Marketing: How to be a Gatherer not a Hunter

Every day new marketing fads are released that 'promise' results fast. The fact is marketing is often a long term process of testing, measuring and tweaking what works for your business in your particular industry. Having said that there are some sure fire ways to increase your marketing success throughout all your campaigns. These aspects of marketing are based on building credabilty and a reputation. It's all about changing your mindset from 'hunting' for customers to 'gathering' customers

Public Relations

Public relations (PR) refers to the ways you can use the media to promote your image and maintain a relationship with the public. Some small business think that PR belongs to big business only. Not so! Some of the most effective sales leads for your business — no matter its size — can be the result of an endorsement from a magazine or newspaper. With PR, as with other marketing initiatives, it’s important to target your ideal customer. Discover the kinds of publications they read, and approach them with a view to being featured. Does a significant proportion of your target demographic read women’s magazines? Maybe a majority are regular radio listeners? Perhaps a station popular with your target demographic runs a business segment - you could call in and contribute in return for an on-air plug. You could write a press release of interest to your target audience and submit it to some publications popular among your clientele, or if you’re a restaurant, for example, you might invite journalists from the local paper to do a write-up on you. Need more ideas? Seminars are a great way of increasing knowledge among your customer base of who you are and what you can offer them. It’s a good way to educate customers and keep them updated with what’s going on with your business. Sponsorship is another good PR vehicle. Many small business are involved in sponsorship but fail to promote their support, missing out on a big potential PR boost. Sponsorship can play a big role in demonstrating your community-mindedness while fostering trust in potential clients. Your sponsorship might also serve as your point of differentiation if few other businesses in your industry are doing it. To further boost your exposure, write a press release about your sponsorship and issue it to the relevant media. Remember, you’re not alone with organising your PR; there are plenty of professional agencies that can help you.

Referrals

Did you know your existing customer base can double as a marketing tool? A recommendation from a friend or trusted source is one of the most powerful forms of marketing. The effectiveness of word-of-mouth advertising is proven. For a number of industries, referrals from existing customers generate the majority of their business. Think of it as grass roots, spontaneous promotion. It's a cheap and effective way of mobilising your customer base to spark a referral domino-effect.

Referrals can come from other businesses too. Joint promotions, where two or more businesses team together to offer customers special incentive deals can be very effective. Joint promotions add value to your customers’ experience by making them feel that they’re getting extra value for their money.

For instance, a local bookstore and the coffee shop down the street may decide to join forces and launch a promotion offering a 50% discount on cappuccinos upon purchase of a book. This way, customers of the bookstore are encouraged to visit the coffee store, and the coffee lovers are encouraged to browse the book shelves. Think about some businesses your customers might also frequent and suggest a joint promotion. Of course, commonsense applies; you don’t want to promote with direct competition or a business your ideal customers might have little interest in, i.e. a Casino and Christian Book Shop.

Another simple tactic is developing loyalty schemes. It’s well known that 80% of revenue is generated by 20% of your customers, so something like sending out birthday or Christmas cards to customers (assuming of course that you have permission to contact them) is a cost-effective way of validating your customers and letting them know that you value their business. This kind of marketing can help you get repeat business.

Testimonials

Consumers like to know something works before they buy. Including testimonials and case studies in your promotional material can be a simple and effective way of reassuring prospective clients of your ability to deliver. Used correctly, testimonials serve as compelling endorsements of your product and services, and make highly-effective marketing tools.

Use common scenarios, and make sure the testimonial outlines how the client’s problem was solved. There are a few techniques you can use to gather testimonials from your clients. When you receive a compliment from a client, be it spoken or written, ask permission to share it with others. You could call one of your best customers and ask them to say a few words on what they like about your business, or you could ask them to write a couple of paragraphs that talk about their experience with you and why they’d use your business again. Remember not to fabricate anything; don’t put words in someone’s mouth. Once you’ve got your testimonials, case studies and before-and-after scenarios, incorporate them into your flyers, brochures and websites.