Some “experts” counsel that the recession doesn’t have to be a bad thing for small businesses like ours. These “experts” tell us that even with the numbers of choices our customers have in where to buy, we can survive, thrive, and even grow, during a depressed economy. They insist we can be successful no matter how big the playing field of competitors. I recently sat in on a seminar where I learned some new marketing strategies to keep a company’s image “out there”, which included:
• Determine your company’s real niche. With the intense kind of competition out there, becoming “the expert” in the arena you want to serve will put your company above others in the field. Then promote your expertise, and/or years of experience, everywhere.
• Create your company’s brand to make it stand out from the crowd. Find ways to be “unforgettable”. Put your name, logo and tag line on everything you publish, including your company’s letterhead, marketing materials, your web site, the labels that go on your products, and anything and everything your company uses for promotion.
• Don’t spend money to make money. There are so many places to market a business at no cost, or low cost. Create a Facebook page, get into the “twitterverse”, become part of a LinkedIn group, and start a Blog. Yes, all these take time. Get up an hour earlier and work on making and keeping the company visible.
• When using paid advertising, negotiate a better price .This expert said that even the media are hard hit during this economic crisis and they may be willing to barter and/or negotiate a lesser cost to get, and tokeep business. Their suggestion is if you’re going to use paid advertising, ask for a discount, or a bigger discount that your company currently gets.
• Use free PR every where you can. Press releases can be sent to local newspapers and magazines, group/organization newsletter editors, every radio and television station in the area, and to the companies who help support your business (and who produce their own monthly newsletter) like your insurance company. Create a press kit that includes your company’s history, pictures that speak to what your company does, pictures and blurb about key personnel, products your company is known for, and anything about your company that would interest the public. Send the kit along with the first press release.
• Donations. While this suggestion is not entirely free, it gets its money’s worth in exposure. Team up with a local charity that needs your kinds of products. Those of us in the awards industry get asked on a daily basis to contribute or donate awards for charitable events. Pick and choose the ones you prefer to support, and then partner with them. Ask them to promote your company in all of their event promotional materials, signs, banners, program books and the like.
• Learn where to find your customers. Where do they “hang out”? Are they all on Facebook now? Are they in a golf league? Are they volunteering for a local organization? Are they even from your company’s home based, local area? Where ever your company’s target customers are “hanging out”, make it a point to hang out there too.
• Offer a free seminar or class. Put together a brief outline on how to create a successful recognition program and share it with your clients.
• Offer free samples, when possible. If your company offers medals and neck ribbons…give one to the buyer to take back to committee.
• Send an engraved invitation. About five years ago, my husband, Dave, and I wanted to meet with a new prospect in the accounting field. We saw that they used products that we carried and we wanted to be able to introduce our company, and ourselves, to them. Phone calls didn’t work. Letters didn’t get us an appointment. Sending our catalog didn’t help in getting in the door….so we hand delivered an engraved invitation with a card that said, “We thought it might take an engraved invitation to join us for coffee and …” Guess what…we heard from them the day they received it. And, since I don’t want to keep you guessing further…yes…we did get their business, and they got ours. We’ve been partnering back and forth since then.
