Marketing Advice NEEDED

11 replies
Hello everyone!
My name is Hari & I am working for Brilliant Polymers.
My company is manufacturer of laminating adhesives for flexible packaging industry. Our laminating adhesives is used in packets, pouches, tubes, etc. mostly in FMCG industry. Our company started in 2011 & we are doing pretty decent sales & our company is ranked 2nd in market. Our most of the sales is carried out by agents & distributors & now we are looking for expanding our sales. We launched our website last month & also participated in trade exhibition to create awareness of our brand. Now we are planning to give advertisements in trade magazine, journals & online websites. Also we have started sending newsletters to our clients, agents, distributors & employees.
Can anyone also give me ideas on how should I design the artwork?
Can anyone suggest me any more strategies or ideas which I should do as a Marketing guy?
Thanks in advance.
#advice #marketing #needed
  • Profile picture of the author EugeneWHZ
    Do the market research and decide where are your clients? Then design FB page and promote that within your audience.
    I recommend Facebook as they allow you to have the best targeting for your ads.
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    • Profile picture of the author Hari Dhuri
      Ok.
      I am about to do that not only on Facebook but also on LinkedIn & Twitter.
      If you have any more ideas or suggestions then please let me know!
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  • Profile picture of the author xjokker
    Research what is working for your competition, this will give you a better idea of what is working.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cass Tyson
    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    Our laminating adhesives is used in packets, pouches, tubes, etc. mostly in FMCG industry.
    What is FMCG?

    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    Our company started in 2011 & we are doing pretty decent sales & our company is ranked 2nd in market.
    Remember Avis? "We're #2, so we try harder!"

    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    Our most of the sales is carried out by agents & distributors & now we are looking for expanding our sales.
    Do you mean expanding sales WITHIN the agents & distributors channels, or expanding sales BEYOND agents & distributors by finding/creating additional channels?

    There are basically three ways to grow sales:

    1) Increase the NUMBER of sales transactions by finding and converting new customers. This is what most companies focus on. It's also the most expensive of these three.

    2) Increase the SIZE of your average transaction, by adding value (and therefore cost to customer and profit to you) to each transaction. This is a matter of making your basic product(s) bigger and better so you can charge more, or adding additional products (upsells) to the transaction process. If you don't have additional products to offer, think about creating some. Hint: they don't have to be polymers.

    3) Increase the FREQUENCY of customer transactions. If your average customer buys once and never returns, how can you get them to come back a time or two? If your average customer buys once a year, how can you get them to come back every six months, or every three months -- or every month?

    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    We launched our website last month...
    And it's a very nice site. Looks good. Gives a comprehensive overview of your company and your products. Tells me everything I need to know about YOU.

    What it DOESN'T do is give any indication you have a clue about MY needs as a prospective customer. If I'm looking for a company that sells what you sell, how do I know you understand my needs? Why should I do business with you? Show me you know who am I, what I need, what my pains and problems are, and show me you can help me fix my problem(s).

    The best way to do that is with educational content. What is it I don't know about polymers that I should know? Teach me. Give me a free download that has value to me. Ideally (from my perspective) it won't require me to give up my email address or other contact info. Ideally (from your perspective) it has a way to capture my email address (at minimum) so you can follow up with me.

    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    Now we are planning to give advertisements in trade magazine, journals & online websites.
    The most expensive tactics to find new clients that exist. (Refer to what I said above after #1.) I hope you have a large advertising budget. And I hope you're not planning to do "branding" type ads, the kind that just get your name out there, position your company as an industry leader, blah blah blah.

    The only type of advertising you should do is the direct marketing variety, where you are asking people to take an action of some kind: call a toll-free number for X; click through to our website for Y; mail back a postcard for Z. Such ads will generate leads AND, at the same time, accomplish company branding & positioning.

    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    Also we have started sending newsletters to our clients, agents, distributors & employees.
    At least three, possibly four very distinct markets. I trust you're producing three (or four) distinctly different newsletters? And are you sending the email type of newsletter, that often goes directly to spam, or the print type of newsletter, that shows up on people's desks and can't be ignored?

    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    Can anyone also give me ideas on how should I design the artwork?
    Hire a graphic designer. If you've got the budget for newsletters and ads, you've got the budget for an in-house designer.

    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    Can anyone suggest me any more strategies or ideas which I should do as a Marketing
    guy?
    A: Think strategically, not tactically.
    B: if you need more this this, get in touch. I've got tons.
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    • Profile picture of the author Hari Dhuri
      Our company is into manufacturer of laminating adhesives which is widely used in Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry.Our adhesives is used in laminating foils & laminating layers (Tubes,Packets,Pouches,etc).

      Our company is already is in exports & is now looking more to expand the exports & as well as maintain the domestic market & for that reason I am looking for strategies which would help us.

      As you have gone through our website & we are looking to make some changes as our website is not mobile friendly also we need to work on SEO , Google Adwords , Paid & Natural traffic.We are planning to invest in that.

      Also we are about to create social networking pages on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter.

      Also we are getting our artwork ready to give magazines in trade journals & magazines.We have also started participating in events & exhibitions to generate new leads & create awareness about our brand.

      About newsletters , I send newsletters through MailChimp & our newsletters are only sent to our subscribers so I guess those mails don't end up in Spam or Junk box.

      Please advice me on what more should I do!
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  • Profile picture of the author ramonavandusen
    This is a easy guide to selling, strategic selling planning, publicity and promotion and sales guide generation, for small businesses specially. With advice and techniques for marketing and PR, for non-marketing managers, and for marketing and publicity professionals too; this is selling and publicity made easy. Also some easy advice on website design, internet advertising and advertising.
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  • Profile picture of the author marktman571
    Originally Posted by Hari Dhuri View Post

    Hello everyone!
    My name is Hari & I am working for Brilliant Polymers.
    My company is manufacturer of laminating adhesives for flexible packaging industry. Our laminating adhesives is used in packets, pouches, tubes, etc. mostly in FMCG industry. Our company started in 2011 & we are doing pretty decent sales & our company is ranked 2nd in market. Our most of the sales is carried out by agents & distributors & now we are looking for expanding our sales. We launched our website last month & also participated in trade exhibition to create awareness of our brand. Now we are planning to give advertisements in trade magazine, journals & online websites. Also we have started sending newsletters to our clients, agents, distributors & employees.
    Can anyone also give me ideas on how should I design the artwork?
    Can anyone suggest me any more strategies or ideas which I should do as a Marketing guy?
    Thanks in advance.
    Saw your website and I would say the design is pretty appealing. Your products and site design tells me that your company basically relies on bulk orders from big companies and that's how you manage to run the whole working machinery. Here are some suggestions that I have for you to upgrade your site's worth.

    1. Try incorporating reviews from your clients on your company's site. This MATTERS!! Reason because in order to secure big projects a lot of people look out for customer's experience and by providing them you can be one step ahead of your competitors.


    2. Make up a promotional video casting your company's executives and employees. Try to show your company's culture and if possible incorporate short segments of your client's experience as well.


    3. Have you tried overseas market or do you rely on local distribution right now? I know that overseas projects can secure you high turnover after adjusting the port and delivery costs.

    4. You can also start up a Facebook page or You tube channel and upload stuff that is educational and gives a basic knowledge of the type of material you guys use to make up your product. Don't make these videos to launch your products but instead use them to educate anyone who is eager to know how adhesives are made. Then by the end of the video you can say that ' this video was sponsored by Brilliant polymers- the 2nd largest adhesive distributer in Mumbai'. etc

    Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author Claire Koch
    ebay is pretty huge is this glue? Lots of companies set up a store in there for their store. How big or small is your company? it might depend on that but keep in mind people on ebay typically are looking for deals. And you have to sell and mail from their platform. Does your company agree or prohibit this kind of sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author mindtricks18
    Banned
    I think social media are best for your products and services marketing.
    When you build a following, you’ll simultaneously have access to new customers, recent customers, and old customers, and you’ll be able to interact with all of them. Every blog post, image, video, or comment you share is a chance for someone to react, and every reaction could lead to a site visit, and eventually a conversion.
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  • My suggestions would definitely include social media among the other strategies your'e already doing. With social sites geared on photo sharing this would be a great chance for you to put your products/services in front of the consumer directly. This approach not only will help drive sales and generate leads but also allows you to build your brand/presence online.
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  • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
    Hi Hari,

    Welcome to the forum.

    You make polymers for the flexible packaging industry right?

    Don't waste too much time trying to attract business through social media as you already know where your perfect customers are.

    They are business that are packaging FMCG so contact them directly with samples and suggestions of how your polymers can improve their processing.

    There are two things I immediately thought of when I read your post.

    One was to recommend reading some of the works by Eli Goldratt on the theory of constraints. Read "The Goal" and "It's Not Luck" for starters.

    The other thing I though of was to recommend you read a part of the Robert Collier letters Book. In particular Chapter 10 "How it all Began".

    It is about how the company marketed coal back in the early 1900's to Proctor and Gamble.

    It will give you some ideas about how a number 2 company can become number 1 and it may help.

    I would imagine that you only need to prove your solution is better for your prospect than your competitors products.

    If you look at how varying the supply quantity at a higher margin can still benefit the client - refer to the Goldratt material coupled with how the outcome from the benefit of using your polymer over a competitor - refer to Bob Collier reference and you will unlock further potential.

    best regards,

    Ozi
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