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By Rieva Lesonsky

Are you ready to revamp your marketing mix for 2012? Check out Practical Ecommerce’s picks for five smart marketing tactics to try now.

Text marketing: With more Americans using mobile devices and texting, text messaging (also called SMS) is going to grow in importance. One way it will be used is to target offers to customers more specifically by finding out exactly what they want. How would it work? For example, a clothing retailer could text customers an offer for a $5 off coupon if they answer the question, “What’s your favorite clothing item to shop for?” If the customer answers “Shoes,” you’d know to send them special offers for shoes going forward. You can also use SMS to send limited-time offers such as “flash” sales.

Mobile commerce: We saw during the holidays that mobile commerce is hot and getting hotter. The growth of tablet sales will only accelerate this trend. Even if your website is optimized for mobile use (and many still aren’t), there is more to be done, especially for e-tailers. Practical Ecommerce advises e-tailers to “integrate up-selling, cross-selling, and similar online merchandising into the smartphone-friendly versions of their sites.”

Subscription sales: Subscriptions aren’t just for magazines and newspapers anymore. The subscription model, in which consumers or businesses pay a pre-set monthly or annual fee for products or services, is great for businesses because it means a recurring income stream. Setting subscriptions up to renew automatically unless the customer turns them off can lessen attrition. While most of us are familiar with and use subscriptions for things like cloud storage services or cell phone minutes, the trend is moving into different arenas. Practical Ecommerce cites the example of Manpacks, a company that lets men subscribe to underwear, socks, shirts and shaving kits delivered at regularly scheduled intervals (kind of like an “underwear of the month club”).

Triggered emails: Triggered emails, which are sent in response to a certain customer behavior or interaction (such as abandoning a shopping cart), were a hot tactic in 2011 and promise to continue strong this year. You can trigger emails for all kinds of events, such as emailing customers offers for discounts on their next purchase if they review a recent purchase.

Video content: I’ve been reading about the importance of video content for a while now, but many small businesses still aren’t taking advantage of this marketing method. With YouTube the second most popular search channel after Google, and the average American watching 20 hours of online video per month, the demand is out there. Videos help your site rank higher in search engines and are popular on social media. Consider a video that demonstrates your product, shares your expertise or spotlights your loyal customers.

Image by Flickr user squidish (Creative Commons)

By Karen Axelton

President Obama has requested authority to streamline U.S. executive agencies and announced plans to begin with trade-related agencies including the Small Business Administration, Bloomberg reports. Dubbed the Consolidation Authority Act, the proposed legislation would give the President executive authority to streamline the executive branch. This power last held by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

The president has said the goal is to shrink government and save money, and asked Congress to “fast track” the proposal for a vote within 90 days. If the plan is authorized, the president would start by replacing the Commerce Department with a new agency that will consist of four units: trade and investment, including enforcement, financing and promotion; small business and economic development; technology and innovation, including the patent office; and statistics. The new agency would include the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corp., the Trade and Development Agency and the SBA.

“Small businesses often face a maze of agencies when looking for even the most basic answers to the most basic questions,” says the White House website. “There is a whole host of websites, toll-free numbers and customer service centers that at times offer them differing advice. The result is a system that is not working for our small businesses. The President is proposing to consolidate those six departments and agencies into one department with one website, one phone number and one mission—helping American businesses succeed [and creating] one department where entrepreneurs can go.”

As to what that might mean for the SBA, one piece of good news for that agency is that the president has elevated SBA Administrator Karen Mills to a Cabinet-level position (he can do this without Congress’s approval).

A study by the Government Accountability Office in March 2011 found that the federal government’s economic development programs are “fragmented” and was unable to measure their efficiency and effectiveness. It’s estimated that consolidating agencies would eventually eliminate 1,000 to 2,000 federal government jobs through attrition and would save $3 billion over 10 years.

The proposal would have to be approved by Congress, and both Democrats and Republicans have expressed guarded feelings about the idea. In particular, both Republican and Democratic chairs of the committees that oversee trade policy objected to the proposal to move the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to a new department.

Small business advocates aren’t gung-ho for the idea, either. Todd McCracken, President and CEO of the National Small Business Association expressed the views of many when he told the Huffington Post Small Business, “There simply aren’t enough details available yet to know if this will be a net win or loss for small business. On the one hand, reorganizing federal agencies to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ for America’s small businesses could streamline processes and make accessing information and assistance much easier. On the other hand, such a reorganization could minimize the emphasis placed on small business by the federal government and lead to an even greater imbalance toward promoting the interests of large businesses over those of small business.”

Image by Flickr user Tom Lohdan (Creative Commons)

By Rieva Lesonsky

For entrepreneurs hoping to capture a slice of the consumer spending pie, the affluent consumer has always been a great market to target. How are the affluent feeling about the state of the economy, and what constitutes luxury to these consumers today? The latest Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey of more than 2,000 people with incomes over $100,000 has some good news and some interesting insights that can help you better target these key customers.

First, affluent consumers are feeling more positive about the economy—good news for spending. Second, affluents’ views about what they consider “luxury” are changing in some important ways. The survey asked respondents about their most recent purchases in 15 categories, including automotive and technology, and discovered these findings:

Luxury is becoming more subjective. Where in the past, luxury was closely affiliated with specific brands, affluent consumers today see luxury as buying things they want—no matter what the brand. Harley-Davidson brand was cited as a “luxury” by some consumers.

Consumers expect value pricing even from luxury brands. While there was once a perception that luxury brands never discount or that sale prices would hurt the image of a luxury brand in the consumer’s eyes, that view has changed. In fact, the vast majority (90 percent) of respondents said they actively seek out the best price even on luxury products. Fewer than half believe that “luxury is worth any additional cost” and fewer than half agreed with the statement, “True luxury does not go on sale.”

Luxury doesn’t have to mean “big” or “expensive.” Huge purchases are not the only definition of luxury today. More than 90 percent of affluent consumers in the study agreed that small treats can be just as meaningful as bigger purchases. In other words, a gourmet latte could be considered a “luxury.”

Price is less important than experience. Consumers are defining “luxury” in a more personal way, focused less on product cost, brand name or what others think and more about how it makes them feel. In other words, a label or brand name may matter less than the feeling of indulgence consumers get from buying artisanal cheese or a cashmere sweater.

Consumers view luxury as a reward. Affluents in the survey were likely to treat themselves to luxury because they felt they “deserved” it. And they are strongly feeling that they deserve it: Across all 15 product categories in the survey, consumers were more, not less, interested in buying luxury products compared to the last Ipsos Mendelsohn survey. Among the highest end of the affluents (those with incomes of $250,000 and up) they were 20 percent more interested in luxury than last year.

The interest in luxury is reaching across all income categories. While 70 percent of affluents in the survey said they plan to buy luxury products or services in the next 12 months, the study also surveyed non-affluents, and 60 percent of those consumers also plan to buy luxury in the next year.

That’s good news for small business owners. Promoting your products and services as small indulgences, quality products and emphasizing how they will make the consumer feel are all keys to capturing today’s affluent (and non-affluent) consumers.

Image by Flickr user GingerPig 2000 (Creative Commons)