Top 10 Marketing Tools for Small Business
Top 10 Marketing Tools for Small Business
In 10 words or less, a good tagline reinforces a company’s reason for being. And for smaller companies, it can be one of the most efficient marketing tools. Develop one on your own, or turn to a consultant for help. Then, marry it up with your company name and logo whenever you can to tell the whole story about your business.
#2 Search engine positioning (p. 199)
These days having a high-quality website, by itself, doesn’t translate into success. A large number of qualified prospects visiting the site does. If you’re not spending equal amounts of time and money on search engine positioning, your website isn’t working hard enough. One client of ours, who located us through a search engine, ended up generating a whopping 1,500%+ return on investment for our site.
#3 Consistent branding elements
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, a rancher would mark his cattle with a unique brand. This brand, depicting a unique image, distinguished his cattle from another rancher’s. A small business’ branding effort works the same way (Chapter 14, p. 167). The consistent use of branding elements (i.e. name, tagline, logo, colors, fonts, and typestyles) clearly identifies your operation from its competitors.
#4 Calls-to-action (p. 194)
It’s not enough to just rattle off your product’s features and benefits. You must go one step further by telling your reader exactly what you want her to do next. Too often marketing materials effectively present a company, then leave the next step up to the reader’s imagination. This is a missed opportunity.
You’ll want to spell out exactly what they should do next. “Visit www.oururl.com and register to win”, “Call our estimating department for a free quote” or “ Email us with your suggestions” are clear-as-a-bell calls-to-action that should be sprinkled liberally throughout your selling materials.
#5 Key messages (p. 183)
Remember back in English class how we were taught to write out a paper’s thesis before actually writing the paper? This thesis statement was the argument you wanted to assert—the central point of the paper. Think of key messages as the thesis statements for your marketing effort.
So, before writing any copy at all, jot down the three most important things you want to communicate in this piece. If you can identify these key messages first, you’ll find writing copy to be a much easier proposition (Chapter 15, p. 183).
#6 Testimonials
Buyers of your product or service—especially first-time buyers—have lots of reservations about doing business with you. Will your product deliver? Will you answer your phones? Will you be around next month? Written testimonials from your satisfied customers, scattered throughout your materials and website, smooth over buyer fears.
#7 Metrics
Can you imagine a doctor examining a patient without a thermometer? Yet, this is precisely how many small businesses approach the analytics behind their marketing. Without metrics to track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, decisions are just…guesses. Develop 2 or 3 key metrics (i.e. # of new leads/month, cost per inquiry, or sales calls/month) that provide glimpses into your business’marketing health (Chapter 13, p. 153).
#8 Timelines
A timeline is a year-at-a-glance calendar for your marketing efforts (Chapter 11, p. 128). A good one captures, week by week, launch dates and intermediate deadlines for all your marketing tactics. A complete timeline helps you better manage marketing implementation in the heat of the battle.
#9 A Marketing Plan (see p. 65)
The cornerstone of any successful marketing effort is a marketing plan . Why? First, a marketing plan lays the groundwork for action. Once you’ve developed a plan, you’ll know the “why” behind each task. Second, a plan breaks the effort down into manageable chunks. The whole task doesn’t seem so daunting with your plan in place. And finally, a plan always gives you something to go back to in slower times. If your phones stop ringing, revisit the plan. It’s almost certain, you’ll discover new initiatives to address the problem.
#10 An Implementation Process
Developing a marketing plan is only half the battle. Without proper implementation, your marketing loses momentum—fast. Weekly project meetings, quarterly checkpoint meetings and active marketing management (Chapter 12, p. 141) are all needed to ensure successful implementation.
Clearly stating who is responsible for each project, when it’s expected completion date is and how much the project is budgeted for, begins the process. Ongoing progress meetings ensure it continues.
Top 10 Marketing Tools for Small Business - To learn more about this author, visit Jay Lipe's Website.
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#1 Taglines (p. 174)
In 10 words or less, a good tagline reinforces a company’s reason for being. And for smaller companies, it can be one of the most efficient marketing tools. Develop one on your own, or turn to a consultant for help. Then, marry it up with your company name and logo whenever you can to tell the whole story about your business.
#2 Search engine positioning (p. 199)
These days having a high-quality website, by itself, doesn’t translate into success. A large number of qualified prospects visiting the site does. If you’re not spending equal amounts of time and money on search engine positioning, your website isn’t working hard enough. One client of ours, who located us through a search engine, ended up generating a whopping 1,500%+ return on investment for our site.
#3 Consistent branding elements
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, a rancher would mark his cattle with a unique brand. This brand, depicting a unique image, distinguished his cattle from another rancher’s. A small business’ branding effort works the same way (Chapter 14, p. 167). The consistent use of branding elements (i.e. name, tagline, logo, colors, fonts, and typestyles) clearly identifies your operation from its competitors.
#4 Calls-to-action (p. 194)
It’s not enough to just rattle off your product’s features and benefits. You must go one step further by telling your reader exactly what you want her to do next. Too often marketing materials effectively present a company, then leave the next step up to the reader’s imagination. This is a missed opportunity.
You’ll want to spell out exactly what they should do next. “Visit www.oururl.com and register to win”, “Call our estimating department for a free quote” or “ Email us with your suggestions” are clear-as-a-bell calls-to-action that should be sprinkled liberally throughout your selling materials.
#5 Key messages (p. 183)
Remember back in English class how we were taught to write out a paper’s thesis before actually writing the paper? This thesis statement was the argument you wanted to assert—the central point of the paper. Think of key messages as the thesis statements for your marketing effort.
So, before writing any copy at all, jot down the three most important things you want to communicate in this piece. If you can identify these key messages first, you’ll find writing copy to be a much easier proposition (Chapter 15, p. 183).
#6 Testimonials
Buyers of your product or service—especially first-time buyers—have lots of reservations about doing business with you. Will your product deliver? Will you answer your phones? Will you be around next month? Written testimonials from your satisfied customers, scattered throughout your materials and website, smooth over buyer fears.
#7 Metrics
Can you imagine a doctor examining a patient without a thermometer? Yet, this is precisely how many small businesses approach the analytics behind their marketing. Without metrics to track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, decisions are just…guesses. Develop 2 or 3 key metrics (i.e. # of new leads/month, cost per inquiry, or sales calls/month) that provide glimpses into your business’marketing health (Chapter 13, p. 153).
#8 Timelines
A timeline is a year-at-a-glance calendar for your marketing efforts (Chapter 11, p. 128). A good one captures, week by week, launch dates and intermediate deadlines for all your marketing tactics. A complete timeline helps you better manage marketing implementation in the heat of the battle.
#9 A Marketing Plan (see p. 65)
The cornerstone of any successful marketing effort is a marketing plan . Why? First, a marketing plan lays the groundwork for action. Once you’ve developed a plan, you’ll know the “why” behind each task. Second, a plan breaks the effort down into manageable chunks. The whole task doesn’t seem so daunting with your plan in place. And finally, a plan always gives you something to go back to in slower times. If your phones stop ringing, revisit the plan. It’s almost certain, you’ll discover new initiatives to address the problem.
#10 An Implementation Process
Developing a marketing plan is only half the battle. Without proper implementation, your marketing loses momentum—fast. Weekly project meetings, quarterly checkpoint meetings and active marketing management (Chapter 12, p. 141) are all needed to ensure successful implementation.
Clearly stating who is responsible for each project, when it’s expected completion date is and how much the project is budgeted for, begins the process. Ongoing progress meetings ensure it continues.
Top 10 Marketing Tools for Small Business - To learn more about this author, visit Jay Lipe's Website.
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The info given is a reminder of the fundamentals and fill in areas which we might have missed or overlooked in developing our businesses.
Thanks
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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