Business Monitor 21st century marketing
Marketing for small businesses has moved on in the 21st century. The recession that began in 2008 hammered local press and radio so many businesses found better, more effective options. Marketing expert, Paul, Clapham, reports.
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hereʼs some really good news attached to this: quite a lot of these options are free or at least low cost, two price points that are very popular. Not only that, you can do a fair share of it sitting at your desk. Whatʼs not to like? If you havenʼt got a website, get one. Equally if your existing site is seriously in need of updating get it done. In both cases I would strongly recommend using a professional. A poorly produced amateur site harms your reputation from the off. Thatʼs the point – ever more people source business products and services on the web to start with.
No website = no enquiries So no website equals no enquiry and a
duff site means essentially the same when prospective customers have found you. Never forget that this person is hunting for your service/products and that they have huge choice at their fingertips. Insist that your designer teaches you how to do basic updates – new staff, new brands, new contact details, pics of new products from suppliers etc. Once youʼve got or have updated your site, do some SEO – search engine optimisation. This could be done by the same expert as above, but a real SEO specialist could well be a good idea. If Google and other search engines canʼt find you, thereʼs not much point creating or improving a website to start with. A well-designed site will include all the necessary hooks to attract search engines, but to help your expert, be clear in your own mind about what prompts you want to bring customers to you. Be specific: fewer and better enquiries is usually good news.
Social media
Learn how to use social media and find out which such media your customers are active on. Donʼt just assume itʼs Facebook; this is a constantly moving target. If you have young staff, Iʼll bet one or more is a social media whizz – get them to do it for you, unless you enjoy posting. You have to do it regularly, you need to be fresh, to have a story to tell. Copy the style of someone else whose posts you enjoy.
Selling emails are the best value, most convenient marketing tool ever created, so aim to use them regularly. As long as your emails are fresh and interesting, you
| 22 | January 2019
can send lots - one contact sent me an interesting email every day for a month without annoying me. Focus effort on the subject box to get your email opened – put the recipientʼs first name there – it escapes. Donʼt send to 10,000 people on the same day – how would you cope if they all responded or even just 1%? Do your research. Hereʼs a simple definition of marketing: find out what people want and sell it to them at a price youʼre both happy with. So you have to do the finding out first. You can do this by phone, email, in person or all three. Yes, it can be embarrassing talking to strangers but no research is far worse. If you avoid doing your research (and
donʼt keep it up to date) you could be selling last yearʼs products. You could be charging at below what customers expect to pay. You could be trying to communicate with them on a social media platform they have abandoned. The time and money spent on research will be peanuts compared to the potentially lost business in that trio. Create events at your premises. Every business should aim to bring customers to their door, especially if they have retail siting. This is a classic case for involving
your suppliers, indeed, some of them may have a budget to support your activity – negotiate smartly!
Have a clear set of objectives, not least who you will invite and when. I would suggest first thing in the morning and offer to feed them breakfast, or the end of the day. In either case you would be shortening their working day which tends to be popular.
The next generation Stay aware of the next generation.
Teens have lots of events in their lives, some of which could prompt purchases of printwear. Straight after A level results ʻfour grade As and Iʼm going to Oxford to save you askingʼ might get firmly up some noses, but what was all the hard work for if nobody knows? Same applies to GCSE results, acceptance onto a degree
apprenticeship, passing the driving test and a dozen similar prompts.
I recommend you start by talking to their parents, i.e. your existing clients (the bank of mum and dad will probably be paying for this in any case) and mum and dad will in most cases be pleased to blow their offspringʼs trumpet.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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