Dae Spradlin

     A lot of times when we think of marketing our immediate thought is advertisements; however, that is not very accurate. Marketing includes everything about your product or service from the packaging, pricing, distribution, advertisement, etc. It's not just about pushing your product in front of customers, but it's also about determining who your customers are, what your customers want and need, making your product fill that need, and then communicating that to your potential customers. With that being said, advertising is a crucial component to marketing, though. That step comes once you have developed your product or service and determined what message you are trying to communicate to your audience. Once your message has been determined, then advertising and communicating that to your customers is incredibly important. In today's age, advertisements don't just come in the form of billboards or T.V. commercials though. With so many companies competing for that same

     So, as we all know, social media is an incredibly crucial aspect to connecting and marketing your business to consumers; however, there's more to it than that. There's no point in having your company on sights such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat if potential customers don't know you're there. So how do you get your name out in front of consumers? There are several ways to get your page in front of potential customers, but some of the most popular and effective include paid advertisements, share competitions, and following and liking content of potential customers in your target market. First off, startups and established businesses alike both take advantage of paid advertisements on social media. These are commonly found on Facebook and Instagram. The price of the advertisements vary depending on the amount of people that the post will reach and the specifications placed on it; however, most of these advertisements cost as little as $5. Specifications

Have you ever wondered why the color red may make you feel more urgent or aggressive while blue makes you feel calm and serene? That's the effect of colors. Different colors can provoke different reactions or emotions in people, so that's why they are so important when it comes to advertising products and communicating a message to customers. More vibrant colors can draw attention more quickly and encourage action while lighter colors may invoke a sense of calmness and trust. The effect of colors is so real that even car insurance companies will charge you more for your policy if the car you drive is red because it can cause you to be a more aggressive driver. So knowing what you're trying to communicate through your branding and advertising can better communicated through the color scheme you choose to represent your brand. Red: As previously stated, red can create a sense of urgency or anger in a viewer. That's why it is used in stop signs and caution signs. It is a

     Almost every business, no matter what size, needs good employees. It may seem hard as a startup business to attract employees that will fit well within your organization. That's why it is so important to not only be able to market your business to customers, but also to market it to potential employees. Not every person will fit well with every business, and that's why recruiting and selecting employees with the skills, knowledge, and values that are in line with your organizational goals is crucial.      One of the first things to consider when attracting employees is how much you will pay for that position. While you must take into consideration how much your business can actually afford to pay, it's also very important to know the going rate for similar positions and compensate accordingly. If you pay a low wage but expect hard work to be done, you won't be able to attract or retain the high-quality employees you need. It's better to pay good employees a bi

So, it may seem obvious that having signage on your business front is important, but in a lot of cases it is becoming less prevalent as a lot of businesses are relying on e-marketing and other forms of advertisements. However, the importance of good signage remains the same, especially when it comes to small  businesses. Many small businesses cannot afford big billboards or TV commercials, so signage is an important advertising tool to consider. I plan on opening a coffee shop/music store one of these days, so clearly I have been doing research on the market and effective techniques. One of the major things I keep coming across is that the majority of new customers discover a cafe because they pass by its physical location. However, if you don't have an eye-catching store front with good signage, these potential new customers are likely to just keep walking without even noticing you're there. After learning this, it seems pretty obvious to me now, because whenever I visit a

     Distribution: the process of getting your product or service to the consumer. It's usually a pretty straight forward process when it comes to products and tangible goods, but what about when your business is a brick and mortar service? If you manufacture and sell a tangible good, your distribution process can be direct, indirect, or a mixture of both. You can sell directly to your customers over the internet or in your own store front, you can place your products in retail stores, or you can use a combined approach. If you offer a good or service like a restaurant, coffee shop, or salon, however, the distribution process is a little different. Usually your customers have to come to you, so marketing your product in a manner that will make your consumers feel that making an effort to come to your business will be worth it. However; many of these types of businesses like restaurants and florists have taken up deliveries. Is this an effective form of distribution? If approached c

     We all know the slogan "the customer is always right" (thanks Harry Gordon Selfridge), but is that actually the case? There is a fine line between satisfying your consumers and improving customer relations, and then allowing some customers to take advantage of your service. In many cases, if you make right of a wrong, then that will help improve your business's image and improve customer morale. However, if you're too lenient with your customers and give out free services and products like Oprah, then you only end up hurting yourself in the long run. Being a previous employee in the service industry, I saw many instances where orders were made wrong, or they weren't quite what the customer was expecting. In these situations it should be expected for the business to make things right and fix the problem with a smile. This makes the customer happy and will improve their chances of returning. On the other hand, I have also seen many instances where the customer

     A couple of years back, I worked as a fashion and editorial model. I used to travel to a lot of big cities like Atlanta, Nashville, and New York to do editorial shoots and runway shows. I worked with a variety of different designers and companies that all had their own vision in mind. As I'm sure you know, there are thousands of girls biting at the bit to get jobs in cities like New York, and a lot of them are willing to do things they may not otherwise do, but they will do it for that opportunity. Models are treated as disposable, so if you say no to something, there is always another girl just waiting to take your place. However, I wasn't someone willing to say yes to everything. I had many designers who wanted me to do shoots in settings or clothing that I found inappropriate. As I was underage at the time, my mom came with me on many of my jobs, so not only was I uncomfortable with some of these situations, so was my mom. When these situations arose, we started using o

     We all know about demographics: the more statistical and factual aspects of a population. These include the age, race gender, income, etc. of a group of people. Demographics are extremely important in studying the people in a certain area and helping to determine what products would go over best and how to market them; however, they don't tell you everything you need to know about a population. What they don't tell you is what people's hobbies, interests, and aspirations are. That's where psychographics come in. Psychographics study and help to classify the more individual characteristics of people. This includes anything from peoples everyday lifestyles and hobbies to the genres of music that they enjoy. The reason why psychographics are so important is because while you may have two 40 year old women that both make $40,000 a year, they may or may not have any of the same interests or hobbies. One may enjoy pottery and attending her child's soccer games, and t

     Sure, most of us have all heard about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: physiological, safety, belonging,  self-esteem, and self-actualization needs. Usually we think about it in terms of science and psychology, but we don't normally consider the everyday implications of the theory. In reality it is used everywhere, especially in marketing. That commercial you saw about health insurance? Safety. That Coca-Cola commercial with a group of friends hanging out sharing a drink together? Belonging. The hierarchy of needs falls in, well, a hierarchy where one level can not be addressed unless the prior levels have been satisfied.      The first level is physiological. Those are the fundamental needs that we all have that will keep us alive: food, water, shelter, sleep, etc. These are the needs that we seek to fulfill before anything else. When marketers choose to target this need, they emphasize how important their product or service is to your basic necessities and instincts. A lot

Sure, we all have places we have to go out of necessity, like to pay bills or buy gas, but we don't go there because of the friendly service, but instead we just go because we have to. On the other hand, the reason you keep going back to your favorite mom and pop restaurant isn't just because of the great food, but also because of the kind smiles and personal interactions. When you have a business that you frequent for pleasure, such as a restaurant, cafe, pub, etc., the service usually plays a big part in why you continue to go back. More often than not, when you are offered or are giving a restaurant suggestion, you usually mention whether the service was good or bad. That's because in today's service based society, we expect good service, and if we don't receive it, then we won't go back. Bad service results in consumers venting to their friends and associates through their favorite outlet: social media. This can spread like wildfire and result in a drop in t

In today's market, it's so important to be able set your business apart from your competition. The main way that a lot of businesses do this is not only through product differentiation, but also having a unique brand image. Consumers are no longer interested in the traditional advertisements of the past. They want to see more genuine, relatable content. Some choose to do this through their social media presence or the use of user generated content. Through social media, companies such as Wendy's, Taco Bell, and Denny's have created a sassy, sarcastic image that consumers love. Whenever these brands respond to tweets or comments with a creative response, users are more inclined to share these comments with their peers which is exactly what the brands are aiming for. Interacting with your customer base through social media helps garner a loyal customer base by presenting your brand as more than just a company but also as a "friend." Creating a unique image will

So, you know those strangely specific ads that you see on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. that seem like they're talking directly to you? Well, you can thank big data and targeted display advertising for those. It always seemed that these types of ads were just to be used by big companies, but the growing popularity of the software has made them more readily available for small businesses as well. This has been a huge advantage for small businesses. You can use a variety of criteria to determine whom your ads will target. Anything from age, location, time, interests, etc. can be used to target individual consumers. Maybe there's a big event happening in your area; well, you can arrange that the attendees of the event see your advertisement on whatever social media platforms that they use. Or maybe you're trying to draw the attention of young parents or middle aged outdoor enthusiasts. You can easily do that with these types of advertisement programs. This type of adverti

Okay, so get this. Sustainability is a big thing these days, as it should be. Consumers are becoming more and more environmentally conscious, and businesses are taking notice; however, eco-friendly beauty products are still a little more difficult to come by. Just think of the billions, that’s right, BILLIONS of Q-tips and cottons swabs that are produced and discarded each year. While these products may be biodegradable, it’s hard to ignore the harm that the production and chemicals do to the environment. The UK has even taken measures to ban cotton balls and cotton swabs. I have asked a couple of people how often they use cotton swabs to adjust their makeup, and nearly all of them said yes. The ones that said they did not said it was because they didn’t like throwing them away after every use and buying new ones all the time. Imagine if this was solved. A reusable, eco-friendly, and recyclable makeup adjuster, or cotton swab, if you will. The stem would be produced from recycled m

I recently encountered a marketing technique that isn't new, but I never really noticed how clever it was until now. Like many others in the area, I am a member at planet fitness and make frequent visits to the gym. When you sign up for your membership, you are given the option to sign up for a rewards program. With every visit to the gym, you earn points that can be exchanged for goods such as protein drinks, snacks, and most interestingly to me, t-shirts or a free month of membership fees. The reason that I find these two particular rewards so interesting is because one month of membership fees is only $10 while a t-shirt carries a $20 value, however, the t-shirt requires far fewer points to earn. It costs more for the company to give away a free t-shirt, yet they will do so for very few points. The reason for this is because people will be able to earn the t-shirt quicker than the free membership, and it is something than can be used for a much longer period of time, therefore,

As a hopeful future owner of a coffee house, it is very important to keep up with trends and standards in the industry. I have always loved the comforting atmosphere of coffee houses and the smell of coffee and baked goods wafting through the air, so that's why I have always wanted to be able to help bring that same feeling to others by opening my own coffee shop. This desire led me to work in the coffee industry as a barista at a locally owned coffee house for the past year and a half so that I could learn more about the inner workings of a shoppe. I also try and visit other shoppes when I'm out traveling to see the different ideas and approaches that other shoppes take. As a barista, not only is it important to provide a quality product but also to present the customer with a beautiful beverage. There's nothing quite as satisfying as handing someone their drink and seeing them smile and take a picture of it. While that may be a bit of an ego booster for the barista, that&