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Small Business Campaign Tips
November 06, 2007
By Mark Kolier, President, CGSM
When you're a small business owner with a limited marketing budget, the successful direct mail campaigns of your competitors may not seem to be worth the cost. Hiring big time writers and creative artists are usually well-beyond your allotted budgets and the response ratios—albiet statistically successful—still seem relatively low. But while these large scale promotions are frequently out of your monetary reach, you can still reap their benefits by launching your own targeted mail campaign.
What follows is a series of "Small Business Campaign Recommendations" that should be part of any small business person's marketing mix. List the attributes of your own target prospects, then take a look at these ideas and see how you can apply them to your own marketing efforts.
1. Build a "New Movers" file.
Locally, the numbers may not be huge on a monthly basis, but relocated single individuals and families may have moved into town from anywhere and might like the convenience of your product or service right in town. This should also be considered for towns in the surrounding areas as prospects may work locally but be commuting from nearby towns. This is true in the case of my financial planner associate, but equally true for a dry cleaner or landscaper.
2. Use a compelling offer to motivate a prospect.
In direct marketing parlance, this is called a "call to action"—it's a piece of your service that you offer to prospects to entice their interest. For a financial planner, a no-risk, free financial review is nice, but partnering with a local restaurant to give away a $25.00 coupon to a prospect, just for setting up a meeting, is even more attention getting.
3.Invite prospects to a seminar.
Use a direct mail letter to area businesses inviting its employees to a free breakfast or lunchtime (and, yes, include the free meal and make it a good one) seminar at a local restaurant or your office. There you can discuss the latest trends in your industry—whether it's global investing or organic gardening. For companies with a large number of employees this will be more difficult as there is no sure way to reach individual employees and your letter would likely end up somewhere in the human resources department. But smaller businesses would be a good target. Then follow up your leads with a direct mail appeal to those who attended. A list of area businesses can be obtained from your local chamber of commerce. Sending an information blurb to be run the local newspaper is also an inexpensive way to promote your seminar.
4. Write about your topic of expertise.
Write articles for the local and surrounding area newspapers and of course include your contact information—e-mail, postal address and phone number. Have a professional kit of information up-to-date and ready to mail to inquiries. And follow up those leads.
5. Visit your Web site like a prospect.
Since people may visit your Web site before coming to your office or store, make sure it's up-to-date and easy to find. When I checked my associate's website, I found that it was far from being search engine optimized. Website optimization can help connect with prospects that are looking for a business just like yours. Search terms like "Accountants" and "Financial Planners" in Yourtown, ST are used every day. With proper search terms your business will be more likely to come up organically on the first page of a Google or Yahoo search, which is also where most people stop looking.
One key thing to keep in mind is that for many types of business, the potential for a long (sometimes life-long) relationship always exists. So to obtain a new customer by investing in a targeted marketing effort makes a great deal more sense due to the lifetime value of the customer.
CGSM is a privately held direct-marketing agency specializing in the marketing strategy, design and production of direct mail-packages and inserts. Its print production skills combined with a focus on data analysis and modeling make it possible for CGSM to offer a unique approach to customer acquisition and retention that takes into account all the complex details of a direct-mail marketing campaign without ever losing sight of the overall business objectives. For more information, please visit www.cgsm.com.
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
This article is brought to you by Sales & Marketing Management, the leading authority for executives in the sales and marketing field.
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