Low Cost Marketing Strategies

10 Low Cost Marketing Strategies by: Felena Hanson

Preview The Three Rules of Marketing Low Cost Tactics Plan, Execute, Measure Resources

"Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.” American Marketing Association “ Marketing is the core business philosophy which directs the processes of identifying and fulfilling the needs of individuals and organizations through exchanges which create superior value for all parties.” World Marketing Association “ Marketing is the management process for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” Chartered Institute of Marketing What is Marketing? Solving customers' problems profitably Anything you do to get your product/service in the hands of the right customer or

The Ground Rules of Marketing

Small biz has the advantage - talk directly to your customer What is your customers’ pain? How can you solve it? Invite best customers out to a nice lunch and ask them for an informal appraisal Why do they give you their business? What can you do better? Rule # 1 of Marketing... You MUST find out what your customers value before you plan your marketing strategy Know Your Customer

If you try to be known for EVERYTHING you’ll be remembered for NOTHING

Positioning is imperative! Too much clutter! We only remember a few brands for every category Rule # 2 of Marketing... Focus, Focus, Focus! We Can Do Everything! What are you known for? CARS Safe Economical Luxurious Tough Fun Durable Runs Forever Holds Value Good 4 Environment Low Maintenance Fast Mid-Life Crisis

It costs 7 times more to EARN a new customer than to KEEP an existing customer Rule # 3 of Marketing... Place the majority of your focus on growing and gaining referrals from EXISTING customers Cultivate What You Have

What is your Strategy? Rule #2 - Focus Turn to the person next to you to discuss and note: What position do you want to occupy in the market?

After you have a complete grasp on the 3 rules of marketing... Plan Tactics Set Goals

Traditional Tactics We Don’t Make Time For

What people say about you is 10x more impactful than what you say about yourself 1. Get Your Customers Talking Encourage customers to talk behind your back http://www.yelp.com/sandiego - local businesses http://sandiego.citysearch.com - local businesses http://sandiego.kudzu.com - local businesses www.epinions.com - products Ask for a written testimonial from every client Use in your marketing communications

Whenever a customer compliments you... "I'm so pleased you're happy with my work. Do you know anyone else who can benefit from my services?” Make referrals part of your initial agreement "If I do a great job for you--and I will-- will you agree to give me X number of referrals?” 2. Ask & You Shall Receive Follow-up is a must! Offer Incentives discounts on future business free samples cash Create a referral form and send with your invoice

Get to know the writers Read their columns Play off recent news Story Ideas New Product, Service, Store Land big contract/client Local girl makes big Survey results Tips/How to Charity Be Specific Website Designer - 8 Ways to Generate Buzz Like Apple Realtor - Secret Tips to Sell your Home in Less than 30 Days 3. Tell Your Story TARGET - What do your customers read, watch, listen to? Track it for FREE: www.google.com/alerts See appendix for more info

Many Ezines are hungry for content "syndicator" sites - publishers can select these articles for their own websites and newsletters, provided they include your bio - most are free! www.ezinearticles.com www.ideamarketers.com www.goarticles.com PR Rules Inform, DON’T sell Be available Plan ahead Make the writers job easy Submit Direct or Syndicate Takes time and persistence, but can pay off big time!

Marketing 2.0 Tactics with Big Bang & Little Cost

Every customer contact is a branding opportunity! Email Address - [email_address] Signature Line Outbound Marketing Campaigns Quarterly newsletters Advertise specials Provide useful information Get permission - don’t SPAM! Can get fined and black-listed 4. No More Snail Mail Use a Email Management System Example: www.ConstantContact.com Landing Page Tracking Timing is Key Test your Subject Line

Organic Search vs. Pay Per Click Keywords Find out what are people looking for? https:// www.wordtracker.com/trial Shows Related searches that include your term Estimated number of times that term was searched on last month Use in page content, titles and meta tags Links Outgoing Incoming Submit Target top search engines 5. The Search is ON

Optimize for Google Submit your site - www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl More free tools - http://bizsolutions.google.com/services/ See appendix for more info Google currently has 60% of market. Some say they will have 90% in the near future.

Local Web Search is the new buzz... Virtual reputation will be a major contributor to marketing success - ties into tactic #1 Provide great service to your customers and this will in turn get you more customers 6. The Yellow Pages are Dead Need help? www.localpull.com http://local.google.com http://local.yahoo.com http://local.live.com www.local.com www.insiderpages.com www.switchboard.com/ http://sandiego.citysearch.com http://sandiego.kudzu.com

Start your own blog - host on your website Gives customers a reason to come back Keep it updated Invite others Join other blogs that have the eye of your customer Like going to a dinner party - find a way into the conversation Resources typepad.com blogger.com wordpress.com 7. Blogging All the Way to the Bank Podcast - Turn text into streaming audio readspeaker.com audiodizer.com http://new.talkr.com feed2podcast.com Not sure where to begin... blog search - www.blogsearch.google.com / www.technorati.com

8. U - G - C Invite customers to broadcast their love Create a contest UGC is also Google-Juice! Host customer reviews on your site www.powerreviews.com Customer forums - like a directed blog Example: www.woot.com/forums Can use: www.setbb.com Only 6% believe you... Forrester Research

Approximately 100 social networking sites Business sites include: www.linkedin.com - 12.5 million users www.APsense.com - targeted home-based biz www.ryze.com www.ecademy.com www.ojeez.com Can’t just sign up and forget about it Don’t disregard www.myspace.com & www.facebook.com If targeting anyone under 35 Get your 15 year old niece to do it for you! 9. Get Social Also try www.boomj.com for BB generation

Offer free or low-cost courses to educate your customers on issues that matter to them (See Marketing Rule #1) Where? Onsite Through SCORE, SBA, WBCC Go Digital Low Cost Webinars http://planetteleclass.com www.cculearning.com Post a calendar of classes on your website - Free tools - Google - www.google.com/intl/en/googlecalendar/overview.html - RSS Calendar - www.rsscalendar.com/rss/ 10. Knowledge is Power

Marketing Killers Saying too much One or two key messages 2. Being inconsistent Communicate often and predictably 3. Changing your message IMC 4. Not tracking and measuring tactics What will you spend your marketing budget on next year? Be patient - just like relationships... Marketing takes persistence and dedication

Apply Your Knowledge Partner with a person at your table with whom you’ve not spoken Use the chart on the following page to begin sketching out your action plan for tactics 5 - 10

Plan, Execute, Measure Tactic How When Results 1. Testimonials 2. Referrals 3. Public Relations 4.Community Relations 5. Email Management 6. Search Engine Optimization 7. Local Search 8. Blogging 9. Social Networking 10. Education

Questions? I welcome feedback! [email_address] 619-889-7852

Websites www.knowthis.com www.inc.com/resources/marketing http://startup.wsj.com/howto/marketingsales www.quickmba.com/marketing www.wilsonweb.com Books Marketing That Works: How Entrepreneurial Marketing Can Add Sustainable Value to Any Sized Company - by Leonard M. Lodish, Howard L. Morgan, and Shellye Archambeau Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking - by Andy Sernovitz and Guy Kawasaki The Ultimate Marketing Plan: Find Your Hook. Communicate Your Message. Make Your Mark - by Dan S. Kennedy 401 Killer Marketing Tactics to Maximize Profits, Increase Sales and Stomp Your Competition - by Tom Feltenstein Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk! - Al Ries Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business - Jay Conrad Levinson Resources

Resources: 101 Marketing Tactics 800 Phone Number Ad Words by Google Ad Tracking Affiliate Marketing Articles Auctions Audio Marketing Auto responders Award Recognition Banner Ads Bartering Birthday Reminders Blogging Bonus Offers Bookmarks Brochures Business Cards Case Studies Cause Marketing Community Events Contests Courses Cross Promotion Customer Loyalty Programs Direct Mail Discussion Groups Domain Names Ebay Ebooks Eclass Email Marketing Endorsements Exclusives Ezines Feedback forms Follow-up Marketing Forums & Newsgroups Freebies Guarantees Holidays Interviews Joint Ventures Keywords Link Strategies List Building Mailing Lists Magazine Advertising Mastermind Groups Membership sites Network Marketing News feeds Newsletters Newspaper advertising Niche Marketing Phone consulting Pop Ups Postcards Posters Postscript (PS) Presentations - PP, Flash Private Label Private Sites Public Relations Public Speaking Publicity Publishing Radio Internet Referral Marketing Reports Reviews Rewards Programs RSS Sales letters Search engine optimization Seminars Signature files Signs Speaking Engagements Special Events Surveys Sweepstakes Syndication Talk Shows Tele-Seminars Testimonials Thank You pages Tips Toolbars Training Translation Troubleshooting Tutorials Unsubscribe message Up-selling Videos Viral Marketing Voicemail Web Site Design Welcome or confirmation message Word of Mouth Yellow Pages

Low Cost Marketing Strategies

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Low Cost Marketing Strategies