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SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING IDEAS
UNDERSTANDING YOUR MARKET, YOUR AUDIENCE AND YOUR POSITION 1. Determine your unique competitive advantage. How do you differentiate yourself from your competition? 2. Focus on your customers’ needs. Clearly focus on your market and market position. Ask yourself four questions: Does it offer a benefit that my target audience really wants? Is it really a benefit? Does it really differentiate me from the competition? Is it unique or difficult to copy? 3. Use suppliers and vendors for information. They know more about your competition than anyone else. If your competition is a public company, buy stock. As a stockholder you will receive all their annual and quarterly reports. 4. Research the demographics of your sales area. This is the breakdown of the area you live in or plan on services. What are the income levels, number of homeowners, what is their racial background, etc…? 5. Learn more about your customers. Learn more about them than their business. Let customers know when you read about them in the newspaper. 6. Develop a “Most Wanted” list of prospects. This strategy enables you to focus on your ideal customer/client instead of half the county. This select group might get regular direct mail pieces, phone calls and free products or offers. 7. Match your service and your appearance to your prospective client’s. Do your homework and obtain prior information about your prospect before your next meeting. 8. Target your market. If you’re trying to target everybody, then chances are, you’re not targeting anybody. 9. Talk to your customers about them and their needs. Most company publications, ads, letters and sales literature are filled with words, photographs and information that does nothing more than brag about the company. Talk about your customers needs instead. Rather than using the words “I,” “me,” “my,” use “you” and your.”
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10. Successful marketing starts with positioning. Your must position yourself in your prospect’s mind; your position should be singularone simple message; your position must set you apart from your competitors; and you must sacrifice – you must focus on one thing. 11. Don’t get funny with your name. It never works. STRETCHING YOUR MARKETING DOLLAR 12. Don’t keep changing your marketing program, especially if it seems to be working. 13. Barter or trade your services to buy advertising. Look under ”Media Buying Services” or “Barter Services” in the Yellow Pages. 14. Look into co-op advertising opportunities. Your suppliers may have a program. 15. Save money on printing by being included in a “gang run” or big press jobs at printing companies. 16. Have a marketing calendar, so you can take advantage of multiple ad buys, printing jobs, etc… 17. Plan for newspaper specials. Each year newspapers often do special inserts or sections on topics of local interest. These sections usually have a larger readership than the regular newspaper and your ad can generate more business. Research previous year’s response rates to find out if this is worth doing. 18. Create a joint mailing package with other businesses on the street or in your building. 19. Build a web site. The primary reason consumers go to web sites is to be informed and get information, not to be entertained. This also is a great way to save money on printing and distribution of marketing materials. Be sure to put your web site address on ALL YOUR CONTACT MATERIAL. 20. Test your marketing efforts. Test your messages, test your ads, test your offers, test your packages, and track them against your response rate and sales. 21. Test your prices. $19 outpulls $25 by 300%. $195 outpulls $245 by a huge margin. Every situation is unique. 22. During presentations, talk about the benefits of doing business with you – merely providing a list of services often is not enough to close the sale.
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23. Get feedback about your business or products. Make it easy for your customers to complain about your business. Send a postcard “Was everything OK?” “How are we doing?” 24. “Under promise” and over deliver”. Surprise your customers by giving them a little more than they expected. What small thing can you do for your customers that will surprise them? 25. Focus on the smaller market, especially if no one is serving them because they are catering to a bigger trend. 26. Study every point at which your company makes contact. Your receptionist, your business card, your building/store/office, your brochure. – all of them represent moments that decide whether or not you get the business. Then ask: What are we doing to make a phenomenal impression at every point? Don’t squander one point of contact. Study each point of contact. Then improve each onesignificantly. 27. Be committed to your marketing program and remember it is a conservative investment. Don’t expect overnight miracles. 28. Focus on flexibility. Small businesses can win and keep business by getting close and personal with its clients. This makes word-ofmouth and referral systems all the more powerful. 29. Devote 15-25% of your working hours to marketing and selling – even when you are busy. If you don’t have time to market while serving your customers/clients, then it is time to expand your services by hiring an assistant or getting some help from a subcontractor. 30. Make doing business with your company easy. Be willing to answer questions and advice to prospects and customers even if it doesn’t directly or immediately benefit you. Follow up on sales requests, orders and inquiries. Keep customers informed on the status of the order. Educate and thank customers. 31. Promote your successes. Use testimonials from satisfied customers in your presentations, advertisements, direct mail campaigns and web site. This is so easy, but so often overlooked. Using letters from people who have used your service or product and experienced benefits is a powerful method for gaining trust. 32. Subscribe to industry magazines and become a member of your industry’s trade association. This keeps you up with changing events, players and trends in your industry. 33. Join organizations that can help you. Talking to people in your industry can give you a good idea of what to try and not try in business promotion.
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34. If your competitor is offering 50% off over a four day weekend and you can’t afford the extra inventory or the mark-down for that long, try offering a better deal for a shorter time. (60% discount on Saturday only). 35. Track your clients’ special needs. Create a form to keep track of clients’ requests for special services and products and whether you can meet these requests. By studying these forms, you can track interest in new products or services that you should offer. 36. Make sure your clients can reach you. Print your company name, address, fax and email on all materials including packing slips and invoices. Customers who have to search for your number may come across your competitor’s number first. 37. Offer seminars to attract prospects and choose a topic with broad appeal among your client and prospect base. 38. Rate your customers. Assign customers a category based on several criteria: profitability, time spent handling orders, special requests, etc… You may realize your biggest customers aren’t your most profitable. Inform all employees who the most profitable customers are and who should receive the best efforts of the company. 39. Use smaller ads more frequently. Most people, even those who are likely candidates for your products, typically don’t respond to ads the first time they see them. GETTING PUBLICITY 40. Submit press releases. Press releases are a very cost-effective way to get your message out to many people … for free. While you can submit your press releases to a wide variety of publications, keep in mind that the newspapers are looking for a “news hook” something of specific interest to their readers. 41. When news of your business is published be sure to send a copy to any trade organization you belong to so they can include the news in their magazine or newsletter. This includes Chamber newsletters as well! Likewise, get permission to reprint from the newspaper and use it in your direct mail campaigns, web site and so on. 42. Sponsor teams, community events and organizations to increase exposure and ride coattails of positive news stories generated from these people and organizations. 43. Offer to be a speaker. Business and service organizations are always looking for speakers for their meetings. May yourself available by
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contacting these groups and offering to talk about your area of expertise. 44. Donate your product or service to a worthy charity. Creating an image associating your firm with worthy endeavors is good business. 45. Write articles for your trade organization, so that your prospects see your name and ideas. Comment on what important people in the field are saying; interpret general news and talk about how it will impact your clients; develop and report on surveys you conduct; and provide articles of informational value with a lead to request additional information. 46. Create media coverage by generating “real” news. Figure out what information would be of real value to a select group of readers. 47. Write controversial letters to the editor. Over time, your prospects might notice that your thinking must be of value as it is regularly communicated by the press. Publicity increase your value in the minds of prospects and referral sources. OTHER MARKETING TACTICS THAT WORK 48. Put more on your business card. Describe your services, benefits and/or position. 49. From the day you open your business, you should begin compiling a list of your customers. Add potential customers by recording all the business cards you get at trade shows. 50. All your company forms should carry the corporate message – invoices, order forms to customers and suppliers, sales forms, time sheets, memo pads. 51. Use your phone system to your advantage. When callers must be put on hold, play music appropriate to your business in between messages about your products or services. 52. Make yourself known to influential people. Your association with them can turn into an opportunity to work with them directly or benefit from the referrals sent your way. 53. Join one or two select professional or trade associations comprised of your prospective clients and referral sources. Be active, noticed and powerful in the association. Work your way up the power structure and contribute generously to be seen as a resource. Avoid wasting valuable time as an unnoticed member of an association.
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54. Look at every item that comes across your desk as being of potential interest to clients, prospects or your referral sources. Photocopy the item and send it to your prospect, client, etc…with a personal note discussing the item’s relevance. Keep thinking about your clients and you will prompt them to keep thinking about you. 55. Enclose two business cards in all your correspondence. This is one of your least expensive marketing/selling tools. Often people keep one business card in their Rolodex and another in their calendar. Sometimes they send the second card to someone else with a recommendation! 56. After meeting people at a social or business situation, promptly send a note expressing your pleasure in meeting them. This should not be a direct solicitation for work or referrals. 57. Ask current clients to refer potential new clients. 58. Diligently follow-up leads. About 81 percent of all sales happen on, or after the fifth contact. Your principle follow up marketing tools are, 1) direct mail; 2) email; and 3) the telephone. It’s best to try to develop a relationship of trust with your prospect by sending informational items such as special reports, CDs or videos, product samples accompanied by an offer before you make a phone call. Don’t call until your prospect has received your mailed information. 59. Believe in the product or service you sell. If you don’t believe in the quality and benefits of your product and service, your prospects won’t either. Present the benefits of your product/service with confidence and enthusiasm.
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