What marketing ideas work for small businesses? What
strategies can you use to get customers to notice you and bring you their
business? Here are 20 ideas to help you reach your target market without
spending a fortune, according to http://www.businessknowhow.com.
Marketing is the key to success in just about all
businesses. It is not unusual, in fact, for a mediocre product with great
marketing to outperform a good product that is poorly marketed. Big businesses
can dedicate a lot of money and staff to coming up with blockbuster marketing
ideas for their products. Small and medium-sized businesses can’t afford that
luxury. So what can you do to improve your marketing results?
The answer is simple: keep trying marketing methods you
haven’t tried before. Ideas are plentiful if you look for them. Pay attention
to what big corporations (as well as other small businesses) do to introduce
and promote their products, and then adapt their marketing techniques to meet
your own target clients and budget.
Here are 20 marketing ideas to consider:
Be different: Take your cue from big advertisers and brands
and find something that distinguishes you from your competitors – then promote
the difference. The difference could be your slogan, a key difference in your
product, or even a perceived difference. For instance, are the luggage products
you sell lighter? Does your environmentally friendly lawn service make lawns
greener, “naturally”?
Form strategic alliances with other businesses: Look for
businesses that reach your target market and consider ways you can work
together. Whether you actively market each other’s services, or team up to
jointly work on clients’ jobs, strategic alliances can extend your reach and
firm up your bottom line.
Segment your market and create products or develop
specialties that appeal specifically to the needs of each segment.
Expand into new markets: Sell your bakery products to local
restaurants and catering facilities as well as directly to consumers; if you
sell office services to small businesses, look into soliciting business from
bigger businesses, and federal, state or local government agencies.
Talk to your customers – ask them for feedback. Ask them
what you can do to better serve their needs. If you see a trend in what’s being
asked for, act on it.
Put your business on the web if you haven’t already done so.
Get involved in social media. Ask your customers which
social networks they participate in, and then spend a few minutes a day
participating in the one or two most customers use.
Fill out social media profiles with as much detail as you
can, being sure to include website links and products.
Use direct mail to reach your customers. Yes, it is an
old-fashioned technique in an always-on world, but it still works.
Send a card or postcard to customers to remind them when
they need to come back for a check-up, or to remind them in advance of an appointment
scheduled months in advance.
Put local keywords (the name of your city for instance) on
your web pages and in title tags to help web searchers find you.
Add share buttons to your website and encourage visitors to
use them
Send email to your customers: Plan regularly scheduled
emails providing your customers with coupons and special offers, product tips,
helpful hints for improving their business or their personal lives, or other
information that will help them remember you and visit your store or website
again. Constant contact is one email
service that makes it easy to send eye-catching emails to your customer list.
Include your telephone number in your pay-per-click ads to
make it easier for customers to call for more information or call to make a
purchase.
Make the telephone number on your website a click-to-call
link to make it easy for customers using smart phones to call you.
Advertise in weekly shoppers and the classified sections of
local weekly papers if your business is local. Look for deals for getting your
ad in both the print edition and online edition of the publication.
Give away something useful with a purchase over a certain
amount. You might give an inexpensive lint brush with clothing purchases, or a
thumb drive to new customers who hire you to make their PowerPoint presentation
look good.
Be proactive and be persistent. You didn’t learn to ride a
bicycle when you were a child by thinking about how to ride a bicycle. You went
out and tried, and tried again until you learned to balance yourself and then
gradually picked up speed. Marketing is no different. You have to keep at it
until you find what works for you. Then, if you want to continue your momentum,
you have to keep on marketing.
0 Comments