The All-Important Marketing Plan

Many small businesses conduct their marketing without having a marketing plan.  This is a lot like trying to drive to a distant location without a map, GPS, or directions.  Odds are that you won't get where you want to go!

A marketing plan does not have to be a major headache.  Everything starts with the simple question "what is it that I want to accomplish?" It may be to increase sales by some percentage, or to expand the customer base, or to introduce a new product or service.  We now know the destination.

The plan then moves to "how" and that can take two parts.  One, like choosing a route to a distant city, involves the vehicle.  We know that our ultimate route will vary if we choose, like in our example, car, bus, railroad, or plane.  Here will be a question of doing it yourself, or hiring an appropriate professional.  The second part is the channel or channels.  Do you advertise?  try face to face marketing? and so on.  Those channels should be chosen for their efficiency in doing the job.  Just as you wouldn't drive your car on a river, we wouldn't, say, reach out to, say, health care decision makers by advertising on Nick at Night.

Lastly the plan should include consideration of success.  What does "success" mean?  what measurements (or metrics) will be used to define whether the plan leads to success or not?

Bottom Line:  When you take a journey, you must plan.  Define the destination, the means of getting there, and what will determine the journey's success.  Good luck!  You are one step closer to your objectives!

30 Second Commercial Needs To Be Fresh

As I network, I listen intently to others' "30 second commercials" and "30 second elevator speeches".  As I have noted before these vary in quality.  Another matter I notice is repetition.  There is sometimes a place for it, but it does pay to freshen the text regularly.

In my thinking, a standard 30-second spot is perfect for known first contact situations, almost certainly in 1:1 environments like "speed dating".  Those are absolutely cases where a first impression makes a huge difference.  And in such cases the most polished delivery works for you.

Then there are networking groups, leads groups, BNI clubs, and more.  Here, repetition of the same thing is deadly.  I have reached the point in mine where I can almost reproduce some others' "30 second commercial" word-for-word.  These poor folks have become wind-up monkeys and I see others tune out.  I really enjoy speakers who always have something new to say, perhaps another way they helped someone, or a new fact that makes their service compelling, or a new way of understanding what they do.  For the fresh-deliveries, in no cases is the core message changing.  It is reinforced by supporting detail.  

A great question for all of us.  How fresh is our "30 second commercial"?  Are people tuning in or tuned out?

LinkedIn is a Can't Miss Opportunity if Used Well

I periodically hear talk in "solopreneur" circles about LinkedIn as a marketing tool.   This particular tool seems to have equal shares of advocates and detractors.  The latter crowd often seem to be populated with those who have had exposure to LinkedIn and didn't get the results they wanted.

LinkedIn is a great tool.  But it is a specialized tool.  Many detractors think it is a venue for sales, and that is exactly what it is not!  Nor is it an especially good way to generate B2C activity (i.e. Business-to-Consumers).

What LinkedIn does pretty well is idea-sharing.  And that comes from the theory that a good way to feed a network is to share ideas, concerns, and solutions.  I have regulars who post multiple items every day.  That may be a bit on the high side, but it is not off the mark by much.  By posting these easily digestible nuggets a solopreneur, or any other businessperson, can establish expertise, authority and most importantly that reminder that you are there, helping people with their challenges.

My principal concern for those posters I see most often is that they over-do "sharing": If articles or other writings are shared, at least do so with a context.  And for heaven's sake, limit those shared Internet memes!

Bottom line: Are you ready to put LinkedIn to work for your business?  Build that network, make appropriate connections, and regularly share valuable content.  You can plant seeds that grow in wonderful ways!

Does Email Marketing Have Enough Pep?

I have found there to be considerable disagreement in my circles about the use of email marketing for small business.  Is email marketing still a good bet?

On the plus side, email remains highly affordable (even free in most circumstances), easy to use, easy to customize, and easy to respond to.   On the minus side, email can be very impersonal and many consumers have abandoned email in favor of texting and other formats.

Email lists are also not hard to build.  Adroit use of web site, requests to customers at time of purchase, and social media offers can quickly build substantial lists.  These solid, opt in lists make for especially promising ROI.

I am not especially concerned about reports of email's demise.  This has been the claim for some years now and email remains a widespread channel, albeit one that is inconsistently read by quite a few consumers.  Moreover, in replacing email we would want something with greater or equal reach, and that has not yet happened.

However, email boxes are quite full for the average consumer, so getting inside with the right subject line and offer is critical.

Bottom Line:  Email marketing will continue to be a strong choice for small business.  This channel has a meaningful return on investment and enormous reach, and can be customized quite well.  But it is important to use appropriate and appealing messaging.

Stories Go With Everything!

I enjoy watching some of the "food entertainment" shows and am increasingly fascinated with how bacon can be used to supplement or enhance any dish or meal.  At a networking group meeting today, while I enjoyed some bacon, the thought occurred to me that there is a bacon, of sorts, for marketing.  That would be stories.  

Human beings are drawn to stories and use them to amplify or illustrate ideas.  The earliest stories we know helped our ancestors understand weather, astronomical events and physical phenomena.  Stories can improve any message from sermons to political ads to pitches for products and services.  We connect with stories in an intuitive way.

Small businesses can greatly enhance their own marketing presentations with the use of stories.  For example, how a customer was helped with your product or service, or how you developed the inspiration for your business, or how you feel when you help customers.

Bottom Line: How can you tell stories that will touch or inspire customers, and to connect them with you?  Are you missing the chance to enhance your messages with "bacon"?

Whither Radio?

In a long career I have heard my share of advertisements on radio.  This is a marketing channel that's made inroads for several decades and is vastly more cost effective than television, although a good radio schedule can be daunting for the smallest businesses.  Radio reach and demographics can be appealing.  But is a particularly challenging medium.

The key to a good radio spot is the voice over.  A well chosen vocal artist can enhance the content in the spot.  A poor one can be disastrous.  I have heard far too many spots in which the business owner, or a surrogate from their company, does the voice work and the result is often appalling.

Content is also critical.  A poorly chosen word can doom the ad.  It's necessary to steer a careful course between overly stentorian and overly juvenile. Yes, I have heard both extremes.  And please (!) avoid too graphic one's text.

Bottom Line:  Radio can be a good choice, but it needs to be done very carefully to avoid annoying the listener.  If professional assistance can't be obtained in making the best possible spot, I recommend choosing a safer medium.

Got Tough Location?

We all know that there is a tough choice for small businesses choosing a physical location for their store or office:  optimize visibility? or optimize cost?  Like it or not, most owners end up with affordable but often invisible locations. And aggressive advertising promoting the location is usually beyond reach. So what to do?

Sometimes "second level" advertising works.  I know business owners who deploy sidewalk signs visible from roads, or well labeled vehicles in adjacent parking lots.  Much depends on circumstances, but again visibility is limited to observant, nearby persons.   But it's a start.

Handouts, flyers and other physical notices are good.  I have also seen some use "mailbox" notices (usually taped to the side of mailboxes) to great effect.  Consider how easily you can get these in the hands of your target market and what you can afford to print.  Remember that the paper must go to someone who is a target customer!  This might be a great summer job for a diligent teenager.

Social media can be a great helper.  Post news about specials, or special events at your location and politely ask your social media friends and followers to let others know, especially if there are incentives to visit (anything from sales to free food).  Customers who already love you will be happy to let others know about you.

Finally, look at a partnership with an adjacent but compatible business, or two.  By combining advertising resources it is easier to get the word out.  Again, focus on a special event of some kind to incentivize customers to visit both of you.

Bottom Line: a tough location is not an insurmountable obstacle.  There are low-cost tools and techniques that can help you overcome and build a loyal following.