IN A PERFECT WORLD, YOU would have an unlimited budget to market your business in order to find new customers and increase sales. You could buy lots of online and offline advertising, run promotions to build traffic in store and online, and launch a proactive public relations campaign to increase your product or brand’s visibility and awareness.
But this isn’t a perfect world. Realistically, most small businesses and even many mid-sized firms have more great ideas on how to peddle their products than available resources.
So where do you start if you are looking to spread the word about your company? In this chapter, we’ll show you how to maximize your visibility without draining your bank account.
Before you can find new customers and increase sales, you need to understand who your customer is, what value proposition you offer to customers, what your competition is currently offering in the market, and where there are gaps for a new entrant. In other words, you need to do some market research—whether that means hiring an outside firm to do the legwork or trying to do it yourself. (See “Conducting Market Research,” page 113.)
“Attracting more customers is really about listening to their needs, not being a solution looking for a problem,” says Paige Arnof-Fenn, founder and CEO of Mavens & Moguls, a strategic-marketing consulting firm. “There are many existing problems out there that need to be solved, that customers are willing to pay for.”
When you understand your target audience, you can determine which key messages, features, and benefits matter to them. You can tell these customers how your business can help them solve their problems. For instance, “in order to have a customer go to your online shop, you have to find a reason why these customers want to come to you,” says Jerry Osteryoung, who has served as director of outreach for the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. “The value proposition has to be spelled out clearly.”
Here are a variety of age-old staple techniques and newer tools you can use to reach these customers.
1.Networking. These days, most people blend traditional and online techniques. You can meet new contacts the old-fashioned way, by getting involved in community organizations such as the chamber of commerce, or by attending business functions such as trade shows, and then follow up via LinkedIn and Facebook. Social functions—dinner invitations, book clubs, golf outings, etc.—can lead to potential business. Many businesses use online networks to make contacts through mutual friends or former colleagues.
2.Referrals and reviews. Here’s where you develop champions of your products. Use business contacts who have been happy with your products to help generate references and referrals. Once you have sold to them, customers can help you sell to others by offering positive testimonials. You can also start a “refer-a-friend” campaign, encouraging referrals with rewards or discounts. This technique also employs word-of-mouth marketing. Encourage happy customers to post reviews on sites like Yelp (although make sure you don’t offer incentives, which runs afoul of some review sites’ rules).
3.Affinity groups. Look at noncompetitive products or services that are reaching out to the same audiences to see if there are ways you can collaborate through shared outreach efforts such as newsletters, mailings (online and offline), or co-branding opportunities. You probably can uncover a handful of like-minded products or services that are talking to your customers. Suggest to these business owners ways your businesses can support each other. Your customers will see joint efforts as a value-added opportunity to reinforce their choice of brands.
4.Search engine optimization (SEO). There are all sorts of tools through which you can drive potential new customers to your website. SEO—using keywords and other techniques to make your site appear on the first page of listings on search engines—has become an art form. There are websites, such as Search Engine Watch, that will keep you updated about SEO strategies. There are, of course, paid SEO consultants who can help you with tricks and techniques, too. The top search engines are constantly updating their algorithms, so you need to monitor your website on a regular basis to make sure your keywords are leading customers to you. Make sure you are keeping your website up to date with fresh content so your customers come back often for more.
5.Cold calling. Most people (both the caller and the recipient) dislike cold calling, but there are ways to make it effective, says business coach Gordon Tredgold. “I appreciate that this may seem so obvious, but getting the right person on the line is critical, because your offer is only going to resonate and be relevant for the right customer,” he says. “You need to do a bit of homework, check out their role, their responsibility—the better you can do this the more comfortable you’re going to be making the call.” He also recommends having a simple script and a clear objective that doesn’t seem overly aggressive.
6.Advertising. Historically, businesses are encouraged to spend 3 to 5 percent of their revenue on advertising, but a small business needs to make sure that advertising is effective, Osteryoung says. One way to do this is to ask your customers where they heard about you so that you can measure what is effective. In addition, carefully pick your markets for advertising to make sure you’re reaching your target audience. If you’re targeting an older audience, print ads might still be the way to go. But if it’s Gen X or millennials you’re after, you may be better off advertising online. Google’s advertising system (AdWords), still the dominant player, requires time and money—but businesses of all types and sizes say it’s time and money well spent. Social media (more on that shortly) is supposed to be free—and it is—but “boosting” a post on Facebook or promoting a tweet can greatly increase your reach and bring new customers and followers.
Market research runs the gamut from very simple qualitative research to in-depth quantitative analysis.
It can be done very quickly and inexpensively by sending surveys to your existing or potential customers using one of the many online survey tools, such as SurveyMonkey. You can also get to know the target audience by looking at existing sources of information—from the U.S. Census Bureau or other government agencies, from trade associations, or from third-party research firms.
Depending on the questions you are trying to answer and your research budget, your market research can involve more extensive interviews with customers and qualitative studies on how target customers feel about your business, its products, and its services.
Certain products and services may appeal to one audience but not to another, so understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in your target market is critical. You can get to know your customers and segment the market any number of ways including by:
Demographics—statistical data on a population including income levels, age, etc.
Psychographics—the attitudes and tastes of a certain demographic.
Ethnographics—examination of particular cultures.
Buying habits—how, what, and where customers purchase products and services.