Marketing on a Shoestring Budget - October 2013

Marke&ng
on
a

Shoestring
Budget

What We’ll Cover Today
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages

2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics

3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers

4.
How
to
use
social
media

5.
How
to
be
more
strategic
with
everything

Think about your brand.
Get beyond the services list.
Define your brand identity. Get
beyond your services list to what
makes you different – an elevator
pitch could capture this.

World’s Best Elevator Pitch
I'm Mike Wolfe. And I'm Frank Fritz. And
we're pickers. We travel the back roads of
America looking to buy rusty gold.
We're looking for amazing things buried in
people's garages and barns. What most
people see as junk, we see as dollar signs.
We'll buy "anything" we think we can make
a buck on. Each item we pick has a history
all its own and the people we meet? Well,
they're a breed all their own.
We make a living telling the history of
America...one piece at a time.

Spy on your competitors:
What do they say about themselves?
How are you different?

Expand into a new market
Grow your customer base
Promote a new service
Sample goals

Identify & prioritize your
target markets
They can look very different and need different marketing
approaches and messages to reach effectively.
Good marketing is not one size fits all.

Adjust your message
for each market

Write your key messages for
each target group
 
RULE:
People
don’t
read

 
Bullet
lists,
not
paragraphs

 
Include
brand
diﬀeren6ators

 Incorporate
your
elevator
pitch

messages

Paid marketing won’t work if you
haven’t clearly spelled out why people
should consider your company.
Define different targets and have
customized messages for each.
Developing clear brand messages
SECTION REVIEW

Your website should be your
top priority.

Have a professional website
 This will serve as the central hub providing the
most complete information about your company
and directing people to social media channels.
 Does your website convey your brand and
messaging?
 Is the information current and accurate?
 Is it on par with or better than your competitors in
terms of design and quality of content?

Look at what your competitors
are including on their websites

Make sure your website clearly
and completely presents brand
messages and services
 Don’t let your uncle’s neighbor’s son’s
girlfriend do it – you have options!
 Ad Agencies/Web Development
companies/Freelancers
(will they be there for you after it is built?)
 You!

Shoestring budget?
Build your own website
 Benefit: low cost and can include
applications like photo galleries
 Drawback: depends on your time and
writing skills, cookie-cutter design

Marketing on a Shoestring Budget - October 2013

Make your site Mobile friendly
Building a site with Responsive Design is now an option - or
build a separate mobile website that can detect access by
mobile phones

Create a professional handout
  People don’t read

  Business cards or rack cards may be
enough if you have a good website –
primary purpose of many print materials
today is to drive to web or social media
  Include testimonials, if room permits

  Use low cost VistaPrint.com templates

Hundreds of designs by industry

Send out Press Releases
  Search “How to write a press
release” online
  Has to be newsworthy – launch
new products, announce
events, new staff, new account,
big project, awards
  A few times per year, if you are
lucky

What can you talk about?
  Company announcements
  New customers or completed projects
  New staff or staff stories
  Awards or achievements
  Customer stories
  Related business or community news
  Unsure? look at what others in your industry
are doing

The 3 Rules of Networking
Don’t heavy sell
It is like dating - ask questions
about them! (But watch for openings
to share info about yourself and your
business)
Don’t worry about how many people
you talk to, just make sure they are
good conversations

Speaking engagements
bring great visibility

Low cost ways to get in the
newspaper or publications
  Story ideas
  Build relationships with reporters
  Submit press releases to AL.com
  Some papers allow you to submit event
photos or community service project
photos (Decatur Daily: Happenings
column every Thursday)

Other low cost ideas
  Sponsorships and trades
  Community service publicity
  Door prizes at conferences

Have a professional website and a
professional handout:
Drive traffic and awareness through
Networking, press releases, and
speaking engagements
Doing the traditional basics
SECTION REVIEW

It costs
to get a new customer
vs. keep an existing
2%
10%
Customer

Reten&on
Costs

Customer profitability tends
to increase over the life of
a retained customer

Make your existing
customers feel special
 Quarterly phone calls or
e-newsletters
 Welcome notes, thank you notes,
holiday cards
 Purchase level recognition with
gifts
 Customer of the quarter gift cards

E-newsletters are a GREAT way to
stay in front of existing customers

Keep in touch with them – regularly!
Get more leads by asking for referrals
Generate leads and close more
business by asking for and using
testimonials
Leveraging your existing customers
SECTION REVIEW

What can you talk about?
  Company announcements
  Events
  New customers, products, or completed projects
  New staff or staff stories
  Awards or achievements
  Customer stories
  Related business or community news
  Unsure? look at what others in your industry
are doing

It is about ENGAGEMENT (and SEO)
WOW!
DID YOU
HEAR?
AWESOME!
COOL!

Cross share
content (and
have your
employees
share too) to
make it all
work!

Case Study #1:
  How a retailer is driving sales with in-store
events marketed through:
•  Facebook
•  Facebook Advertising
•  YouTube
•  E-Newsletters
•  Blog

Case Study #2:
  How Red Sage does SEO and builds top
of mind awareness with:
•  Facebook
•  Blog
•  LinkedIn
•  Twitter

  Showcase your work, recognize customers,
share knowledge, post specials, show
your company’s personality
  Share blog posts, YouTube videos, photos
  Link back to things on your website
  More complex: Embed “like” button on your
website or add html to your Facebook page
  Post several times a week – be personal!
Facebook Best Practices

  It’s made for business.
  Opens your networking circle and
identifies shared contacts for getting
introductions to prospects.
  Join and participate in groups
related to your target market.
  Request Testimonials
  Post weekly at a minimum
LinkedIn

Create a page for your business

Make sure all key employees have
profiles and actively build connections

Search for and actively participate in
industry groups locally, nationally,
internationally

LinkedIn groups are a great way to
monitor buzz and trends

  Not as broad a reach as Facebook
but still important
  Some industries more than others
  Search Twitter and “research” what
people are thinking about things (or
saying about your brand) – great
focus group
  Post daily or multiple times per day
Twitter

Using # and @ to
increase visibility
  Use @ to mention an organization or individual
by name – this shows up in their feed (and is
very desirable) @RedSageAL
  Use # to highlight topics to show up in searches
such as #PromDress #Marketing #Huntsville
  Create your own #hashtag for an event or
promotion such as #RiverFest2012 or
#SageAdvice – use to create buzz at an event

  Small audience – keep waiting for this to
get more important
  At a minimum, duplicate the posts you
are posting to Facebook or Twitter – but
best to build out like microsite – allows
photo galleries, videos, services pages,
more information than Facebook
  For some local businesses – may be
best way to show up on page 1 of
Google!
Google+

  Highly recommend starting to
incorporate video into your efforts, if
you are not already doing this
  It does not have to be perfect high
quality in many cases!
  Record events, new products, short
how-to’s, testimonials
YouTube

Showcase your facility,
equipment process, or product

  Create content to share across web and
all channels
  Increase the odds you will show up in
search engines – awesome SEO tool
  Drive traffic to your website
  Short articles – very personal,
conversational – your thoughts on your
business, your industry, your life
Blogging

REMINDER:
Cross share
content (and
have your
employees
share too) to
make it all
work!

CAUTION: Don’t start anything
you won’t continue long term

  Great free (or inexpensive) tools
for this:
•  CrowdBooster.com
•  TweetDeck
•  HootSuite.com
•  www.bufferapp.com for personal
Schedule ahead:

Give it time!
  It can take up to a year of diligent
work to see the results of good social
media participation
  A campaign can shorten this
timeframe considerably

Only start the channels that you are committed
to – and that match your audience
Try to engage people to respond or share as
much as possible through campaigns
Cross share content as much as possible
How to use Social Media
SECTION REVIEW

AUDIENCE
PRODUCT/SERVICE
MESSAGE
BEST
WAY
TO
REACH

General
Business
Branding,
print

design,
web
design,

marke6ng
&
social

media
consul6ng

We
can
help
you
be

more
strategic
with

your
marke6ng
so

you
get
results

Networking,
public

speaking,
sales
reps,

referral
program,

social
media

Economic
&

Community

Development

Organiza6ons

Web
design,
retail

recruitment
guides,

presenta6on

materials

We
can
help
your

community
aFract

the
aFen6on
of
site

selectors
and

retailers

Industry
Tradeshows,

sponsorships,

referral
program,
e-‐
newsleFers,
blog

Exis6ng
Customers
All
services
–
with
a

focus
on
new

services

Don’t
forget
we
can

help
you
with
a
wide

range
of
services

Direct
mail,
referral

programs,
e-‐
newsleFers,
calls

List each
Audience…
…and the service/
product you want to
provide each
…and the
message you
want to tell each
…and the
best ways to
reach each
Build your marketing strategy

What are your options?
  Associations and advertising opportunities
  Sponsorships
  Newspapers and local magazine ads
  Trade magazine ads
  Online advertising
  Networking – Chamber, WBCNA,
HASBAT, etc.

What are your options?
  Radio
  TV
  Billboard
  Social media
  Blogging
  Direct Mail
  Press Releases
  E-newsletters
  Speaking
engagements
  Promotional
products
  Etc. etc.

How do you choose?
  What can you consistently deliver? Is a
monthly e-newsletter realistic?
  What can you afford?
  Biggest rule: Have a presence in as
many places as possible within your
budget: a small ad four times is better than
a big ad once
  Spread out your visibility over time

Develop your 12 month plan and budget
Do date/pricing research for print ads, events. Then plug in around those.

Determine the best approaches
to deliver your message to
each target market, multiple
times throughout the year,
within your budget
Being strategic with your marketing
SECTION REVIEW

How do you know
if your marketing is
working?

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted,
and the problem is I don't know which half.
- Lord Leverhulme (British founder of Unilever)

Ways to track results
  Train your staff to ask all new callers – how
did you hear of us
  Traditional advertising (radio, print ads,
direct mail) tie in a trackable offer – bring
this in for a discount, mention this ad etc.
  Google Analytics, social media metrics, e-
newsletter metrics
  How many people tell you they saw your ad
  Sales volume or inbound calls volume

Bottom Line:
You don’t have to be perfect.
You just have to be better
than your competitors.

We are done!
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages

2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics

3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers

4.
How
to
use
social
media

5.
How
to
be
more
strategic
with
everything

Download this presentation at
www.slideshare.net/ellendid4
Please connect with me!
www.RedSageOnline.com
twitter.com/ellendidier
twitter.com/RedSageAL
facebook.com/redsage linkedin.com/in/
ellendidier

Marketing on a Shoestring Budget - October 2013

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget - October 2013