Think fast: A major news development has customers scrambling to get the latest and greatest mouse trap – and you just happen to have it. You have to launch a totally unplanned marketing campaign in a matter of hours, and have it deployed at the end of the week, in order to capitalize on an incredible opportunity that could land you tens of thousands – or even millions – in profit. What do you do? If you take the following advice, you make out like a bandit.
Quickly research the field to determine what competitors are out there and to determine your unique selling point to your target audience. Identify where you fit into the industry, how it relates to the news story, and how it is relevant to your customers. Come up with a special can't-refuse offer intended to steal business from your competition, which are likewise scrambling to come up with something that will beat you. Think ahead of the competition, and you'll be a step ahead of them when your marketing campaign launches mere days later.
Print marketing is one of the best ways to get your message in front of your target audience. Start by developing brochures, flyers, posters and postcards that play on the news story and that you can distribute to your target audience – those most affected by the story. You can employ an in-house designer or a third-party designer, or have your online printing company supply a graphic designer for you so that you can quickly streamline your marketing efforts. Get a mailing list of those who fit the target demographics so you're ready to go as soon as possible.
With online printing you can upload your marketing materials immediately to be printed same day with expedited shipping. The best part is that if you have your offer ready, you can provide some product images to your printer's design team, have them come up with a design, proof it directly online with an electronic proof, develop a mailing list, and have your printing company print and send out your marketing materials in a matter of days. It can be a good idea to call your printing representative and speak to her directly to emphasize the urgency of your situation; though online printing companies such as PsPrint already work fast, if they know you needed it yesterday they might be able to speed the process up.
In addition to direct marketing materials such as posters, flyers, postcards and brochures, you should take out advertisements in appropriate media sources and submit press releases to those publications that originally published the news story that prompted your need to go to market fast. The editors thought your target audience would be interested in the story in the first place, so they'll also be interested in your relevant products and services.