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Channel: marketing small business | Heidi Richards, Business Leadership Speaker, Social Media Consultant
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Monday Morning Marketing Message

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"Monday Morning Marketing Message" Last week on HER Mastermind Network Dr. Leah Jackman-Wheitner, Ph.D. posted some thought-provoking questions to the group. The responses were interesting and helpful so I thought I’d post my responses here.

Q1. “What do you do to market when holding your head above the water is your primary goal?”

I think that if people are experiencing the negative impacts of the economy as far as their businesses are concerned then “holding your head above water” seems fitting. The most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS BE MARKETING ~ it is the #1 way to recession-proof your business. And #2 is something I was recently reminded of and that is when a marketing program is working well… keep doing it. I for one, will start something, see it through to a certain point and when I get bored with it will stop doing it. Our customers and clients EXPECT us to keep our name in front of them. When we don’t, they often forget about us and go elsewhere.

When times are tough I tend to get more involved locally to reaquaint others with my products and services. I give away samples and I offer incentives (not discounts per se). In February we created the Daisy Dollars program to reward customers who refer others to us. So far, we have invested about 3 hours coming up with and promoting the program and have seen at least a 10% increase in referrals since it’s implementation. And, we have sent the “Daisy Dollars™” to the referring parties and only one out of about 20 have redeemed them so far ($50 worth).

Note: Did you know that only about 5% of all discount offers, gift certificates ever get redeemed? I’m not sure that is good, because that may mean they are not coming back to you ~ so my next suggestion would be that if you keep track of who you send them to, then make it a part of your program to remind your clients of their incentive and ask them if they would like to redeem them? Since people forget they have them, they appreciate the reminder and you see an increase in business ~ and more importantly Referrals!

Q2. How do you pick and choose your marketing and networking commitments when time and energy are tight?

I choose those that have worked in the past as well as find fun new programs to showcase our products (see above answer). When time and energy are tight, it is just as important to market as not. If you are busy because of all your marketing efforts never think that it will last forever. Marketing is an ongoing effort. When times are good some people slack off on marketing and then wonder what happened when times get slow.

Q3. How do you know which activities are going to be best for you?

That is a tough question and the one marketers have asked since the beginning of time (or at least since there was something to be sold to someone who needed to buy…)

That’s why its so important to TEST the waters ~ if you are doubtful of the success of a program, test it on a small basis and see if it workings. If not, it gives you a chance to either modify the direction or plan or to drop it for something else. Before I do anything new I always run it by my mastermind group, my staff, a couple of friends I think will be impartial as well as my husband whom I consider my VOR (voice of reason). Sometimes I am so excited about a new program, I don’t fully analyze the cost versus benefits (ROI). Of course if it’s a very simple campaign that has a small financial investment to get off the ground such as the Daisy Dollars™ Program, I just run it by my staff

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