Small Business Marketing Strategies
Focus on Two Vital Concepts

Smart small business marketing strategies have more to do with common sense than with your checkbook. Two simple mandates are at the heart of successful business strategies:

Communicate effectively, and
Build relationships

If you keep those two concepts in mind, the rest will make sense — common sense.

It would be nice to stop here and call it a wrap. Unfortunately, there are two words in those concepts that prevent closure, and they are: “effectively” and “build.”

Around those two words is built the Empire of Marketing. And it is vast… and ever changing… Yet remarkably static at its core.

Think about it: Marketing is about sales, and advertising, and press releases, and customer service, and event planning, and countering negative publicity, and enhancing your business' visibility in the marketplace, and writing marketing brochures, and fund-raising materials… and on, and on…

…And it's all about communicating with target markets and drawing them into a positive relationship with you, isn't it?

Small business marketing strategies in today's world include not only Web sites and high-tech solutions, but also — and still — the most basic of all strategies: common sense.

For example, technology can change the way a product or service is “delivered” (a perfect example is the Internet), and consumer buying habits can force businesses to change the techniques they use to attract customers. But the basic marketing principles stay relatively static: Communicate and Build. You might even say, Communicate to Build.

Here are some common-sense small business marketing strategies to consider as you build your business or look at ways to improve it.

Marketing Strategy:
Communicate Effectively, Not Expensively

Let's face it, as a small business you can't possibly compete with “the big boys” and their budgets when trying to reach target markets.

The good news is: You don't have to!

Common-sense communication solutions usually cost less than most “sophisticated” (read:expensive) marketing “campaigns” and are often more effective. How can this be so?

The key lies, once again, in the word “effective.” Here's a perfect example:

If you make a Web site, you can give thousands of prospective clients plenty of good information about your product or service. You can sell its merits or uniqueness. And you can establish trust and credibility by telling the prospective customers about yourself and your business — that personal touch that so often moves people in one direction or another.

Now compare that to a Yellow Pages ad where you have to pay an exorbitant amount — each year — for a display ad that might give you the chance to say a little (very little) about your product or service. And then, if your customer area crosses over into another advertising region, you have to pay again to be listed in another book.

Display ads just cannot help you establish the kind of rapport and credibility that you could through a Web site, where the focus is just on you. In the Yellow Pages, you're lumped in side-by-side with your competition!

Which is more effective?

Now, that's not to say that you should cancel your Yellow Pages ad tomorrow. Some people still rely on those to make their business selections. For now, the Yellow Pages are still a fact of life, but that's changing too, as the search engines start offering local searches (see the next Marketing Strategy to find out more).

But what if you were to do a small Yellow Pages ad that points people (and gives them an incentive) to check out your Web site? Now you've got them invested in finding out about you.

If you're doing marketing on a shoestring, you must make your marketing choices wisely because you have little margin for trial and error. See Marketing Ideas Advisor's Home Page for criteria on choosing the right (most effective) marketing idea. You'll see examples of how to squeeze the most out of a single marketing idea to get maximum results.

Here's an example of a businessman who looked at his marketing activities and decided that they weren't really effective. He was wasting money. So he targeted his market more closely and tried a different approach:

An interior/exterior house painter ran ads in the Yellow Pages (along with 5 other pages of painters). He also had weekly ads in the local paper, but he got little response from either.

He hit on the idea of demonstrating faux- and rag-painting techniques at the community center of a 55+ subdivision. He paid $40 for a full-page ad in their monthly newsletter.

Knowing that the senior crowd is wary and exacting, his ad featured a testimonial from a satisfied senior customer (with her photo), along with an offer to provide additional references.

But his big splash was a giveaway: a drawing for a free, small room, wall makeover for one lucky participant at his demonstration. Nearly 50 people showed up, seven became new customers in three months following the demonstration, and he sold $300 in supplies that night for the do-it-yourselfers.

Effective? Oh, yes! Expensive? Not at all. He already had the supplies and did the free bathroom in an afternoon. He also got a bonus: a contract from the winner to do another room.

Think outside the box when evaluating your marketing activities for effectiveness.

Explore this site fully. You'll see plenty more small business marketing strategies on every link — like how to make advertising work for you, how to enhance your business image or how to make a Web site that works for you. And, speaking of Web sites…

Marketing Strategy:
Use the Power of the Internet

Don't think you need a Web site? Or have a Web site that's not getting you the results you want?

Don't dismiss the power of an effective Web site for any — yes, any — small business. The Internet is growing up. Its next evolutionary stage involves you, so listen up:

Some major search engines are going local. That means that your target markets — including the locals — will be able to search for you, not only by type of business, but by location. Don't let them get to your competition first.

And search engines are also getting more sophisticated in their ranking techniques, giving prime spots to sites that meet their criteria.

If you have a site that's languishing, you may need an overhaul so that your Web site draws traffic — and profits — to you.

Hand clutching moeny coming out of a computer screen

Check out our Create a Profitable Internet Business page to learn what makes an effective Web site these days — one that'll rank high with the search engines and satisfy your visitors by giving them what they're looking for. Building a Web site that gets results is getting to be an art form. Be among the sites that make the grade.

Marketing Strategy:
Don't Just Sell — Build Relationships

All the small business marketing strategies that you've ever read or heard about will be next to useless if you ring up a sale, provide a service, or ask for a donation and never use that opportunity to build a relationship.

Long-lasting business relationships are the building blocks to your success — whether those relationships are with customers, vendors, donors or your business “neighbors.”

Remember: You're not just selling books. You're not just selling a pet grooming service. You're not just selling the idea that you're a cause worthy of a donation. And you're not just selling the notion that they will have fun at your event.

You are selling them yourself… because people tend to do business with someone they know, like and trust.

Once they trust you to sell them books at a fair price, to do a good job on fussy Fido's clipping, to use donations appropriately, or to entertain them sufficiently at your event, then you've got the potential for a relationship.

So, what's so important about relationships? Read on.

Marketing Strategy:
Build Them… and They Will Come

When you build relationships, you build the foundation of your business success on the customer-for-life concept. It's how you keep them coming back for more.

In business, there's a well-known 80/20 principle that says: 80% of a business' revenue comes from 20% of its customers. That means repeat sales make up the bulk of the bucks. Moral?

Focus most of your efforts on current customers.

This is good news. It means you don't have to work as hard to keep introducing new clients to your business. Yes, you have to keep adding new ones to the mix, but most of your marketing efforts should be aimed at maintaining those already convinced of the value of your product or service.

How do you do that?

Marketing Strategy:
Think of Every Customer as a Date

Building business relationships is no different from personal relationships that you want to encourage: you keep in touch. One of the smartest small business marketing strategies you can employ is to do the same.

Remember: your current customers are the people who are already interested in you (that is, your product or service). Tap them — regularly.

Don't drop out of their consciousness, hoping they'll return of their own accord. They may or may not.

Keep them interested in you by offering them “gifts,” such as coupons or customer appreciation discounts. One store launches their Christmas season by inviting their frequent customers to a special Sip (wine) and Shop (special discounts) Reception.
Engage new customers by offering incentives for them to come back. Offer a discount coupon in return for their email and/or postal addresses.
Keep them in the loop — send them a free newsletter or e-zine (online newsletter) giving information about changing trends in your industry, new products that complement the product or service they just bought, other uses for the product, etc. Maintain the relationship. These customers are your lifeline — and they will bring in others.

Marketing Strategy: Create a Customer Database

If you can't reach them (your customers — or your date ), you can't entice them back very effectively. All you can do is hope that they get your signals (ads, sale signs, etc.) and that they return.

Turn “Good-bye. Hope to see you soon” into “Hello. Nice to see you again.” Start collecting their personal information for your database. (Usually, an email and/or postal address is sufficient. Some businesses ask for a birthday month and date to send special greetings and coupons.) They're more likely to give it to you if you assure them that:

Their information will not be shared with, or sold to, third parties.
They will benefit in some way: discount coupons, special offers, updated information about the product or compatible products, announcements of special events, etc.
You will not clog their email or snail-mail box inappropriately.
They can call or email to opt out at any time, and their name will be removed (and then do it promptly.)

If the products or services you provide lend themselves to updated information, send them a free e-zine or newsletter loaded with good tips. If you've remodeled, send them an invitation (that doubles as a coupon) to a Grand Reopening as an appreciation gesture. Give them reasons to come back — and to refer new customers to you.

Marketing Strategy: Grab a Partner

A great way to build relationships and get to your target markets more effectively is to align yourself with other businesses. (It's that “strength in numbers” thing.) But, just as in selecting a marketing idea that's a good fit for your organization (see our Home Page for more info on choosing the right marketing ideas), partner up with a complementary business. Here's an example:

Trippin Travel Agency aligned itself with The Pack Rack, a luggage business a couple of miles away. Trippin gave away Pack Rack's 30% off coupon to anyone who walked into their travel agency. Pack Rack, in turn, displayed Trippin's travel posters on their walls and had a small display rack on their counter for Trippin's brochures. Each of these also aligned themselves with a nearby photo studio that shoots passport photos.

You get the idea: joining forces strengthens your sphere of possibilities — and referrals. That includes joining local civic organizations, business or networking groups, professional organizations, etc.

Marketing Strategy: Plan Your Moves Carefully

For small businesses, Planning (with a capital P) is crucial. With a solid Marketing Plan as your foundation, you stay on course so you don't waste your time and money doing marketing “things” versus doing the right things. You won't allow distractions to pull you in a different marketing direction without reviewing its worth in relation to what's already in your thoroughly thought-out Plan of Action.

A Plan does not tie you down. It is flexible. In fact, a Marketing Plan will only work effectively if you revisit it regularly. That means, you will:

Review your product or service and update, revise or replace it if necessary.
Drop non-revenue-producing products or services.
Add new ones or expand on your money makers.
Measure the results of your marketing activities to see if they're still effective.
Drop what's not getting you results.
Add new activities that are a fit with your organization.

Planning is at the core of small business marketing strategies. See FREE Simplified plans and also Comprehensive Marketing Plan Samples arranged by business type. You'll get an idea of how to prepare for success instead of “winging” it.

Marketing Strategy: Hook Your Prospect

You and your fellow business owners are trolling for customers. Is your lure the one that will hook them? If you have a one-of-a-kind product or service, you're a lucky person: you have a built-in hook. Most of us are bobbin' along, just trying to keep ahead of the competition.

Your “allure” is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). It's that “something” that makes you different — and you must have one.

Your USP doesn't have to be costly. You don't have to expand 12,000 feet and triple your inventory. It could be that you're the only gift and card shop for miles around that also carries fresh-cut flowers, or that your bakery shop has online ordering options.

Here's a great example of a neighborhood hardware store whose “ace” in the hole was their USP (opens in new window). They used it to help increase sales 14% one year in a business that's dominated by giants such as Home Depot® and Lowe's®. You'll be surprised at how little it takes sometimes to get customers to walk through your doors instead of your competition's.

Marketing Strategy: Keep Paddling

What do you do after you've executed a successful marketing idea, reeled in some new and current customers — and even snagged their information for your database? Don't stop! Keep going.

One of the most effective small business marketing strategies that'll help keep awareness in the public's mind is to do several publicity activities at the same time — or very close to each other. This reinforces your message and makes it stick.

Repetition = Recognition = Results

Without making a nuisance of yourself with your customers or potential customers, find a way to stay connected through regular — and appropriate — contact.

Let's say you're a dentist. Your USP is that you offer “sedation and pain-free dentistry” for those really, really faint of heart. You run weekly advertising in the Lifestyles section of the local newspaper, but you don't stop there:

You send out information via an e-zine (electronic newsletter) to patients in your database about the newest techniques in dental laser surgery, which can reduce or eliminate the need for sedation in many patients. The newsletter also announces this month's winner of the referral contest, and there's a kids' section with a simple word puzzle and a short blurb about the latest trend in braces.
Your postcard reminds patients to call for their six-month check up.
Your staff follows up with patients who haven't responded to the postcard.
Your publicity activities include a press release that announces the new dental laser that will benefit patients who must usually be sedated.
You provide free, basic dental check ups at the local homeless shelter.

You get the idea: Building awareness of your business works when you are in front of customers and potentials — often.

Marketing Strategy: Have a Heart

Let's back up to that dentist and look at his volunteer service at the homeless shelter.

Small business marketing strategies usually involve “things of the head,” like thinking of ways to stay ahead of the competition, pricing your product to sell, designing a search-engine-friendly Web site, etc.

But your business is part of the community — whether you work in a building or in cyberspace. As such, you should also consider “things of the heart.”

This is one of those small business marketing strategies that is often overlooked, yet very effective. It's been shown to bring in new business, and it certainly enhances community perception that you're a good “corporate” citizen. And the best part is — it usually doesn't cost you anything!

Read this article (opens in new window) about the power of giving back. It's good business.

Marketing Strategy: Build Slowly, Steadily and Solidly

Your business ethic is your strong foundation. Be fair and honest in all your dealings. No tricks on the return policy. Stand by your product — offer 100% guarantee whenever appropriate. Do what you say you're going to do. Show up on time for appointments. Rectify mistakes.

Nonprofits asking for donations must be ethical in business operations. Nothing ruins trust faster than a “tiny discrepancy” or a practice that's “generally accepted” but could be distasteful to donors if made public. Squeaky clean. No exceptions.

You simply can't build a successful business that can stand — or withstand — the test of time “on the cheap” or by shortchanging your clients. Here's what can happen:

A TV station in a metropolitan market runs a “Hall of Shame” segment, featuring businesses that used unethical or even illegal tactics with customers. Another features restaurants whose cleanliness is called to task in “Dirty Dining.” Yikes! Could your business survive such negative publicity? Don't take that chance.

Keep vigilant. If you've developed a USP, and you've got a good thing going, you're only halfway there. Now, look over your shoulder: there's your competition, watching, thinking about how to improve on your product, service or delivery. Don't lose ground. Brainstorm new marketing ideas constantly. Marketing is a forever thing, so build slowly, steadily and solidly.

For your convenience, here are links to some of Marketing Ideas Advisor's other pages for even more strategies and tips for building a successful and profitable business.

Marketing Ideas Advisor Home Page
Focusing on the selection of the right marketing ideas for your business or organization, this page lays the groundwork for smart strategies, along with many ideas and examples that Make It Real for small businesses and self-marketers.

Marketing Plan Samples
Free samples of Marketing Plans for a wide variety of businesses. Learn how a good Marketing Plan can be the magic bullet to your business success. Also see three simplified plans that any business can do easily.

Create a Profitable Internet Business
To make a Web site that gets you results, it must draw targeted traffic, satisfy the searcher's need for information and meet search engine criteria for a high ranking. Find out how the Four-Step Process can do all that.

Small Business Marketing Tips
Don't abandon these foundational marketing principles for more "sophisticated" or costlier solutions. They have withstood the test of time.

Free Courses and Learning Tools
Take advantage of these FREE downloadable courses and learning tools to: Explore Internet business opportunities; find out how to price your product to sell; learn to write Web copy that sells; create and sell your own InfoProduct (e-book) online, and much more.

Coming soon:

Don't Pay for Publicity — Get It Free!
Do you have a small advertising budget but big publicity needs? The answer to good visibility in the marketplace is not simply advertising or an occasional press release. Learn to tap your creativity — not your checkbook — and you'll: