Tag Archives: small business marketing

5 Ways to Stretch Your Marketing Budget

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stretch marketing budget

Yesterday’s post touched on low cost marketing tactics to extend your budget (and your marketing campaign).  Here are five more ways to stretch your marketing budget, build partnerships, extend your business’s reach, and  earn more money.

1) Partner with a complementary business.

I’m a copywriter and a small business marketer, but I have relationships with graphic designers, web developers, and video producers that allow me to offer additional services.

Plus, we can refer business to each other.  If you specialize in exhibit design, partner with a video producer.  Both of you focus on trade shows and events, but you don’t compete.

2) Content marketing. This is the hot “latest” buzzword now, but it’s not really new. Writing on your own site is important, but you need to expand your reach and get in front of more potential clients.

Have guest posts on your blog, or guest articles in your newsletter.  Approach other bloggers and request a guest post (make sure your article is appropriate and relevant to the topic of the blog).

Post answers to common client questions on social media, Google+, and don’t forget industry blogs and forums.  Don’t just post your own material, share others’ posts too. If you see a question you can answer, do that in the comments.  It often encourages people to follow your account, building your following and extending your reach.

3) Ask permission, even if you don’t have to.  When I started my newsletter, I put together a free marketing guide with expert advice from business and marketing experts.  They had given permission to reprint the articles (with attribution), but I thought it was polite to contact them and let them know.

Several offered to promote the newsletter and the guide in their own, established newsletters, which got mine off to a good start!

4) Share your ideas.  Got more ideas than you can execute?  Partner with someone else.  Feed them the ideas, let them implement them, and share the income.  Just make sure you set out the terms of the agreement clearly, on paper, and in advance.

5) Create a referral network page.  Add your partners’ logos to  your Web site, or set up a special web page with information about their services.  Use the page to refer business to each other, and to extend your reach. With more services (through your partners)  you’ll look bigger and can get more business.

If that’s not enough, here are 27 free marketing ideas that won’t cost you a penny.

Can a Business be Vain?

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Many years ago, Bell Atlantic yellow pages ran a series of ads putting humorous twists on otherwise ordinary businesses and services. The ad for “Civil Engineers” featured burly men in striped overalls and train engineer caps sitting daintily on chintz couches, sipping tea and being elaborately polite to each other.

Another ad for “vanity cases” had a woman chattering on and on about her job, her house, her car and then saying, “enough about me, what do you think of my dress?” It’s funny and memorable, but there’s also an important marketing lesson.

Like the woman in the vanity case ad, many companies fall into the trap of talking about themselves too much. Or, they describe their businesses in ways that are so general that they’re meaningless.

To stand out, you have to well, stand out. Saying that your products are “the highest quality” or that you “offer the most creative ideas on the planet”, won’t do. Instead, say something that makes you different and special.

Frame your pitch in terms that address your customers’ problems (and your solutions). What’s their headache, and what kind of painkiller do you have?

Set aside “what” (trade show exhibits, furniture store, packing and shipping supplies) and focus on “why”. Why you?

Because your customers get 18% more leads; your furniture company guarantees delivery in 5 days; or your specially constructed packing materials are 37% lighter and save customers 15% on shipping costs.

If you build exhibits for trade shows, emphasize the special construction that allows your customers to set up or break down your exhibits in only 10 minutes.

Or, what if you were a publisher who bundled paper and electronic versions of your books together for only $3 more than the hardcover version alone. It’s a good way to get an incremental sale (only $3 extra for two books instead of one), and it adds value (the second book is practically free). Practically free books?! Where do I sign up?

How do you stand out? Share what you’re doing here.

Photo:
not so good photography

Are You a Purple Cow or a Brown Cow?

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purple cow“Chrysler offering up to $6K in rebates”

“$1,000 cash back on GM cars”

“0% Financing”

The US car companies are in deep trouble; and they’re trying to get out of it using the same tactics they’ve always used. Someone once said that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is a good definition of insanity.

Their marketing is broken.

If your business is floundering, and the old model doesn’t work, why not try something different?

Where’s the green/biodegradable/100% recyclable car?

Or, the car that’s so easy to maintain, anyone can do it with a few simple tools.

What about the car company that promises its certified mechanics will fix whatever is wrong with your car – or it’s free.

Or the company that let you order options separately (instead of a package).

Why not ask buyers what features they want most? And then sell cars with those features only? Or enable greater customization?

How about dealers that build relationships with buyers by sending birthday cards., or a mechanic that sends flowers after a big bill.

Or, a newsletter with car maintenance tips and reminders to come in for service.

Even if you’re not a car company, you can (and should) stand out. Be the shoe company that gives away a pair of shoes for each pair purchased. Or, the computer company that sends its own, certified tech to fix your computer when it breaks (for free). How about the furniture company that delivers in 5 days (and lets you choose the time)?

Be remarkable (not boring) and people will talk about you.

Photo: heiwa4126

How to Get Groupies (Even If You’re Not a Rock Star)

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rock concert

Rock star fans will travel miles to see their favorite band. They’ll wait in line for hours, in the cold, the rain, and snow, hoping for tickets. They’ll collect posters, share favorite songs (sing the lyrics), and memorize every word of the lyrics. Before the Web, there were liner notes. Now, there’s official web sites, twitter streams, and fan pages.

You may not be a rock star, but you can still have enthusiastic followers. Here’s how:

  • Offer additional formats for a small additional charge.
  • Collect information about what your customers want/need and develop new products/services based on their answers. You can do this for free with surveymonkey.
  • At a trade show, ask prospects to fill out a questionnaire (in order to gain permission to talk to them). Offer a prize as a reward. You’ll get better leads, plus information you can use to target your promotions.
  • Email customers when a new product or service arrives that’s relevant to their problem or interests. What if your favorite bookstore emailed (or tweeted) when the latest mystery by your favorite author arrived?
  • Use your newsletter to conduct polls, give tips on how to use your product, and direct customers to complementary products.
Photo: anirud hkoul

What do Landing Pages Have in Common with Grade School?

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classroom
Remember back in school when the teacher assigned homework on current events? First you had to find a story, then you had to play reporter. You always had to talk about WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW, and WHY.

Well, landing pages are like that too. In case you’re not familiar with them, a landing page is a Web page set up as part of a promotional campaign. You develop them as a arrival point for different products and services based on keyword searches, email campaigns, TV, or even print.

What does this have to do with current events homework? The landing page has to follow a similar format.

WHO: Who are your customers (seniors, teenagers, business owners, moms, VPs of Marketing)?

WHAT: What are you selling, and what do you want people to do once they reach your page?

WHEN: Is the offer limited? Must they act now? Or is it “evergreen”?

WHERE: Where should visitors go on your page? Is it clear?

HOW: How do they respond or order? Click on a button? Call?

WHY: Why should people buy from you? What problem do they have? How do you solve it?

Focus on one thing only. Don’t try to sell four or five things on the same landing page. If you want to promote five products, make a separate page for each one. Make the call to action (click here, buy here) clear and big and obvious.

I saw a landing page for a summer camp recently that looked like a calendar. It listed several different sports (basketball, baseball, etc.) and the dates, but had no information on why anyone would want to send their child there. There were no clear buttons to sign-up or get more information.

The page had too much text and not enough pictures. If you operate a summer camp, have different pages for each sport. Show pictures of happy children playing. Paint a picture in words of the fun the children will have.

Organize the site for the buyer, not for yourself. Include separate menu bars for each audience. Use emotions, make them see the product. If you sell fruit, don’t say we have apples, pears, oranges, etc. Say, “these ripe, juicy Bartlett pears are so sweet and delicious you’ll need a napkin handy to wipe your chin.” See the difference?

Now go do your homework.