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The question, “Are there any promising new solutions for small business’ marketing problems,” appeared in the marketing forum of Quora, the online Q&A site. One response, in particular, hit the nail on the head.
A Frequently Asked Question: Are there any promising new solutions for small business’ marketing problems?
Small businesses face constant challenges both getting and keeping customers. Facebook and Twitter rarely work for them: too much time required to build a community and they don’t know how to do it anyway. Email marketing was awesome back in the day, but now most of their emails aren’t opened. They can’t afford advertising, and usually don’t have a good story for PR.
A Good Answer: By Gabe Mays, Founder of Just Add Content
First, there are no silver bullets. There’s not one thing a small business owner can throw money at that’s going to solve the problems. Small business owners need to put in some time and learn the basics (saving thousands in the process) and figure out what works best for their customer base.
Even marketers with decades of experience don’t always know what works. Maybe its email, maybe its radio, maybe its social media, but it’s probably a combination of channels. Track it to find what works and do more of it until you see diminishing returns then find something else. You’ll need to try a lot of things.
Start with a website. It’s the most cost-effective marketing tool small business owners have. It’s also your home base online. Your social media efforts, email marketing campaigns, SEO, etc. should all drive people back to your website. When social media networks and search engines die your website will still be there. You own it.
A website is an asset that pays dividends. Blog posts, how-to’s, videos and everything else you put on your website are things that will help customers find you for years to come. That’s more than you can say for most advertising dollars.
When you get your website, be smart about it. Don’t waste thousands. If you’re new to websites, you’ll go through different iterations before finding what you like and what works for your business and your customers. If you blow $3,000 on a website you can forget about updates (you probably can’t update it yourself), forget about redesigns, forget about adding new features like accepting payments, estimates, invoicing, etc. It’s just too much to spend upfront when you don’t know what you don’t know.
Learn about websites, learn what you like, and then maybe spend more down the road. The time you invest in learning will come back to you ten times over so when you do decide to spend $3,000+ on a website, you’ll know what you need and know what you’re talking about. There are many ways to go about marketing and they all work to some extent (some better than others), but it all begins with a website. Start building from there.
The bottom line is you need to do what’s right for your business. What’s right for your business is testing and figuring out what works, then investing in what works.
Read the entire string at Quora.com.
When it comes to marketing, some small businesses just don’t know where to start. Some don’t start at all with the thought that marketing comes after the business is up, running and profitable; while others throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. Both approaches are ill-advised and if you fall into one of these categories or somewhere in between, shift your focus to the fundamentals: a plan, budget and measurable objectives.
Consider the advice of Tim Berry, Founder and Chairman of Palo Alto Software and bplans.com, author, and a recent guest on LGK’s The Marketing Mojo Show. In his book, On Target: The Book on Marketing Plans, co-authored with Doug Wilson, Berry suggests:
The right tools will enable you to create a marketing plan that will effectively use your resources to attain your marketing goals and objectives. …Developing a marketing strategy with focus sets the foundation for your marketing plan.
In a guest commentary for the online community OPENForum, Berry uses the restaurant business as an example to describe five components of a successful marketing plan. Here are a few highlights.
- Market focus
You won’t find a restaurant that works for a baby boomer couple’s night out also working for families with small children. Choose. Divide and conquer.- Product focus
Product focus matches market focus. If you want baby boomers’ date nights, then serve good food. If you want families with kids, then serve food quickly, make the menu items relatively cheap and, of course, the food has to be safe.- Concrete, measurable specifics
A good marketing plan is full of dates and details. Strategy probably drives a good plan, but tactics, programs and details make the difference. As much as possible, the plan has to tie results back to activities and come up with hard numbers to measure those results. A restaurant cannot have vague goals like having the best-tasting food. It needs specifics that are related to marketing message, insertions, posts, tweets, dinners served, return visits, members of the e-mail list, reviews, stars and so forth.- Responsibility and accountability
The people executing the plan have to be accountable for measurable results. Failure has to hurt, and achievement has to be rewarded.- Reviews and revisions
Every successful marketing plan is actually a planning process, not just a plan. Things change too fast for static plans. A good marketing plan is part of a process that involves setting goals, measuring results and tracking performance. It entails regular review and revision.
Read the entire commentary at OPENForum.com.
Listen to Tim Berry’s interview on The Marketing Mojo Show here.
What’s your solution to marketing problems? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
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