The single most effective way to drive party bookings into your venue...FACT!

Thirty years ago when disco was in it’s prime I started a promotion which years later became a must have weekly campaign in every nightclub in the UK.

It became known as the birthday mailer and this is how it works.

We have in our extensive database the date of birth of every young person in the UK aged between 18-30.

A fully personalised digital mailer is sent three weeks before the young person’s birthday inviting them to a free night out with up to twelve of their friends.

In addition other offers such as free drinks, queue jump are essential to get maximum returns.

In the age of Facebook, Twitter and the like it’s a promotion, which the younger generation of nightclub managers haven’t used or seen the success that a good birthday mailing can bring.

Even today there are well known night-clubs who rely on the footfall that the mailings can bring in, a well known Midlands night-club is getting returns of over 200 people a week at a cost of £70.

Depending on your spend per head that can mean an extra weekly income of up to £800.

A recent addition is the use of text response, the customer is invited to text the size of the party they are bringing, when they do this you will have captured their mobile number*

This is the opportunity for the night-club to upsell the night with extra incentives.

We have a great range of designs for the mailers, go to www.cflmarketing.co.uk to see some examples, phone Bruce, Mike or Phil on 01225 782669 for sample packs which we can post to you.

Give this promotion a try, as an incentive we will not commit you to anymore than four weeks mailers, with a minimum of 100 packs per weeks.

In the current economic climate it is difficult to get people out but for sure they will go out on their BIRTHDAY.

And this is something the social networking sites cannot do, and that is putting a well designed birthday card in their hands, with their name on it, arriving in the post.

Kindest Regards

Bruce Bronson

* Ask about our media console for text transmission.

Our birthday mailing examples below.

How to Set and Track Your Marketing Budget

Setting a marketing budget for your business is one of the most critical factors in your success. Although most businesses would love to spread their influence and message as much as possible, time and money limits can keep them from doing so.

Setting a specific budget for your marketing activities has a number of benefits. It will help you steadily grow your business without overtaxing your resources or your staff. It will help you build a consistent marketing plan that will grow your list of prospects. It will also help you keep your spending in check. You are less likely to jump on the next big thing if you have already created your marketing budget and know how much you will be spending on a particular set of activities.

Finding Your Sweet Spot
In order to set a marketing budget that works for your business, you need to spend time crunching the numbers. The general rule of thumb is that your marketing budget should be between 1 and 10 percent of your total sales. However, this can vary depending on several different factors. If you are a brand new business, you should probably spend more in order to get more exposure.

Look at your total sales for last year and then look at what a budget of 1 to 10 percent would look like. Pick a range that makes the most sense to your business and your industry.

Spending Your Budget Wisely
Once you have created a number to work with, it is time to determine where that money will be allocated. There are many different choices. With the rise of web marketing, the choices have become even more diverse.

Traditional marketing and advertising costs can include:
•Print

•Radio/Television

•Direct Mail

•Trade show booths

Web marketing options are:
•Email Marketing

•LinkedIN

•Twitter

•Facebook

•Content Marketing

How you determine where to spend funds over these categories?

It can be helpful to look back to the previous year and determine which channels produced the most results. If you are expanding to incorporate a new channel – like email marketing – look to the best practices of the industry and expected ROI figures in order to determine if it will be a good move for your business.

As you spend your marketing budget, be sure to leave some room for the unexpected. Keep in mind that training for your team and others, hiring experts for specific projects and website improvements should all fall under your marketing budget.

Tracking Your Spending
No matter how you decide to spend your resources, it is important to keep track of your spending. Be very mindful of where your new clients are coming from. If you are using a newsletter or ebook on your website to track leads, be sure to ask how the website visitor found you on the opt in form. Have your sales people and customer service representatives ask clients how they discovered your company.

Then compare your leads to your marketing efforts and see what is giving you the best results. If you find that your email marketing newsletter is bringing in more leads than your print ad, allocate your print budget to marketing your newsletter. By tracking your results and fine tuning your budget as you go along, you can make the next business year a profitable one.