We”™ve had an ongoing marketing program for over a year but we still need to blitz the market over and over again to let them know we”™re here. It”™s tiresome. Any thoughts?
Most small-business owners come from the place of, “If you build it, they will come.” That”™s because most small-business owners, particularly first-generation owners, are already in touch with what”™s great about what they do. They forget, or overlook, the fact that the rest of us may need a little education to catch up with their view of how great their product or service can be.
Educating the marketplace is what marketing is all about. It takes constant reminders of where to find what we need, so we see it when we need it. Multiple modalities help get through to more potential buyers. Persistence, perseverance, testing and payoff analysis are all words to be familiar with when thinking through a marketing program.
Answer these questions to focus your efforts. Why do they need you? How does what you do make their world better? Why should they choose you over some other option? Why should they let you know who they are, so you can educate them further about what it is you can do for them?
Remember, potential buyers are busy, all day, every day. There”™s much going on and it”™s hard to pay attention. And it”™s hard to remember where they saw something a few weeks ago when they weren”™t really paying attention.
It”™s all about being in front of a buyer exactly when they”™re looking for you.
Be resourceful
One way to beat the odds is to be everywhere, all the time. Make it impossible to miss you when they”™re ready to buy.
In the old, pre-Internet days being everywhere could get expensive. Ads on radio and TV and in newspapers and magazines, developing and printing literature, snail-mail campaigns and telemarketing banks all cost a lot of money. That is why most small businesses didn”™t go as far as they could with marketing. They didn”™t have the resources to play with the big guns. Much of that has changed.
Today, the expensive part is the upfront work. Develop a recognizable, unique brand and an overall message of “why buy” for your target market. Once you have these in hand, you”™re ready to distribute in all kinds of channels, many of which cost you little to nothing to enter.
The bottom line is that in order to have a growing, thriving company you do need to constantly remind your target market that you”™re out there. Use the tools available in today”™s social media to cover more ground, faster and cheaper.
Form groups. Put current, satisfied customers front and center, sharing advice and ideas on how to use your products or services. Linked-In is a perfect place to search for like-minded people. YouTube is a perfect place to display customer experiences.
Test all efforts
If you can afford them, use traditional marketing tools such as snail mail, advertising and telemarketing to reach more potential buyers and point them to groups where they can get useful information. Build buzz and test interest by inviting like-minded people to join a community that is focused on their interests.
Be constantly present without being annoying by offering useful information. Make it more substantive than teasers. Build trust by telling people what you”™re going to do and then do it. Offer your target market something specific every Tuesday morning and then train them to look for it.
Implement small changes rather than radical overhaul. For example, we found that tweaking a few words in an ad produced a major increase in lead generation. Had we changed the entire ad, we would never have known if it was the look of the ad, the new placement or the wording that was working. Instead, by trying one change at a time we found we were in the right location with a look that worked and all we needed was a few different words to get our target buyer to bond with us.
Looking for a good book? Try “Multichannel Marketing: Metrics and Methods for On and Offline Success” by Akin Arikan.
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., www.StrategyLeaders.com, a business consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. Questions may be emailed to her at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com or mailed to Andi Gray, Strategy Leaders Inc., 5 Crossways, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Phone: 877-238-3535. Visit www.AskAndi.com for archived Ask Andi articles.
