As a marketing consultant, I am constantly advising my clients on how they can market themselves – without breaking the bank or wasting too much time. So, below are four tips to help small business market themselves in 2012. Here are seven more ideas to consider too!
- Develop a way to market to your existing customers – My favorite example is referral cards. As you know, the cost to print business cards is minimal. So, why don’t you design a business card sized referral card? It can be as simple as: front side – your current business card; back side – text that simply says “Referred by ____________.” Be sure to include your incentive on the card! So, if you are offering current customers 10% off their monthly statement for referring business to you, then make sure it’s on the card – that way all new customers will be enticed to help your business grow.
- Populate your online space - Complete your Facebook and LinkedIn pages. You’ve planned to do it, but you haven’t, so now is the time. I don’t mean create a plan to populate them twice a week or more, I just want you to take a look at your current social media pages and examine it from your customer’s perspective. Are you saying what you need to say? This should only take one-hour of your time, so, do it now!
- Network – Pitch your company, yourself and your capabilities to your network! Tell friends, family and your employees that you are seeking to grow! Word of mouth marketing is the best marketing for small businesses. As people enjoy positive experiences, ask them to share your name and company with their network.
- Step back and evaluate your current marketing initiatives - Whether you are currently advertising, sending direct mailers or telemarketing, your company needs you to stay at a high level. Take a step back from the day-to-day and look at your marketing activities from a 10,000 foot view. Make the evaluation simple by making a list of:
- “What’s working?”
- “What’s not?”
- “What do I think could work?”
- “What has worked that I thought wouldn’t work or that I never considered?”
Once you’ve gone through these four tips, schedule 2-3 hours on a Friday afternoon to focus on your business – do not let anything interrupt your planning – this is a critical step to ensure your company is positioned to grow into the future. You owe it to yourself, your employees and your company to take time now to plan for 2012.
