Revenue is nice!
Profits are even better!
Finding higher profits means two things: controlling costs and increasing margins.
When it comes to marketing costs too often the immediate reaction is to slash marketing to the bone.
Doing the bare minimum or even cutting marketing out completely.
Here’s what that looks like in real life. Spoiler-alert. DISASTER!
Apex Components had long been a leader in precision parts manufacturing. Their reputation for quality and reliability was well-established. Then the new CFO decided marketing was a “non-essential” expense. After all, his reasoning went, Apex had a steady client base, and word-of-mouth had always been strong.
Without marketing, Apex’s presence in the industry began to fade. Competitors, who doubled down on digital ads, trade shows, and content marketing, started capturing attention. New players entered the market with aggressive campaigns, promising innovation and competitive pricing.
Competitors solidified their hold on the market. Even loyal clients began to leave, citing concerns about Apex’s “invisibility” and perceived lack of innovation. Apex lost market share and has been in recovery mode for the last three years still trying to regain their former market glory.
Don’t let that happen to you!
Join Us at our Interactive Workshop on December 12
Join Octain on December 12 at 2 pm ET to take a deeper dive into these five proven strategies for profitable growth.
In this hands-on workshop we will work with you to assess your current marketing success to determine which of these strategies will work best for your unique situation.
Here are five better ways find higher profits in 2025.
- Conduct a Marketing Audit: The first and most important step is knowing what marketing activities are making you money and which are not. One client we worked with was spending thousands of dollars on Google Ads. They got leads but 95% weren’t qualified, not only a waste of money but a waste of precious sales time. Octain cut their ads budget in half by moving them from the big ocean of Google Ads to a smaller, laser focused LinkedIn Ad campaign. Lead capture improved 18% in three months.
- Enhance Pricing Strategies: “SMBs should analyze and fine-tune their pricing strategies to optimize profit margins. Implementing dynamic pricing models, bundling products, or offering premium options can increase average order value and improve profitability without compromising customer satisfaction,” recommends Andrew Bodane of CFO Business Solutions.
- Be Different: If you’re competing in a relatively undifferentiated market, the key is to differentiate yourself with your value proposition.
“You need to deliver more value and avoid race to the bottom,” says Ken Copel of Copel Communications.
“One way is to scope out the competitive landscape and see what other people are offering and figure out how you can do it better.
”That means taking what Ken calls a ‘customer-back approach’.
“Ask yourself what does the customer need? If I understand that more intimately, I can deliver better value. If I can deliver better value, I can differentiate myself from all the competition, and customers would be willing to pay a premium for that. Bingo! Higher profits,” he says.
- Focus on Customer Retention: “Business Owners can boost their profit margins by prioritizing customer retention. Providing excellent customer service, personalized experiences, and loyalty programs can encourage repeat business and increase customer lifetime value. Loyal customers are more likely to refer others, contribute to positive word-of-mouth, and have higher average order sizes, improving profitability,” adds Bodane.
- Productize your Offerings. That’s easy if you have a physical product to sell. In that case, changing your packaging can help. If you have a one size fits all type of offering, you can increase profits and reach a broader market by offering three sizes of the product at three different price points. Service companies can do something similar by offering menu-pricing as I discussed in my last newsletter, The Hunt is On.
“Productizing your offerings, especially when they have more of a service-based slant, delivers consistency, not just in terms of the deliverable, but in terms of the efficiency of creating it, producing it, and marketing it: making it more profitable,” adds Copel.
Join Us at our Interactive Workshop on December 12
Join Octain on December 12 at 2 pm ET to take a deeper dive into these five proven strategies for profitable growth.
In this hands-on workshop we will work with you to assess your current marketing success to determine which of these strategies will work best for your unique situation.