Marketing on a Shoestring Budget - October 2013

transcript

Marke&ng on a Shoestring Budget

What We’ll Cover Today

1. How to develop clear brand messages

2. How to do the tradi&onal basics

3. How to leverage your exis&ng customers

4. How to use social media

5. How to be more strategic with everything

Think about your brand. Get beyond the services list.

Define your brand identity. Get beyond your services list to what makes you different – an elevator

pitch could capture this.

World’s Best Elevator Pitch I'm Mike Wolfe. And I'm Frank Fritz. And we're pickers. We travel the back roads of America looking to buy rusty gold. We're looking for amazing things buried in people's garages and barns. What most people see as junk, we see as dollar signs. We'll buy "anything" we think we can make a buck on. Each item we pick has a history all its own and the people we meet? Well, they're a breed all their own. We make a living telling the history of America...one piece at a time.

Spy on your competitors: What do they say about themselves?

How are you different?

Know your goals.

Expand into a new market

Grow your customer base

Promote a new service

Sample goals

Identify & prioritize your target markets

They can look very different and need different marketing approaches and messages to reach effectively. Good marketing is not one size fits all.

Adjust your message for each market

Write your key messages for each target group

  RULE: People don’t read   Bullet lists, not paragraphs   Include brand differen6ators  Incorporate your elevator pitch messages

Paid marketing won’t work if you haven’t clearly spelled out why people

should consider your company.

Define different targets and have customized messages for each.

Developing clear brand messages SECTION REVIEW

Your website should be your top priority.

Have a professional website  This will serve as the central hub providing the

most complete information about your company and directing people to social media channels.

 Does your website convey your brand and messaging?

 Is the information current and accurate?

 Is it on par with or better than your competitors in terms of design and quality of content?

Look at what your competitors are including on their websites

Make sure your website clearly and completely presents brand

messages and services  Don’t let your uncle’s neighbor’s son’s

girlfriend do it – you have options!  Ad Agencies/Web Development

companies/Freelancers (will they be there for you after it is built?)

 You!

Shoestring budget? Build your own website

 Benefit: low cost and can include applications like photo galleries

 Drawback: depends on your time and writing skills, cookie-cutter design

Make your site Mobile friendly Building a site with Responsive Design is now an option - or build a separate mobile website that can detect access by mobile phones

Create a professional handout

 People don’t read

 Business cards or rack cards may be enough if you have a good website – primary purpose of many print materials today is to drive to web or social media

  Include testimonials, if room permits

 Use low cost VistaPrint.com templates

Hundreds of designs by industry

Send out Press Releases

  Search “How to write a press release” online

  Has to be newsworthy – launch new products, announce events, new staff, new account, big project, awards

  A few times per year, if you are lucky

What can you talk about?   Company announcements   New customers or completed projects   New staff or staff stories   Awards or achievements   Customer stories   Related business or community news   Unsure? look at what others in your industry

are doing

Network! Network! Network!

The 3 Rules of Networking Don’t heavy sell

It is like dating - ask questions about them! (But watch for openings to share info about yourself and your business)

Don’t worry about how many people you talk to, just make sure they are good conversations

Speaking engagements bring great visibility

Low cost ways to get in the newspaper or publications

  Story ideas   Build relationships with reporters   Submit press releases to AL.com   Some papers allow you to submit event

photos or community service project photos (Decatur Daily: Happenings column every Thursday)

Other low cost ideas

  Sponsorships and trades   Community service publicity   Door prizes at conferences

Have a professional website and a professional handout:

Drive traffic and awareness through Networking, press releases, and

speaking engagements

Doing the traditional basics SECTION REVIEW

It costs

to get a new customer vs. keep an existing

2% 10%

Customer Reten&on Costs

Customer profitability tends to increase over the life of a retained customer

Make your existing customers feel special  Quarterly phone calls or

e-newsletters

 Welcome notes, thank you notes, holiday cards

 Purchase level recognition with gifts

 Customer of the quarter gift cards

Ask for Referrals

Ask for testimonials

E-newsletters are a GREAT way to stay in front of existing customers

Keep in touch with them – regularly!

Get more leads by asking for referrals

Generate leads and close more business by asking for and using

testimonials

Leveraging your existing customers SECTION REVIEW

What are your top options?

What can you talk about?   Company announcements   Events   New customers, products, or completed projects   New staff or staff stories   Awards or achievements   Customer stories   Related business or community news   Unsure? look at what others in your industry

are doing

It is about ENGAGEMENT (and SEO)

DID YOU HEAR?

AWESOME!

Cross share content (and have your employees share too) to make it all work!

Case Study #1:

  How a retailer is driving sales with in-store events marketed through: •  Facebook •  Facebook Advertising •  YouTube •  E-Newsletters •  Blog

Case Study #2:

  How Red Sage does SEO and builds top of mind awareness with: •  Facebook •  Blog •  LinkedIn •  Twitter

  Showcase your work, recognize customers, share knowledge, post specials, show your company’s personality

  Share blog posts, YouTube videos, photos

  Link back to things on your website

  More complex: Embed “like” button on your website or add html to your Facebook page

  Post several times a week – be personal!

Facebook Best Practices

  It’s made for business.   Opens your networking circle and

identifies shared contacts for getting introductions to prospects.

  Join and participate in groups related to your target market.

  Request Testimonials   Post weekly at a minimum

Create a page for your business

Make sure all key employees have profiles and actively build connections

Ask for testimonials

Search for and actively participate in industry groups locally, nationally,

internationally

LinkedIn groups are a great way to monitor buzz and trends

  Not as broad a reach as Facebook but still important

  Some industries more than others   Search Twitter and “research” what

people are thinking about things (or saying about your brand) – great focus group

  Post daily or multiple times per day

Twitter

Using # and @ to increase visibility

  Use @ to mention an organization or individual by name – this shows up in their feed (and is very desirable) @RedSageAL

  Use # to highlight topics to show up in searches such as #PromDress #Marketing #Huntsville

  Create your own #hashtag for an event or promotion such as #RiverFest2012 or #SageAdvice – use to create buzz at an event

# and @ in action

  Small audience – keep waiting for this to get more important

  At a minimum, duplicate the posts you are posting to Facebook or Twitter – but best to build out like microsite – allows photo galleries, videos, services pages, more information than Facebook

  For some local businesses – may be best way to show up on page 1 of Google!

Google+

  Highly recommend starting to incorporate video into your efforts, if you are not already doing this

  It does not have to be perfect high quality in many cases!

  Record events, new products, short how-to’s, testimonials

YouTube

Testimonials

Showcase your facility, equipment process, or product

  Create content to share across web and all channels

  Increase the odds you will show up in search engines – awesome SEO tool

  Drive traffic to your website   Short articles – very personal,

conversational – your thoughts on your business, your industry, your life

Blogging

REMINDER: Cross share content (and have your employees share too) to make it all work!

CAUTION: Don’t start anything you won’t continue long term

 Great free (or inexpensive) tools for this: • CrowdBooster.com

•  TweetDeck

• HootSuite.com

• www.bufferapp.com for personal

Schedule ahead:

Give it time!

  It can take up to a year of diligent work to see the results of good social media participation

 A campaign can shorten this timeframe considerably

Only start the channels that you are committed to – and that match your audience

Try to engage people to respond or share as much as possible through campaigns

Cross share content as much as possible

How to use Social Media SECTION REVIEW

AUDIENCE PRODUCT/SERVICE MESSAGE BEST WAY TO REACH

General Business Branding, print design, web design, marke6ng & social media consul6ng

We can help you be more strategic with your marke6ng so you get results

Networking, public speaking, sales reps, referral program, social media

Economic & Community Development Organiza6ons

Web design, retail recruitment guides, presenta6on materials

We can help your community aFract the aFen6on of site selectors and retailers

Industry Tradeshows, sponsorships, referral program, e-‐newsleFers, blog

Exis6ng Customers All services – with a focus on new services

Don’t forget we can help you with a wide range of services

Direct mail, referral programs, e-‐newsleFers, calls

List each Audience…

…and the service/product you want to

provide each

…and the message you

want to tell each

…and the best ways to reach each

Build your marketing strategy

What are your options?   Associations and advertising opportunities   Sponsorships   Newspapers and local magazine ads   Trade magazine ads   Online advertising   Networking – Chamber, WBCNA,

HASBAT, etc.

What are your options?

  Radio   TV   Billboard   Social media   Blogging   Direct Mail   Press Releases

  E-newsletters   Speaking

engagements   Promotional

products   Etc. etc.

How do you choose?   What can you consistently deliver? Is a

monthly e-newsletter realistic?   What can you afford?   Biggest rule: Have a presence in as

many places as possible within your budget: a small ad four times is better than a big ad once

  Spread out your visibility over time

Develop your 12 month plan and budget Do date/pricing research for print ads, events. Then plug in around those.

Determine the best approaches to deliver your message to

each target market, multiple times throughout the year,

within your budget

Being strategic with your marketing SECTION REVIEW

How do you know if your marketing is

working?

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the problem is I don't know which half.

- Lord Leverhulme (British founder of Unilever)

Ways to track results   Train your staff to ask all new callers – how

did you hear of us   Traditional advertising (radio, print ads,

direct mail) tie in a trackable offer – bring this in for a discount, mention this ad etc.

  Google Analytics, social media metrics, e-newsletter metrics

  How many people tell you they saw your ad   Sales volume or inbound calls volume

Bottom Line: You don’t have to be perfect.

You just have to be better than your competitors.

We are done! 1. How to develop clear brand messages

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