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Marketing Secrets Revealed! (Yeah, right!)

You’ve seen that headline before–it’s a come-on. The fact is, smart marketing is all about building relationships. Unless you’re a fly-by-night company or one of those “get rich quick” scammers, I mean schemers, the only surefire way to get and keep customers is to build a solid relationship with them. You’ve got to first gain their trust and develop their confidence in you. Then, when you’ve proved that you’re the solutions provider your customer needs, they’ll not only use your products or services themselves, they’ll refer others to you as well. It’s only natural to do business with those people we like and trust, right? So marketing is a process, an ongoing interaction that builds a bond between you and your customer.

Market Like You Mean It

What does your marketing plan look like? Don’t have one? You’re not alone–a great many small businesses don’t. Amid the hustle and bustle of “taking care of business,” we tell ourselves we don’t have time to market, or we can’t afford to, but the truth is, we can’t afford not to. By ignoring this essential component of our long-range plan for success, we doom our business to failure. After all, a customer-starved business can’t survive. Marketing feeds your company’s need for nourishment. And in order to market effectively, and efficiently, you need to have a good plan.

The following section covers the “nuts and bolts” of marketing basics as well as tips and techniques for promoting your business. For help on writing a formal marketing plan, please see the articles about writing Marketing Plans listed in the Articles Archive.

Fundamentals of smART Marketing

Too many businesses compete for consumer dollars using in-your-face advertising that rarely answers the customer’s question: “What’s in it for me?” When you direct your marketing toward answering that question, you’ve got the outline for a smART marketing plan. Now before we get into specifics about the ART of marketing (Actions, Resources, and Timing), let’s go over some fundamentals first.

Lesson 1: Define your niche. Who are your potential customers: their ages, gender, interests, wants or needs? You need to know who you’re marketing to so you can use the best strategies for reaching, and attracting, them. Learn more about identifying your target market in our article, Finding Your Niche.

Lesson 2: Think like a customer. Ask yourself: What benefit will my customers receive from doing business with me instead of my competitors? Keep the focus on the customer. Don’t just tell them why it’s a great product, tell them why it’s great for them–what’s in it for them.

Lesson 3: Give them more value for their money. Exceed their expectations. Overdeliver on your product or service. This can mean anything from giving them a “bonus” gift for trying a new product or service to giving them discounts for referrals or repeat purchases (buy 6 lattes and the 7th one is free). Everybody loves freebies–give them more than what they expect and they’ll come back because they know you give them the best value for their dollar.

Lesson 4: Be honest with them. If your product or service isn’t right for them, say so. They’ll be grateful for your honesty and will likely refer others to you for whom your business is a better fit. Word-of-mouth advertising is a powerful tool. Make sure it’s working for you and not against you.

Lesson 5: Stand behind your product or service. Offer guarantees. Nothing builds credibility more than “putting your money where your mouth is.” If you truly believe in your product or service, and you’ve been honest with your customer about the benefits they’ll receive, it will be the rare occasion when you have to actually refund their money. But when you do (notice I didn’t say ‘if’), do so cheerfully. You may not be able to please all the people all the time, but you CAN come out a winner when you’ve satisfied even the dissatisfied.

Lesson 6: The Rule of Seven. It’s a well-known fact in the world of marketing that a person generally needs to be exposed to your product or service an average of seven times before they choose to buy. Obviously, if you’re running a restaurant or some other type of walk-in business, this probably doesn’t apply. However, if you sell a professional service or a big-ticket item, except for the occasional impulse buyer, you’ll probably discover that you have to guide your potential customer, through repeated exposure, toward making a purchase. This is where relationship building comes into play.

Lesson 7: Call to action. Ask the customer to buy from you today. You don’t have to be pushy about it — the hard-sell usually just makes people uncomfortable–but do ask for their business. Each and every time you make contact with them.

Ideas for smART Marketing

Now that you’ve got the fundamentals down, it’s time to put the ART into your smART marketing campaign using Actions, Resources, and Timing to implement your plan. Try any or all of the following methods to continuously remind your customers that you’re the solutions provider they need.

And for more small business marketing tools and tips, see our Small Business Marketing page. For some great Web-based marketing strategies, check out our Online Marketing article.

Now on with your smART Marketing campaign:

1. Newsletter: Send out a monthly newsletter (or quarterly if that’s better suited to your business) that keeps your customers current on industry trends, news about your business, tips for making the most out of your product or service–whatever information they’ll find valuable. Receiving “something for nothing” from you keeps you on their radar screen.

Actions: Produce and send newsletter.

Resources: Mailing lists (can be generated using a computer database program, or using your customer invoice file, or whatever resource you use to maintain a list of your customers); bulk postage labels; newsletters (write them yourself, hire someone to produce them, or use a software program designed for creating newsletters).

Timing: Weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Whichever time frame you choose, make sure you do it consistently — this helps build credibility and your customers’ confidence in your dependability.

2. Holiday Sales: Offer customers a dollars-off discount coupon for “limited time only” specials or freebie gift items related to upcoming holidays. Holidays can include not only the traditional ones like Valentine’s Day, Christmas (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) and so forth, but National Eat Chocolate Day (which is, I believe, on December 16) and other obscure “holidays.” Have fun with it, but don’t go overboard or you’ll risk losing credibility in your customers’ eyes.

Actions: Have a holiday sale.

Resources: Freebie gifts, dollars-off coupons, mailing lists and labels (see #1 above for snail mail campaigns)

Timing: One to three weeks before the “holiday” in most cases. If you start your campaign too early, customers may lose the coupon or forget about the event. Although some companies do use a sustained campaign, meaning they’ll send out two or more event notices in a timed sequence, this can get expensive for a small business with limited resources. Best to keep it short and sweet — which also creates a sense of urgency — the “call to action.”

3. Contests, Giveaways: Host your own no-purchase-necessary contest or giveaway to create a buzz with customers, and to generate a customer list for future campaigns (be sure to include language assuring them that you won’t rent, sell, or otherwise distribute their personal information–VERY important). Contests could be: “Name the Newsletter [or Business Mascot or whatever]“; guess the number of jellybeans in a jar; guess the exact date of the first snowstorm of winter (the closest date or number wins). Use your imagination, but make sure you have specific start and end dates for the contest and post the winner’s name so your customers know it was “real.” You can even have a little ceremony to award the prize, which could be product or a specified block of your consultation time if you’re a service provider.

A giveaway works the same way–you announce that you’ll be giving away a valuable prize on a certain date and customers fill out entry forms to be eligible. Then on that date you present the winner with the prize. Check with your local authorities, however, because some states do have very stringent rules and regulations about contests and giveaways.

Actions: Sponsor a contest or giveaway promotion.

Resources: Entry forms and collection box, prizes, flyers, posters, postcards promoting the event, mailing list, etc.

Timing: Give plenty of advance notice about the eligibility requirements and contest dates; e.g., “We’ll be accepting entries during the entire month of August. The drawing (or announcement of winning entry) will be held on September 6, 200X. Enter now to win!”. Follow through on the dates and prizes advertised — again, your credibility is on the line.

For more great ideas on marketing and business development, sign up to receive our free bimonthly newsletter, The ART of Business, bringing you tips and strategies, feature articles, interviews with experts, and more. You’ll see a subscription form up at the top in the right-hand navigation bar.