Marketing Using Themed Promotions

Marketing research suggests that themed promotional campaigns tend to have higher conversion rates than non-themed campaigns. Themed promotions, then, represent an excellent opportunity to attract attention—and customers—to your traffic safety school.

Holidays present an obvious opportunity for a themed campaign, and many businesses take advantage of these occasions. But because the competition for attention is fierce around general holidays, your ad may get lost in all of the noise. This isn't to say that you should avoid running promotions around the holidays, of course. But other events might provide just the opening you need to get your message out in a way that ties in nicely with your product.

A number of events relate very nicely with the theme of traffic safety education. Consider these opportunities to promote your school:

• Distracted Driving Awareness Month - April
• National Impaired Driving Prevention Month - December
• Global Youth Traffic Safety Month - May
• National Teen Driver Safety Week - third week of October
• Bicycle Safety Month - May
• National Pedestrian Safety Month - June

A number of events could also be associated with specific modalities:

• Online Courses
• International Internet Day - May 17
• Internet Day - October 29
• Booklet Courses
• National Book Month - January
• National Literacy Month - September
• International Literacy Day - September 8
• General/Classroom
• American Education Week - mid-November

The events noted above are national or global affairs, but many local jurisdictions hold similar happenings to promote traffic safety or other worthwhile initiatives.

Be on the lookout for any tie-in opportunities that you can use to get the word out about your business!

Marketing Growth Strategies

Successful businesses know that they have to keep up with the latest trends to maintain their competitive advantage. Small Business Trends shares some marketing growth strategies that could help your school to prosper:

1. Mobile dominance. Over the past few years, mobile has overtaken desktop in usage and search—especially among younger users. As a result, there was a big push in 2016 for small businesses to ensure that their websites were optimized for mobile browsing. (Note that, as your traffic safety education curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., develops sites and courses that are mobile-friendly!) You might also consider looking into alternative payment methods, such as Square, to help you collect tuition from students of your classroom-based courses on-site at the time of the class.
2. Data-informed decision-making. Much has been made lately about "big data" and the need for business to become "data-driven." But most organizations—especially small ones—lack the sophisticated and expensive tools needed to fully embrace this strategy. But data doesn't always know best; insights from data analysis should be paired with your existing knowledge base and the opinions of experienced team members. You should, however, always track the effectiveness of your efforts, and be willing to make changes as needed to ensure success.
3. Better blogging and social media. You may already regularly be generating content for your website and/or social media accounts. But audiences are starting to notice the difference between noise and valuable posts. If your content isn't helpful and exciting, you'll have trouble getting customers and prospects to engage. And don't forget to monitor the data on the effectiveness of your marketing and advertising activities to improve the performance of your next campaign.

The original article offers some further tips. Check it out to learn how to get your school on the path to marketing success!

Develop a Marketing Plan

Companies don't just stumble upon customers—at least, not a lot of them. If you'd like to see your business increase, it's time to put some thought into attracting more prospects. Having a successful marketing plan will help to ensure that you're allocating your resources wisely and growing your client base to enhance profitability. Bloomfire offers the following tips based on the latest marketing trends:

1. Increase your social media advertising budget. Paid advertising on social media is hardly a new concept; it's possible you’ve been doing it for years. But changes in the world of social media—particularly Facebook—have led those networks to limit the effectiveness of organic reach in order to grow their paid advertising efforts. 2017 is expected to see a year-over-year increase of a whopping 33.5% on social media advertising spending. Keep up with the trend by boosting your social media budget, because you can bet your competitors will be doing so.
2. Produce more niche content. More content is published on a daily basis than ever before. This makes it nearly impossible for small companies to compete when it comes to broad content topics. There's just too much of it out there. But the key is the decline in the caliber of that mass-produced content. You can still reach prospects by identifying a narrow, more targeted crowd and producing high-quality content with their interests in mind.
3. Make more videos. Excellent video cameras are now available in many smartphones, making video production easier and more cost effective than ever. And four times as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. Moreover, one in four consumers actually loses interest in a company if it doesn’t have videos, and customers are nearly 50% more likely to read email newsletters that include links to a video. As you develop your marketing plan, give some thought to what content could be (better) delivered through a video.

The original article offers some more suggestions for more aggressive marketers. Check it out! But these tips will get your started toward a more successful operation.

How to Promote Your Small Business Event

Every small business wants to draw a customer-friendly crowd to an event it's hosting. The key is to match your time and energy with your needs. It takes time and effort to plan an event, so make sure you have the resources to devote to its planning and execution. You'll also want to pick a time that's appropriate for your customers. Once you have the basics figured out, it's time to send out the invitations. Here are a few tips and tactics to spread the word quickly and easily.

Use the Appropriate
Social Media Tools

These days, social media offer a free and easy way to let your customers know about an upcoming event. You can create a Facebook event; or if you have a paper invitation you're going to send in the mail, take a picture of it and post it on Instagram or Pinterest. You could also try Twitter-based tools such as TweetVite or TweetMyEvents.

Don't Ignore Traditional Media

While many people now gravitate toward social media, don't overlook the traditional newspaper or local radio and television stations. Not all of your prospects use social media, so it's important utilize several information channels. Many media outlets have "community calendars" in which you can list your event for free. You could also send a press release to local journalists who might be interested in covering the event.

Create a Calendar Invitation

Speaking of calendars…

Once your event details are set, you'll want to send an email to your loyal customers reminding them to attend. By sending out a calendar invitation (via Google or on your iOS device), you can ensure the event will automatically go directly into your customers' daily schedule.

Let's Party!

So, what are you waiting for? Host the bash of a lifetime and show your customers and prospects what you can do to help them!

Social Media Posts That Engage and Get Clicks

We've encouraged you, on many occasions, to get active on social media to promote your business. While our previous blog posts have offered valuable advice on what to post, it can be tough to know how to craft a compelling message if you're not a professional wordsmith. The following tips offer helpful suggestions on how to grab your customers' attention and get them to interact with your business more deeply:

• Use more action words. Posts filled with verbs and adverbs tend to engage readers and deliver better results than those that have a lot of nouns and adjectives. For example, the headline
       Mask Your Ticket Quickly and Easily
  is likely to get a higher click-through rate than
       Traffic School is a Good Way to Mask Your Citation
• Post more links. It may seem obvious, but…accounts that post more links get more clicks. If you want to drive more traffic to your site, at least half of your posts should include a link to your site. But don't go overboard; keep the number of posts with links to your site to under 80% of your total social media activity. If every post you put up includes your link, you'll come across as "spammy."
• Complete your profile. Inexperienced marketers neglect this simple but effective step. Be sure all of your social media profiles include a professional photo, a brief but compelling bio, and a link to your site. Accounts that provide all three of these items have more followers and more engagement than those that don't.
• Don't talk about yourself (except in your bio). A business's social media posts that are too personally self-referential may catch the interest of your family and close friends, but may not necessarily draw potential customers. Talk more about them to get them to click, share, and engage. (If you participate in some activity that your clients might find interesting, it's certainly okay to share those experiences with them. It's attention-grabbing and provides a connection. But make the post relate to your audience somehow, not just all about you.)
• Provide a clear call to action. If you want more clicks, ask for them! Don't just provide a link, explicitly tell readers how to follow up. For instance, you might change
       3 Tips for Safer Winter Driving: www.link.com
  to
       3 Tips for Safer Winter Driving? Click here to learn more: www.link.com!
  
  Further, be creative with your calls to action. Don't use "click here" all the time. Try alternatives like "Check out this new [post/product/etc.]:" or "What do you think about [some event/claim]?" to encourage a response.

Greater social media engagement and more clicks can help you to draw more customers. Make these simple tweaks to your social media activity to get the marketing results you want!

Guerilla Marketing Techniques for 2016

It's rare for smaller businesses to have a large marketing budget. Marketing remains a critical part of an overall business strategy, however. Without making people aware of your business, you won't make sales. It's that simple!

Put gorilla guerilla marketing techniques
to good use and boost your business!

To successfully tackle marketing on a small scale, creativity is the key. This means guerilla marketing tactics that are often unconventional and outside-of-the-box. The term guerilla marketing was first coined by Jay Conrad Levinson who wrote a book by the same name. His book instructed businesses to capture the attention and imagination of their audiences using unusual tactics such as street promotions, giveaways, games, and contests.

Interestingly, taking a guerilla marketing approach actually has some distinct advantages. Not only is it typically very cost-effective, it also means using strategies and tactics that are often impossible for larger businesses to pull off. Smaller often translates into being more nimble when it comes to marketing, and this can be a distinct advantage.

Check out the guerilla marketing tips below to get your business swingin':

• Social Media: Social media connect billions of people around the world through a series of status updates, tweets, and other rich media. And in the business world, it's a powerful tool for attracting prospects and upping your customer service game. If you haven't jumped on this bandwagon, it's definitely time to do so.
• First, get on Facebook. Invite your friends and family to like the page and then use those numbers as leverage to gain some credibility with outsiders.
• Then, join Twitter and follow, follow, follow. Use the search feature to find people within your niche and tweet at them, making pleasant but relevant conversation.
• Once you have these outlets, push as much rich media out as you can, whether it's photos of where you work, videos of a typical day on the job, or witty tweets and status updates. On a related note…
• Produce a Viral Video: Social media success can be taken to a whole new level with the addition of video. A video on YouTube can go viral in a matter of days if it's compelling enough. This is an incredibly powerful form of marketing that can literally create a valuable minute of fame for your business. With something moving, funny, undeniably interesting, a video shared on YouTube can travel to Twitter and Facebook like wildfire. This form of guerilla marketing for small businesses isn't for everyone, but if you have a great idea, it's worth giving it a shot.
• Start a Friendly Fight: A friendly fight is when you and another company battle it out through the use of social networking and/or other media by having the public vote on who has the better product(s) or service(s). This won't harm your business; however, it would help people to cast their vote judiciously.
• Create "Billboard" Opportunities: Why not slap your logo on a shirt or hat for your friends, family, and employees to wear? Of course, you should be wearing your garb, too. Shirts and caps are inexpensive and can generate buzz in the grocery store, on the street, or at an industry function or trade show. Take this concept a step further, and consider magnetic signs or bumper stickers for your vehicle or even a total promotional wrap. The more people who see your information, the better!
• Postering Still Works: Postering has been around for a while now, but it's picked up steam again, thanks to a lot of clever posters. A good way to implement this strategy is to have a question on your poster that just about everyone in your target audience will understand. Then, you either need to make them laugh or want to take the time to get the "help" they need by calling the number or going to the web address that is printed on the poster.

Want some more ideas? Check out these real-world examples of great guerilla marketing!

With a little luck, these guerilla marketing techniques just might deliver results to pound your chest over!

Build Brand Loyalty Through Social Media

With the rise of the Internet and social media marketing, younger generations are exposed to brands at even earlier ages. This makes it important to reach potential customers as early as possible—especially in the case of businesses that provide goods or services to younger consumers (like driving schools!). The good news is that these younger prospects tend to be heavy Internet users, and social media marketing can be free or relatively low-cost. In this space, creativity and simply taking action can often win the day.

It can be hard for newcomers to social media to know where to start, however. Check out this excellent article for easy suggestions: 5 Ways to Build Brand Loyalty Through Social Media!

Content Marketing Ideas for Fall 2015

Content marketing is the process of creating and publishing material in order to attract, engage, and retain customers. Often its aim is to be useful to customers, honestly helping them learn, do, or experience something. It's the perfect marketing strategy for a traffic/driving school—whose existence is naturally dedicated to helping motorists to become better drivers and saving lives!

If you're having trouble getting started with your content marketing efforts, check out the following ideas for this fall season:

• Community Events: Try to engage with a local event and blog or post about that experience online. It would be reasonable for the owner of an online business to attend, take lots of pictures, and share the experience. Local events are taking place all the time, of course, but this is an especially good season for this sort of marketing effort, as school heads back into session. And what better way to get to know prospective driving school students than to participate in an event at a local high school?
• Publish a "Lookbook": A lookbook (spelled as one word or two) is a promotional tool of the fashion industry; it's a series of photographs meant to highlight a model, photographer, style, or line of clothing. The term has more recently been expanded a bit to include almost any sort of picture-driven promotional piece. If you have anything that looks good in photos—like a sporty (or otherwise interesting) vehicle or some driving-related accessories—this is a natural way to draw in prospects.
• Safety Campaigns: The NHTSA is in the midst of a child car safety seat campaign on social media, but their website is full of great driving safety information that could be promoted as appropriate (e.g., bus safety for back-to-school). The California DMV even celebrated National Cheeseburger Day with a distracted-driving safety message.
• Holiday Shopping Guides/Promotions: It's hard to believe, with the dog days of summer so soon behind us, that the holiday season is just around the corner. But now is the time to think about helping your customers/prospects with their holiday plans. You might run a holiday promotion for your services. Or, compile a list of gift suggestions related to your industry to keep your name in the public's mind. PBS provides an excellent example of a list of (cooking themed) gift guides for a variety of recipients. You might even consider creating a series of short holiday gift idea videos. These could be distributed on YouTube or social media, both as content and commercials.

Creating content marketing pieces can be easy and fun—and the information is memorable and useful for your readers. Get started today and reap the rewards of spreading your name around!

Surviving 10 Driving Emergencies

"Normal," everyday driving can be challenging enough. But when it comes right down to it, obtaining a license to drive is often all too easy. Motorists are not usually well-trained—and not commonly required by licensing authorities to demonstrate—how to handle road emergencies and other extreme driving situations. The first time that many drivers are asked to employ accident-avoidance skills, lives may be on the line. And without the proper knowledge and practice, the odds of successfully executing an extreme maneuver are not in their favor.

Edmunds.com presents a extremely helpful article that describes how to handle and survive ten common driving emergencies. While these tips are covered in the driving safety courses that you present, here's another look at some situations many motorists are likely to face over the course of their driving careers. Take a look to make sure you're providing your students with the correct information. And share with your customers via social media if you're marketing to them that way (and you should be!!!).

As importantly, encourage your students to get some advanced driving training and/or to practice these maneuvers in a safe environment so they'll know how to respond—and do so reflexively—should the need arise. Their lives and the lives of their passengers may depend on it!

Get Social with Your Customer Service

Consumers expect today's businesses to have an active social media presence. In addition to pushing information to the public, you can use your social media account(s) to help satisfy customer service needs. Check out these useful tips to get your social customer service off the ground:

1. Answer customer service inquiries in a timely manner. What's always been good advice is even more applicable in the online world of instant gratification. This doesn't mean that you have to be on social media 24/7 (like when you're driving down the road, as so many of your customers are). But it does mean that you need to consistently monitor your accounts so you can respond to questions and comments. Build this into your daily routine. A quick response goes a long way toward making customers feel valued.
2. Don't erase complaints; resolve them. Customers sometimes air their grievances on your social network for all to see. Your first inclination may be to erase negative interactions. But if your customers are allowed to see that you're actively resolving issues, the upside can be incredible. Most people understand that problems occasionally come up; by handling them openly and fairly, you show all of your customers that great service is a top priority.
3. Consider a dedicated support channel for Twitter. People flock—pun intended—to Twitter to ask questions and raise concerns. If you're getting a lot of customer service activity on your "main" Twitter handle (which you'd rather keep open to share news, promotional content, etc.), you might consider a dedicated support-only handle. Be sure to list your support Twitter handle on the Contact Us/Support page on your website and/or Facebook page. (Don't forget to monitor this handle for activity! If you have a support person or team, give them access to manage that account specifically.)
4. Remember to check Facebook Messages and Posts to Page. Two Facebook features you'll need to stay on top of with regard to customer service are Messages and Posts to Page. Anyone, whether they "like" your page or not, can reach out to your business with a question or concern via Messages (page administrators are notified of these, or they can be accessed via the Messages link in the "This Week" box on the right-hand side of your page). Any comments made in the Posts to Page section are public on a Facebook business page, but these will not show up in your news feed; monitor these in the lower left-hand side of your page.
5. Be nice! As on the roadway, a good attitude and pleasant demeanor can do wonders to improve almost any situation. If you remain congenial and helpful, most people will respond positively—and others will want to make use of your services, too.

Adding social media to your customer service mix is a great way to serve your customers and attract new prospects. Once things are up and running, it's easy to slip these activities into your daily schedule, and the results can be rewarding.

Promote Your School on Facebook

Don't let a lack of tech savvy scare you away.
Facebook is easy, fun, and full of prospects!

Your customers are on Facebook—and you should be, too!

This post isn't intended to provide technical, step-by-step instructions on how to create a Facebook page for your business; there are many other resources available if that's what you're looking for. Rather, this is a simple guide to encourage you to get started on social media marketing.

Where do I begin?

The first step is to fill out all the vital information about your school in the categories provided in the Facebook profile: school name, location, and contact information. This information will be the same as what you include on your website and/or in other marketing materials.

Don't forget to add some pictures! Everyone likes pictures, and your Facebook page should include pictures of your school, your cars, your instructors, and yourself—even happy customers, if they'll allow you to use their image. Photos are vitally important because they provide a connection between the Internet and the real world. Consumers can be skeptical about placing their faith—and their hard-earned cash—into the anonymous void of the Internet. Pictures build recognition and trust between you and the customer.

Okay…what's next?

The next step is to post regular and interesting status updates. These can range from additional pictures or instructional diagrams to important driving information and news from your school. You might post about special offers or deals you're offering. Updates are what you use to keep your customers interested and thinking about your school.

How often should I post status updates?

No more than a couple a day, but at least once a week. Such a wide range is obviously a rough guideline. Experiment to see how much effort you're comfortable putting in and what seems to work best in terms of getting a response.

How do I get people to "like" my business's Facebook page?

Start by inviting your family and friends. Once you've got a handful of "likes" it becomes easier to get more. Your next source should be your customers. Start telling people that your school in on Facebook, and make sure to mention your page during class. Reach out to your best customers and build outward from there.

What about paid advertising on Facebook?

Facebook offers several types of paid advertising, but the results can be spotty depending on execution. If you've got some Facebook paid advertising experience, please leave a comment below that we'll share with the other readers of this blog.

What's the point of all this?

As with all advertising, the intent is to drive more customers to your school. Most potential customers who don't select a traffic violator school off of the DMV/court list are going to start their search online or by asking friends and relatives for recommendations. Your school's Facebook presence is the 21st century equivalent of handing out your business card. You're hoping that the prospects you encounter are going to pass the information on to people they know, who will also become your customers.

Can you provide an example of a business's Facebook page?

Check out the Facebook pages of active social media marketing masters like Pepsi or M&Ms, to get some ideas. Or maybe you're already doing something great on Facebook—in which case you should leave a comment below and share what you know!

The 1-2-3s of Easy Marketing

Not every marketing push needs razzle dazzle. In many cases, the clearer, more concise, and engaging the marketing message is, the more effective its reach might be in driving sales.

Attract Customers with Magnetic Signs

Apply a magnetic sign to the outside of your vehicle to reach more people in your local area. Doing so will allow you to target customers who might not otherwise be aware of your business. In addition, the magnetic sign could serve as a reminder to customers who've taken your courses in the past that your business is still up and running.

Where to Purchase

High-quality car-door magnets and customizable bumper stickers are available with full-color printing through local and online printing companies. Personalize the magnets with your business name, contact information, and slogan, if applicable.

Word-of-Mouth

Word of mouth is another key factor in grassroots marketing. Encourage your customers to post to social media about their experience with your school and tell others how easy your course is to complete. You may want to offer a discount or partial refund for customers who bring in referrals.

Business Reviews

Business review sites like Yelp and CitySearch make it easy for customers to post online business reviews. Other popular sites include: InsiderPages, YahooLocal, and JudysBook.

Using simple, affordable grassroots marketing, you can affordably target customers in your area without a lot of bells and whistles. (Just don’t forget to reward those who have spread the word about your business along the way!)

Winning Through SEO

Effective search engine optimization (SEO) is about designing and executing a strong marketing plan. While you may not be an expert in SEO strategy, your website can benefit from a few simple tips. Check out these suggestions to see where you might be able to improve your online marketing strategies:

1. Create a click-friendly URL scheme using keywords that relate to each designated Web page. The URL http://www.onlinetrafficschool.com/registration is a perfect example. Here, users understand that by following the link, they are going to the registration page of Online Traffic School.
2. Create a navigation structure that makes it easy for users to move through your website. Offering a site map, for instance, could help users more quickly and more efficiently find key Web pages, such as FAQs and registration.
3. Stick to well-polished, well-researched content that is of benefit to your customers. You don't want to give your customers any reason to "opt-out" of future engagement and correspondence.
4. Link your website—or select Web pages—back to your social media pages.
5. Print the name of your website on the back of business cards, and other printed material. Or better yet, consider making the name of your business a URL, as we've previously discussed on this blog.
6. As with any SEO plan, you want to make your website as user-friendly as possible. Whether you anchor text (making it clickable for users to see as a result of a link) or optimize your content through colorful illustrations and eye-popping videos (which, by the way, drives up SEO!) your goal for your content should be the same: to present quality material that keeps customers interested and coming back for more!
7. Consider using Google Analytics or another service for site statistics. Track how much "natural" traffic you're now attracting through search queries and which keywords are driving this traffic. Then, reuse successful strategies in the future.

The Incredible, Expanding Customer Pool and How to Navigate it!

Don't get lost on the Web.
Make use of it in your marketing!

The pool of customers you enjoy today may not be the pool of customers you enjoy tomorrow; however, through effective grassroots marketing you can more effectively navigate the waters. As you "reel in" more customers, you'll need to widen your "net," and tighten your grip, making sure existing customers don't slip away unnoticed and new customers don't "jump ship" once on-board.

Navigating the Web

Social media and email campaigns offer an immediate and measurable line of communication to customers. In just a few mouse-clicks, a single Tweet, Facebook post, or email blast could reach thousands, if not millions, of customers. Best of all, you don't need an expensive marketing director to help you achieve success. By simply developing an engaging, exciting, unique online presence through social networking sites, blogs, email, and Web content, you can maintain quality, frequent contact with your customers.

Social Media

Posting content to social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, is totally free. Facebook, for instance, allows you to post unlimited updates and "tag" content, such as photos and videos. Post a humorous digital image or provide useful updates on a new driving law, and you could see an immediate increase in traffic—along with a few extra thousand electronic thumbs-ups to boot!

All That Glitters Glows

Social media and email campaigns offer an easy (and inexpensive) way to let customers know about money-saving coupons, glossy specials, driving-related games, and exciting online competitions. But don't simply focus on providing incentives and rousing brand awareness. Find new and exciting ways to drive customer support and strengthen communication. Here are a few tips for doing so:

• Develop a pattern of consistency. Produce engaging, high quality content every time and your customers will be more likely to "opt-in" to future mailings, respond to calls for action (e.g., "Enroll in a refresher course today!"), and share the great experiences they've had with your traffic school.
• Your content should be fun, friendly, and filled with the useful information customers need to know about traffic safety.
• In cyberspace, a "friend" is only as cool as his or her last tweet, status update, or email blast—so keep consistent and be creative!
• Strengthen your relationship with your customers one update at a time. As important state driving laws change, send out helpful updates and follow-up materials, or post Web links to useful save-driving news. Drivers can stay informed and kept up-to-date on pertinent state driving laws, and you can remain the trusted, dependable "friend" that you are!
• Uphold the laws of merchant etiquette. Don't overload your customers with too much information. Simply being aware of, and controlling, the breadth of material you regularly send to customers could minimize the number of complaints you receive later on. Whatever information you do provide, though, should be accurate, concise, and up-to-date.