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Small Business Marketing on a Low Budget
Marketing is everything you do to promote your business. With a low budget your investments need to be time, energy and imagination. Good marketing must focus on the buying process. How clear is your offer? How clear is the price? How easy is it to buy from you? Use these hints and tips to plan your marketing activity week in week out. Focus: You can't have all the customers so decide which ones you want. Describe the type of customer who is most likely to want or need your product. This will help you to target the right people. Think about your customer and ask yourself, "if I was the customer: What would it take to get my attention? What promises would I want fulfilled?"
Speed dating: Develop a 30 second statement that promotes your business. Two questions to answer: Who are you? Why should I care?
Know your competition: Identify what extra services you could offer. Consider becoming a customer of your competitors to see how they treat you and see how you can improve on their services.
Snatch File: Create a file of leaflets, flyers, adverts, brochures and sales letters that have been sent to you. These can give you ideas for your own business. Don't copy them but adapt them to improve them. Look outside your industry.
Ask: Customers what they want and then give it to them. Ask for feedback on your performance, things that could be improved.
Thank: Customers like to be appreciated so say thank you for their businesses. Letters, telephone calls small gifts can all play a part.
Customer names and addresses: Keep records and classify customers by category. Base on profitability, or turnover etc.
Position: Who are you? What business are you in? What people do you serve? : What are the special needs of the people you serve? With whom are you competing? What makes you different from those competitors? What unique benefit does a customer derive from your service?
Power words in copy: You and I are better than we and us! Avoid jargon, avoid cliches and use simple words that everyone understands. Words should appeal to emotions: Save, Free, Love, New, Easy, Discover, Proven.
Points of contact: Study every point at which your company makes contact with customers or prospects. Ask "What are we doing to make a great impression at every point?" Set out to improve each one significantly.
Keep in touch: Newsletters are very effective ways of reminding customers of your presence, and promoting new products and services.
PR: Don't miss out on the value of PR. Write your own press releases and send it your local papers and business magazines. Can you create a survey and use it to create PR?
Test, monitor, measure, and modify: Learn from the past. Monitor what worked and what didn't? Ask yourself why? Establish benchmarks for success. Test new ideas on a small scale first.
Word of mouth: Encourage recommendations and use testimonials in your marketing.
Consistent, committed: Commit the time and effort to plant the seeds. Messages must be repeated to be remembered.
How long until marketing works?
Marketing is not an event it is a process and is never ending. It has a beginning middle but never an end for it is a process. You improve it, change it, or even pause it but you never stop completely. Maintaining your marketing takes the most time. You spend some time developing and inaugurating it but you spend the life of your business maintaining, monitoring and improving your attack. Never take anything for granted or stop because your marketing is working. Don't forget your competitors are out there watching you and trying to surpass you in the marketing arena.
Gareth Morgan GAP Management Ltd
Gareth Morgan heads GAP Management Ltd. He has a wealth of commercial and business experience and a practical approach that enables him to add real value and benefits to his clients. As head of GAP Management Ltd he has been associated with many start up successes and the on-going development of established businesses
Use GAP Management to help you use ideas and strategies to attract new customers, generate more sales from existing customers, and to increase sales and profits.
Call Gareth Morgan 01226 290288 or email
gareth@gapmanagement.co.uk
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