Marketing for a small business is often different than marketing for a medium to larger sized business. The main reason for this is we do not normally have a lot of money put aside from what we earn when we are marketing for a small business.
I call a small business any business that has less than 25 employees, but the definition of a small business from country to country can change quite a bit. In some cases as high as 1500 employees. Normally these numbers are based on taxation methods used by a country more so than anything else.
The most important thing you need to know about marketing for a small business is paying attention to every type and method of marketing you are using. This means you need to track absolutely everything. Without tracking you have no idea what method is working and what methods are not working in your marketing, and you could very well be throwing away hard earned money that could be pushing your business to stardom if you were only tracking.
Now that you are tracking what are you going to do? If you try a marketing method then you need to give it a good try. Everything I have ever done I have always tried for six to twelve months. During that period I would track, test, tweak, and continue. If after six months or so you are finding you are not getting the results you need to succeed then move on.
One more thing about testing and tracking. If you are in an industry that is consumable in some way or another then your marketing efforts can be a little more costly to get a single client. The more often you will see your new client over the course of a year the higher you can spend as a percentage of their first visit. For instance if you have a business where the average client spends $500 per visit and you see those clients an average of 4 times per year then you can still be very profitable by spending $500 to get just one client.
This is called the lifetime value of a client. Take that same amount that you average with each client and multiply that by the number of times you will see them each year and then multiply that by how many years you will see them for. Some clients you might see for 1 year and some for 20 years. You may have to be in business for 4 to 5 years before you have a good idea, but start to keep this in mind for the future.
Now to Get Some Clients
Once you fully understand the above procedures then you can start to create marketing campaigns for your small business. If you are a new business or you have little to no money for your marketing campaigns then you might have to start doing some leg work and getting out and meeting as many people as you can. There are many networking clubs out there that charge very little or are free.
Join the Chamber of Commerce, BNI, or a group on meetup.com to start networking today.
Another great way to get clients for little to no money is through cold calling. This works best if you are able to work with a business that will give you new business on an ongoing basis. Like an electrical company starting to work for a home builder. This will work directly with homeowners, but you need to be careful with any telemarketing laws in your area.
Marketing for a Small Business with Postcards and Coupon Books
Both of these methods will work as long as you create a great piece. To create a great piece you need to have an attention grabbing headline that will lead the reader through the advertisement down to the offer. Then you must have an offer that will cause your reader to take action, in fact not just action but immediate action. To do this you need to create an offer that is limited in some way. I have had success with limited offers such as the first 25, or only until Dec 24, or even something as ambiguous as only while quantities last. Whatever the case you need to do something that is taking the deal away from the reader at some point.
Now that we have the internet you can take your coupon book and postcard advertising a step further by having people visit your website to learn about the deals of the month or other method of having sales and specials. This way if someone sees your postcard but does not need your services or products at this point they can go to your website join your newsletter and use your services in the future.
Marketing For A Small Business with Direct Mail
Direct mail is very similar to coupon books except that direct mail is much more targeted. When creating a direct mail campaign for your small business you will want to use a list of potential clients. To get a list you have a few options. You can joint venture with someone that has a list of clients that is in a comparable but non competitive industry.
With this type of joint venture you have three options. To keep track of the people on the list that become clients and pay a percentage of the sale back to the other party, or you can pay the other party for use of the list. If there is 1000 names on the list you can pay anywhere between $100 to $1000 for a one time use. The third option only works if you have a list of your own. For instance if you have a list of 1000 names you can trade with someone else for their list of 1000 names. If that person only has 800 names then you just give a portion of your list to them.
Another types of joint venture is not really a joint venture but is more of a pay per sale. You can mail your list of names a referral or word of mouth program that you are creating. Give each of your clients 10 coupons that are worth 10% off your services. They hand out these 10 coupons after writing their name on the back and when you get the coupon you give your client 10% of the sale from the new client. Or whatever numbers will work for you. Another way you can do this is by giving away a prize of some sort for anyone that gives you the full ten referrals. Or you can give another prize for whoever gives the most referrals but everybody gets something for giving you 10 referrals. The doors are wide open on this method of gaining new business and everybody loves to play little games.
There are many other types of marketing for a small business and you will find these other ideas throughout the pages of this website.
Thanks,
Kelly