The “new rich” is a completely different audience made up of athletes, film stars, rock singers, and trust fund kids. Even the children of the instant millionaires from the dot-com bomb era are part of it. In addition to all these people who have access to money (although many didn’t really earn it) there are what is known as aspirational buyers, or those who deserve to have the great, quality, latest-rage, cutting-edge items but really cannot afford them.

The Gen-Y buyer is at the heart of this audience and the iPhone is a perfect example of the promotion that rings bells with this growing and spending audience.

The appeal of the new generation of luxury products is different from the appeal of other consumer products. It is not about need, durability, utility or value. It is about exclusivity, scarcity, craftsmanship and innovation. Branding luxury products takes years of consistent promotion, focused solely on the attributes of luxury and pointed at the emotions of the new affluent buyers. The benefit, of course, is that successfully marketed products are virtually bulletproof when it comes to bad economic times.

Case Study

Thrive Marketing helped Vala Dancewear create a brand identity for their new dancewear manufacturing company, which wholesales to dance retail stores across the US. The inspiration for the brand identity and accompanying marketing collateral is 1940’s Hollywood glamour. This is not only a big trend in the fashion world today, but also conveys the classic elegance that appeals to their high-end audience. Read Case Study

Request a Proposal

Request samples of our work and/or interview us to help with your marketing efforts by requesting a proposal online or by calling 1.866.521.0827. We look forward to the possibility of working with you!

About ThriveMarketing

We measure our success by your success. Through creative marketing strategies, we help our clients generate more leads, build more profits, shorten sales cycles and strengthen brands. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be effective. Not to mention right for you. We work with all types of marketing budgets and have become experts at working with what you have – with one goal in mind: to produce results. For more information, please visit www.ThriveMarketing.net or call 1.866.521.0827.

ThriveMarketing is a proud recipient of multiple American Marketing Association Spectrum Awards and is ranked in the Top Web Design Firms by The Phoenix Business Journal.

Quoting Anthony Hopkins in the movie, The Edge:

“Never feel sorry for a man with his own plane.”

Marketing to the affluent is different in its aspect from marketing to the middle-class consumer. We really don’t have to feel very sorry for the product choices that are open to those with healthy disposable incomes. Those with accumulated wealth and cash reserves have the ability to make decisions based on a wider range of choices. Because of that, luxury marketing helps businesses recession-proof their own business while bringing the enjoyment of servicing high-quality products and services and a higher return on your dollars and efforts.

How tight is today’s money?

Regardless of the chatter about down-turning economy and the official administration position on that the price of gasoline is not going to adversely affect the economy, those of us who work for a living have a clear view of the recession that has been underway for the better part of last year and this. Even the price of gasoline is approaching the price level of a luxury item.

However, those with wealth make purchasing decisions in a different way that the rest of us. When marketing to the more affluent audience, one of the challenges is to be able to think in those terms. The wealthy consumer exhibits a loyalty to products that is different than those who select products out of need or budget limitations. The affluent do not simply choose a product to fill a need at a reasonable price. For example, usually, what each of us buys is to fill a specific need: tools for the garden, basic cars for basic transportation, or office, school and business supplies. Luxury items are bought for reasons surrounding the experience of owning them, and the decision process does not make a lot of sense to the average consumer.

People choose between luxury products with a different measure than other products

It seems funny for most of us to imagine basing a purchasing choice between a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW because one has a better stereo system than the other, or because one has wider arm rests than the other. Again, that is because the decision is based on the enjoyment of the experience rather than filling a specific need to solve a problem (in this case, providing basic transportation). The choice between these two products isn’t about practicality or efficiency; it is about sensory pleasures, quality and status. These consumers, like most consumers, are discriminating about their product choices but the game of product discrimination for luxury products is played by very different rules.

Marketing luxury products has an enjoyment not unlike owning luxury products

Marketing luxury services and products is enjoyable, too. Because decisions are based on superior experiences rather than need fulfillment at an economical price, the style of selling such services and products is different.

To get into the proper mind for creating marketing for luxury products, exercise your expensive tastes and aspirations for top quality. For example, think about automobile marketing. For most of us, we look for comfort, roominess, fuel economy and good luggage space. For the wealthy, the choice has more to do with style, elegance or sportiness, leather, wood, and steel. The choices are not so much practicality as it is touch and feel. For vacations, most of us check rates, get a good deal on transportation and have plenty to do at little cost, like nice lakes or beaches. For the wealthy, the choices have more to do with new adventures, isolation, superior service and uniqueness—something to talk about when they get home.

The basis of choices differ and so do the basis of marketing strategies

Likewise, the strategies differ.

Do you think that BMW runs magazine advertising in consumer magazines with the idea that one of their readers would be prompted to go out and buy a BMW? That isn’t really the strategy.

The intent of the advertising is really to substantiate to those who buy BMWs that they have made an intelligent and quality-oriented decision. This is a strategic aspect of luxury marketing that may not occur to those who are used to broad-based consumer marketing. Consumer products companies would not spend the kind of money needed to run a decision-substantiating advertising campaign.

Not only does the wealthy consumer get to enjoy luxury products and services available for his or her choice, but also marketers of luxury need to have the same appreciation. If a marketer does not have the sense of what touch points trigger the purchasing decisions of the affluent, then the target may be missed.

Thrive Marketing can help your business become better at reaching the luxury products and services market. Not only do we have good taste, but we also have the experience you made need to adjust your selling strategies provide luxurious appeal to your quality and experience conscious customers. Your products and services will never have to apologize to “a man with his own plane.”

Happy Clients

“Christie and Thrive Marketing did an outstanding job with the branding of my PR firm. Every time I give out a business card I receive a compliment on the originality, color and overall design. I am very happy with my Web site as well, and look forward to working with Thrive continuously over the years. It’s also nice to work with someone who is a detailed and reliable account manager. She always kept me informed on where Thrive was during our branding process, and stayed on top of me when I was falling behind on my deliverables! I highly recommend working with Thrive Marketing for all branding needs.”

-Aly Saxe, Phoenix PR Firm

More Testimonials Read Case Studies

Request a Proposal

Request samples of our work and/or interview us to help with your marketing efforts by requesting a proposal online or by calling 1.866.521.0827. We look forward to the possibility of working with you!

About ThriveMarketing

We measure our success by your success. Through creative marketing strategies, we help our clients generate more leads, build more profits, shorten sales cycles and strengthen brands. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be effective. Not to mention right for you. We work with all types of marketing budgets and have become experts at working with what you have – with one goal in mind: to produce results. For more information, please visit www.ThriveMarketing.net or call 1.866.521.0827.

ThriveMarketing is a proud recipient of multiple American Marketing Association Spectrum Awards and is ranked in the Top Web Design Firms by The Phoenix Business Journal.