“It’s First in the Mind, Not First in the Market.” – George Foster
Building Awareness
In marketing, top-of-mind awareness refers to a brand or product being first in customers’ minds when thinking of a particular industry or category. That is a key goal for Foster Marketing when working with clients – to ensure that when a prospective customer has a need, our client is their first call.
The overall impression a company makes is also an essential component of awareness. A company can be known but have a negative image or convey an unclear understanding of what they do – which rarely translates to getting the business. At Foster Marketing, we build awareness for our clients with this in mind to ensure a consistent and positive impression is made with every marketing effort and interaction.
As competition for attention has become more intense because of social media, social videos, podcasts, the number of market competitors and lack of time, being first in your customers’ minds has become increasingly difficult and requires an ongoing dedicated effort. Foster Marketing has been building awareness for energy clients for decades, and as marketing tools and industry situations have evolved, we’ve continued to step up our game to ensure our clients get the industry attention they desire.
Branding & Positioning
Much has been made of the term “branding” in recent years. However, decades before branding was a hot marketing topic, the descriptor du jour was “positioning.” Nearly 30 years ago, Al Ries and Jack Trout penned their seminal book “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind”. The main premise of the book was that the essence to creating a brand and being a brand leader is to be first in the mind, not necessarily first in the market.
The Foster Marketing team is experienced at guiding and evaluating branding and positioning to ensure our clients are making the right impact. We believe starting with a solid branding standard and consistently applying this throughout messaging and visuals is the most effective way to clearly communicate with your audiences and make a positive impression.
Since 1980, Foster Marketing has launched many brands in this manner and guided many others along the way to help them put their best foot forward.
Advertising
Advertising is a key way businesses can get in front of their prospective audiences. As some advertising avenues have declined, new opportunities have emerged that allow you to hyper target a specific audience – whether it be a type of company, job title, geography or interest.
Foster Marketing’s strong relationships with industry publications gives us a heads up on upcoming advertising and promotional opportunities our customers could leverage. Be it print media in an industry journal, email advertising in popular industry enewsletters, online advertising, map publications or webinars, our team can help get your message out to a desired audience.
With the increasing use of social media channels such as LinkedIn and Facebook, businesses can now take advantage of targeted opportunities to get their advertising messaging in front of a specific audience and reach far more viewers than ever before. Other online opportunities such as paid search and retargeting ads are also tactics to consider in your marketing mix.
For some businesses, outdoor advertising is an effective way to build awareness and attract attention for a desired message – be it an upcoming event or immediate hiring needs.
Foster Marketing is experienced is working across channels to help our clients spread their message and target specific audiences – whether that includes billboards, radio, print, online, text messaging or email.
Lead Generation
If what you really need is leads, Foster Marketing can offer solutions to incorporate this into your messaging and design multi-tiered campaigns that work in conjunction to achieve results and capture and evaluate prospective buyers.
Promotion
You should be promoting your company on multiple levels – both online and off. Foster Marketing is a strong advocate of public relations to frequently get in front of your audiences; technical article writing and presentations to spotlight your expertise; media relations to be included as a thought leader in industry discussions; social media to showcase your team and to be likable; and industry events to get face-to-face with prospective customers. And, don’t forget about the value of direct marketing. A well-planned mailer can get your company in front of prospective customers and demand their full attention.
The Foster Marketing team helps guide our clients through the maze of promotional options and creates a layered approach to offer multiple touch points from a single campaign with built-in mechanisms to capture potential leads.
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