Is your marketing falling a little flat? Perhaps it’s because you’ve opted for a one-sided strategy. Choosing only one medium to deliver your message to potential consumers is like trying to make your favorite cookies only using flour. To have truly successful marketing, you need to mix together several different mediums to deliver your message to consumers. The Showpig.com team is here to give you some quick facts to help you mix up your marketing and create your own recipe for success. BEGIN WITH A BRAND Before you can build brand awareness, you need to start with a brand, and we don’t mean the type you use to mark cattle. A brand in marketing terms is a company’s identity. It includes their logo, the colors they use, the style of their advertisements, the tone of their typography and the character of their copy. Believe it or not, consumers will often draw conclusions about a business based upon how that business presents its brand and builds its identity. If this seems overwhelming, simply think of three words you’d like your consumers to associate with your business. Perhaps, it’s cutting-edge, leading and innovative or maybe its traditional, honest and hardworking. As you can imagine, these sets of words would be represented in much different ways. THE WEB YOU WEAVE Once you have a brand, it needs a home, and the world wide web is a great place to start. Today, most people have Googled someone or something on their phone. The Internet has turned into a walking Encyclopedia, phone book and classifieds. With so many people turning to the web to get their information, having a sound, functional website is almost imperative. Showpig.com can help with your website needs. We offer several different web building packages for businesses of all sizes. Visit http://www.showpig.com/services/web-site-services to learn more. GET SOCIAL Social media is nearly a given in today’s marketing mixes. Not only do social platforms encourage candid conversations and personal connections between potential buyers and sellers, but the cost of these platforms is free or minimal for some of the paid advertising options. Many producers have their own personal pages and are already familiar with how social media works. Although this is a cheap, effective way to reach consumers, business owners shouldn’t underestimate the work needed to maintain content on a business page and the growing amount of hoops business content must now jump through to land on newsfeeds. YOU’VE GOT TO EMAIL Direct mail is still a great way to reach potential buyers with a specific, timely message, such as an upcoming sale. Direct email or eblasts is one of the most affordable ways to target a large, specific audience for an affordable price. The Showpig.com team would be glad to help you set up your own eblasts. Our list currently reaches more than 15,000 showpig aficionados throughout the country! For more information regarding our marketing services visit: http://www.showpig.com/services/marketing-opportunities. PUT IT IN PRINT Yes, some folks claim print is dead. Compared to its sleeker web advertising cousin, print may seem clunkier and more costly. But, never underestimate the power of a printed page’s shelf life. What print may lack in instant, it makes up for in longevity. How many old magazines have you flipped through months or even years later?  MIX THE MEDIA, NOT YOUR MESSAGE Perhaps most important, when creating your media mix is to make sure you’re mixing up your media, but not your message. The best marketing is consistent from platform to platform. Like a remix of your favorite song, each piece of your advertising should be a fun, new way to feature your lyrics. Building a brand for your business will take a lot of work and strategy to find the right mix for your audience and your budget, but will serve as a solid foundation for your future.