Direct Marketing is "The advertising process by which a company communicates directly with a customer or prospect in order to stimulate an action; usually by mail, telephone, couponed advertisement or leaflet" - DMA

Its key elements are:

• Targeting
Correctly identifying your target market and then finding a way to reach them through buying databases, advertising in targeted publications, or piggy-backing appropriate communication methods such as email newsletters

• Control
This is a highly measurable medium as there is a clear call to action. This can enable testing to improve responses and you should be monitoring your ROI on each campaign

• Continuity
Don't forget about people once they have contacted you or become a client, direct marketing is perfect for communicating with your database and encouraging further purchases

I believe that direct marketing is the best method for small companies with a limited budget as it is the most focused form of marketing which concentrates heavily on results. Here are a number of ways you can use it:

• If you're advertising it should be an ad with a very strong call to action to maximise the impact from your spend

• Leaflets should have reference codes, coupons or offers on them which require the customer to bring the leaflet into you so you can monitor just how well it's working

• Emails should lead back to your website and encourage people to take part, either to register for something or to buy

To find out more about direct marketing, click here to read our article about the subject. If you'd like to try it and need our help, please email info@shawmarketingservices.com for a competitive quote.

Networking is a great tool to grow business cost-effectively, so Shaw Marketing Services are delighted to be involved with a new one day networking event which is being organised to help local business owners to increase their sales, profits and grow their business in today's tough economic environment. Turbo Charge Sales and Business Networking will be held on Saturday 15th October at Hotel Las Piramides in Fuengirola. It is a not for profit event with a very affordable ticket price to allow all types of business to take part.

There will be a combination of presentations by inspirational business leaders and formal and informal networking opportunities. This mix of activities will equip businesses with great ideas for driving their businesses forward and a large amount of new contacts.

The event is being organised by Manifesto Design and This Is Spain in collaboration with Shaw Marketing Services to help business leaders understand "How to Thrive and not just Survive" using the power of business networking. Organiser Steve Hall explains why this is so important, "Small businesses are suffering in the current economic climate, but don't have the budget for expensive marketing methods to get themselves out of problems. Networking is a very cost-effective way of promoting yourself so we've combined this with some top business speakers to offer inspiration as well as great networking opportunities."

Tickets cost 10€ per person for a full day from 10 am to 5pm and are on sale via Eventbrite. It is a non-profit event and any income made over expenditure will be donated to two local charities Cudeca and Positively Pink.

Market yourself on a limited budget

Georgina will be giving a presentation for members of Costa Women on Thursday 22nd September from 8pm to 10pm at Avenue Cafe in central Marbella. This is a free event to help local business women understand more about the marketing options open to them and brainstorm some ideas for the businesses present.

There will be a half an hour presentation which gives an overview on the different types of marketing you can do and offers practical advice for marketing your business on a budget. There will then be a workshop section where small groups discuss their own marketing needs and come up with ways they can promote themselves and we'll finish off with a full group brainstorming session to pull all the ideas together.

It's essential that all small businesses get to grips with how they can market themselves and are proactive with promotion. We believe there's lots that businesses can do themselves when they understand what they should be doing and hope to be able to show them the way in this short, interactive presentation.

If you'd like to come along, just go to the website and sign up to be a member (it's free and very easy), then you can RSVP to come to the event here.



As part of Shaw Marketing Services' commitment to helping local businesses to grow in these difficult times, we can offer free presentations for business groups and companies on all areas of marketing and communications.

Backed up by information from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and over four years experience with marketing in Spain, we have lots of useful information to share and can give practical and interactive marketing presentations, as well as no obligation brainstorming sessions for companies looking to generate ideas.

Please contact us for more information.