Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses : D E T WAN S R E M O CUST ! e m i t ife L a r Fo BUS 211_Mrktng&Advtsng S pringl 2006 Copy This Certificate Confirms the Successful Completion of 12 Small Business Short Courses by Sue M Patzer at Solano Community College: Starting & Managing a Small Business Business Budgeting Starting a Home-Based Financing a Small Business Business Financial Management Managing Credit & Collections Small Business Recordkeeping Marketing & Advertising Risk Management—Insurance Business Planning for Profit Selecting Employees Employee Relations Charles D Eason, Director, SBDC John T Urrutia, Dean, Business Division Solano Community College Solano Community College S W O T Strengths (of the business, or yourself) Weaknesses (of the business, or yourself) Opportunities (in the marketplace) Threats (in the marketplace) The R’s of Target Marketing • Researching Your Market • Reaching Your Market • Retaining Your Market Promoting Yourself Is Your Net Working? • 20 second elevator blurb • Present Your Business Cards to the people that you think could use your services • Collect business cards from the people whose services you could use • What will you with those business cards? • Hint: Start a Customer Database! Implementation of Marketing Strategy: Useful Small Business Strategies • Differentiation - Your business is made to appear different from the others (think in terms of a yellow page ad) • Location – think of as geographically, “virtually”, and in the “minds” of your clients (like, Fredericks’ of Hollywood) • Specialization - Being specialized helps in a “saturated” market, for example, a bookkeeper that “specializes” in contractors, or a automobile repair that specializes in BMWs, or certain imported autos • Positioning - More likely (often) used by larger corporations i.e.: THE other Phone Company • Substitution - Attract customers by offering one product or service & a low price and then sell an additional product at a higher price A good example is the McDonald’s Dollar Menu, or a hair salon that has a $39 perm special Implementation of Marketing Strategy: MORE Useful Small Business Strategies • Niches finding a segment of the market that is untapped and grab the customer’s attention • Star First, where you are a star, or partner with one (a local celebrity) Second, when you use the name of a star to draw attention (ex: George Forman Grill) • Benefit People don’t buy features, they buy benefits! Remember to market the BENEFITS! Tell them the Benefits Overnite Web Design Clean as a Whistle Janitorial Most small businesses use two or more strategies! What is in a Name? The name should:  Contain the Marketing Strategy  Describe the business  Show a Benefit for the customer  Be an attention-grabber  Be easy to remember Eat at E Colis’ Place! od! Good Fo Selecting a Slogan (or tag line) • Often, the name is not enough to grab the interest or to “tell the story” • Add a slogan to emphasize the benefit or grab attention The Bookkeeping Company For Timely Financial Statements Business Perspectives Business Consulting from insight to action Advertising • Takes planning, time, persistence and money! • Image / Identity are developed • Determine the most appropriate form of Media – – – – Involve the audience Inform the customer about the benefits Illustrate the benefits Always track your advertising response for effectiveness Tracking Your Advertising Dollars You need to know which advertisement pays • Develop an Advertising Worksheet to plan a targeted advertising campaign • Systematically TRACK your referrals through an Advertising Response Record • Ask your clients how they were referred to you, and/or by whom Thank the referrals • Many small business owners join Leads groups to help stimulate referrals THE YELLOW Pages  One of the most common forms of advertising is the Yellow Pages  When people look in the Yellow Pages they are ready to buy… But, ask yourself when you look in the book? Do you look for a massage therapist? How about a plumber?  We need to use a Marketing Strategy in the Advertisement  Size is not always the biggest attention grabber it is the message! Service Directories & Classified Ads  Service Directories appear in most newspapers, before the classified  Many papers will have “special sections” or special inserts for certain industries Call them to find out  Solano County is unique due to the many local papers  The advantage of a Service Directory is that you can change or drop the ad at anytime  Classifieds are also like Yellow Pages, where you are listed alphabetically  You can test the effectiveness by advertising once (Sunday) before paying for a whole month, or year Door to Door Flyers  Still one of the most cost effective methods of getting the word out  Take the time to design a “professional” flyer it can be the standard 8½ x 11  “Test Market” the flyer with one-hundred copies See if you get interest and at least one customer  Think of the appropriate: • Location, Message, & Timing  Be familiar with zoning practices  Remember, door-to-door works for some businesses and not for others! Direct Mail Techniques → Direct Mail means you send out a brochure, flyer, catalog or cover letter to a prospective client(s) → The real success lies in your database of potential clients → The more you know about them, the more you have an opportunity of grabbing their interest and action is taken → There are “mailing lists” that can be purchased for as low as $250 per 5,000 names The more ‘targeted’ the higher the price → Starting your own Database Marketing is critical (ex: start today with the members of the class) → Many small businesses will “grow” their own lists through chamber mixers, trade shows, etc → Follow-up is a critical element Keeping the contact information up-to-date is essential too Alternative Marketing: Other means to get the message out!  Displays at Trade Shows or Community Events (www.TSNN.com)  Community Involvement: ex: sponsor a Little League team, or an informative class  Sponsor an Athletic Event or a Fun Run  Telemarketing  Utilizing Networking or Leads Groups: Letip  Promotional Gimicks: Fobs and magnets Marketing on the Internet  E- Marketing is Hot!, but it is Not for every business!  Before you dive into e-commerce, e-marketing and becoming a pure “click” business your research!  Ask the questions: What message I want to deliver? How I want to format the material? Who I want to reach? Do my customers have access? Is it cost effective? What other marketing pieces direct the clients to this webpage (is your email or website on your brochure)? Publicity FREE ADVERTISING!  Publicity has been defined as “free advertising” (unfortunately there is little control over it)  You need to be able to present a “Unique Angle” on your business to get a Press Release printed or a PSA (Public Service Announcement) aired  Get involved with the community and annual events  Become a “specialist” in your community  Time your Press Release and/or PSA at least weeks before an event  Speak to classes or publicize your unique service at a Rotary Meeting, etc Promotion - the Power of this P • Many business owners only buy-in to advertising when they consider promoting their businesses • Remember PROMOTION is any and every way to: – Get the word out about your products or services – Generate referrals and interest for your business – Present your image • Promotion includes advertising, marketing, networking and publicity The Pro’s & Con’s of PR PROS • • • • • PR is cheap or FREE, but it can be worth a lot! You can save a copy of the article and show it again and again! It builds credibility and promotes your image! It can be used to enhance your advertising! There is always a publicity angle! Cons • Most small businesses make the mistake of not adding it into their marketing mix • Most small businesses not target their Publicity • It can be an one-time shot • Often times it is not “controlled.” • BIG Media isn’t always the best channel • Publicity is like selling it may take a lot of leg work! What is Publicity? Public Relations, aka PR…”public” = any group who might have an interest on the ability of your company to achieve its objective PR is a variety of programs designed to promote or protect a company’s image Publicity Includes: Press (Public) Relations, Product Publicity, Corporate Communication, Lobbying, Counseling The Final R: Retaining Your Market Customer Satisfaction  The customer may not be the KING, or always right, but the customer is always the customer!  Customer Satisfaction is the Heart of Retention  RETENTION is the heart of staying in business and growing (and profiting)  Customer Relationship Management is a key element in our Growing for Sales & Profit Class  For now, remember to focus on the customer (internal & external)! “80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers” Review • Comments • Questions • Please turn in your suggestions • Please turn in your group work ... advertising! There is always a publicity angle! Cons • Most small businesses make the mistake of not adding it into their marketing mix • Most small businesses not target their Publicity • It can be an... informative class  Sponsor an Athletic Event or a Fun Run  Telemarketing  Utilizing Networking or Leads Groups: Letip  Promotional Gimicks: Fobs and magnets Marketing on the Internet  E- Marketing. .. Not for every business!  Before you dive into e-commerce, e -marketing and becoming a pure “click” business your research!  Ask the questions: What message I want to deliver? How I want to format