| Ten Strategies for Small Business Marketing in Today's Economy |
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Lately I've heard a lot about the strategy to double your investment in marketing when times are tough as a way to gain market share. This is a great strategy, as long as you can afford it. Many of the small businesses and nonprofits I work with must cut expenditures and continue to thrive. This is why I wrote this article.
When running a small business, marketing is often the first thing to get cut during a tough economy. But that can be damaging to your brand and undermines the awareness you've worked hard to build. Instead it may be time to evaluate your marketing, perhaps make some cuts and but also try some new things. Here are ten strategies for marketing in tough times. 1. Analyze First
Sure, marketing can be hard to quantify. But now is the time to measure what you can and analyze what you can't measure directly. Perhaps add a special offer to any paid advertising or direct mail and see how many are redeemed. Track your web site traffic and email clicks to see what motivates your customers to click. 2. You Are Not Your Demographic
Don't assume anything about your customers. Find out. Send out an online survey. Find out what media they watch, read and listen to. Do they get information from online newsletters? How do they use the Internet? What do they think of your products and services? It's too easy to fall into assumptions about your targets. There are eight more... |
| Client Success - Media Relations |
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Most of the work of Beanstalk Marketing is strategic planning. Since these projects are difficult to share, here is an example of a media relations campaign.
Frontier Renewal, a brownfield redevelopment company, had recently purchased an abandonded paper mill in Parchment, Michigan. They wanted to build good will with the community and ensure a positive reaction at an Open House where they revealed renderings and development plans.
Beanstalk Marketing handled many aspects of the event including invitations and media relations. The result was 11 media hits covering the event including the front page of the daily paper, Kalamazoo Gazette, local television, radio and business journal coverage. Read the coverage.
"Due to Heidi's efforts with the media and planning the event, there was massive buzz around town as everyone was talking about our upcoming event. We had more than 150 people attend. It surpassed our expectations."
- Jeff Kroll, Frontier Renew |
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