10 Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

Image is everything. The impression shaped on the minds of your customers is largely determined by the quality of your promotional efforts. A poorly executed campaign can have a very damaging impact on future business. Whenever possible, have all promotional materials prepared professionally.

The image you project over the telephone and to the public is also vital to the success of your business. When manning the phone, always be courteous and never have the other party on hold for more than a few seconds. If the other party is required to hold for more than a few seconds, offer them the option to call them back.

Whenever a customer comes into your place of business let them immediately know that you acknowledge their presence. After all, when a customer is ready to spend money, the last thing you want to do is make them wait.

The professional image of your company should also extend to the dress and grooming of your staff and the vehicles they drive. Set your company's dress code higher than the current fashion trend. This will communicate to your employees, and to the public, that you don't tolerate mediocrity.

2. Maintain high visibility in your market.

Consumers are fickle. Their moods and preferences are shaped daily by their environment. Your promotional efforts must compete with numerous distractions and pressures in their lives. The only way to effectively get your promotional message across is with frequency and regularity. Keep your sales message in front of your target audience as often as possible.

One way to accomplish this is to create a year-long advertising budget. This doesn't require a huge expenditure. For example, you can a company website hosted on the Internet for as little as $120 a year...or less. You can also, with a very modest budget, create a quarterly or monthly newsletter with important industry news and information of interest that you can email or snail-mail to customers Once again, frequency and regularity is the key.

3. Create a sense of urgency.

Sometimes people need incentives to spend money. Creating a sense of urgency in your promotions can help increase consumer appeal. Using time-sensitive giveaways and discount pricing can help build urgency and stimulate sales traffic.

4. Research your competition

Know your competition. It can help you grow your business by avoiding costly mistakes and building on the success of your competitor. If you find that you are consistently losing business to competitors, it may signal that pricing or quality of your products or services may need retuning.

5. Be inventive.

Don't let your business image become stale. Give customers something different and exciting to look forward to on a regular basis. Rearrange merchandise, revamp window displays and change signage periodically to give your business a fresh new look.

Contests and giveaways are also a great way to build customer traffic. Something as simple as using a goldfish bowl for a weekly business card drawing to a great way to attract potential customers and to grow your sales prospect database. The same thing can be accomplished over the Internet with an email drawing.

6. Create mass-market appeal.

Diversity is the key to sales success. Build diversity into your marketing efforts by targeting the mass market. Be inclusive of all age and ethnic groups, as well as gender, in your advertising, whenever possible, to avoid alienating potential customers.

If your market includes a large segment of foreign-language customers, consider creating bi-lingual product and sales literature, as well as hiring bi-lingual sales staff. You can also use prerecorded messages on your telephone answering system to provide foreign-language customers with relevant sales information. Don't let language prevent you from making profits.

7. Measure your marketing efforts.

You cannot improve on what you do not know. Measuring and monitoring your advertising by running test campaigns with selected media, and through informal customer surveys, will provide a clearer picture of which marketing tools are generating the best results. Whenever a new customer appears, find out what media attracted them to your establishment.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to create a printed form with survey questions and place it by every phone in your business. This gives you a quick and easy way to collect this information whenever a new customer calls or comes in.

8. Create a customer database.

Know your customers. Use a guest book to welcome new customers by having them enter their name and address. Assure them that the information will be held confidential and will be used for special sales and product announcements. Using this information to generate a customer database will yield profitable results when properly maintained.

There is a wide variety of software products on the market to help you manage a customer database and for sales prospecting such as Act, Goldmine and Outlook to name a few. This gives you quick access to customer information and, in many instances, enables you to execute email, direct-mail and telephone marketing efforts.

9. Create a company website.

A web page is a powerful vehicle for getting your company massive exposure on the Internet. Keep your website simple and easy to navigate. Avoid extensive use of Flash as slows down a visitor's ability to browse your site-remember, not everyone has a broadband connection to the Internet. Make sure your contact information is complete and easy to find on your site and repeat it throughout. If you sell to the retail public, be sure to have a map with directions to your location, including public transportation information where applicable.

Use an email form instead of just listing your email address. This helps to eliminate spam email and enables you to use "required" fields in your form to get all the contact information your need to connect with your prospect. Use multiple email forms on your site with embedded subject lines and "required" fields to capture the specific product or service needs of the prospect. This will also help you to sort and manage incoming email traffic more effectively.

10. Reward loyal customers.

Everyone wants to feel appreciated. Keep track of those customers who provide you with a regular stream of business. A simple act like a "thank you" card can leave a lasting impression. Remember, simple, sincere gestures of gratitude make the biggest and most lasting impressions.