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The small business marketing strategy you can’t afford to miss
Everyone loves a story. Even if you don’t particularly like reading them chances are you love watching them, either on TV or at the movies. Imagine if your marketing literature was like a great story: people would read it from beginning to end for one thing (as opposed to just throwing it straight into the bin), and they’d be more likely to tell their friends about it, too. Your small business marketing could be famous! Well, maybe

Ok, so “famous” may be stretching it a little. By telling an interesting story, though, your marketing can at least make your small business well know in your local area or industry. But how do you do it?

Small business marketing through stories

In the same way that everyone loves to hear a story, most people have one to tell. You may not think it, but it’s true. Your story may never make it onto the bestseller lists, but it can certainly help jazz up your marketing. Think about it. Just what was it that made you decide to start up your own small business in the first place? Whether it was a terrible boss, a personal crisis, or just the perfect eureka moment, I bet your story is one that you love to tell. It’s probably a lot more interesting than most of the “corporate speak” sales pitches most people use in their small business marketing, too.

Using your personal story as part of your small business marketing
No matter what your story is, you can use it to great effect in your small business marketing by including it in your email newsletter, on your website, in your blog, or as part of your sales letters. This does two things:

1. Your story helps “personalize” you. Next time your customer sees your name on an invoice or at the bottom of a sales letter, they’ll remember your story. You’re no longer part of a faceless business venture: you’re a real person, with a real story. This not only helps your stand out from your competitors, it also makes you easier to trust.

2. Your story makes you memorable. Say your small business start-up story involves you being laid-off from your job in a factory, only to start up a similar business on your own. Next time your customers are watching the news and hear something about lay-offs (or even factories, for that mater!), they’ll remember you and your small business. In this way, your marketing is working for you all the time - even when you don’t expect it to.

Finding your small business marketing story

Of course, actually finding your story is the hard part. If you’re having trouble, try brainstorming. Pick up a piece of paper and a pen and write down everything you can think of that relates to you and your business, however tenuously. If you’ve set up a business with your spouse, for example, tell the story of how you met, and tie it up with the line “who would have thought we’d end up running our own business together?” The great thing about using your personal story as part of your marketing strategy is that your story doesn’t even have to be about your small business at all; it can just be about you.

What’s your story?

Amber McNaught is co-owner of Hot Igloo Productions Ltd. - the small business specialists. Hot Igloo offer a range of services to businesses, including website design, public relations, internet marketing, copywriting and more. Visit their website at: http://www.hotigloo.co.uk

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I recently came across an entrepreneur who was very interested in learning where
publicity and marketing strategy fit into the end result of more sales. His question
was very valid as many unintentionally confuse marketing and publicity with sales.

So what’s the difference? Publicity is all about the ”buzz’, the word that
gets out about you, your company, your cause, or the great work you do. It is about
getting the story out. Publicity backs up marketing and sales because it initiates
the whole process of converting the public to your way of thinking. It makes them
aware of who you are. Afterall, how is someone expected to purchase your services
if they do not even know you? Do not fall into the trap of going for the sale without
getting your name known first.

Publicity is just as much about getting your name known as it is about building
credibility. Human psychology states often enough that if others see value in an
idea, your prospects and prospect market will as well.

Marketing on the other hand, works on the presumption that your prospect market
is already aware of who you are. It takes an established and recognized brand one
step further to action for your prospect. Marketing effectively plays to an emotional
or sometimes logical reasoning of why the public should buy what you have to say.

Both of these concepts are essential yet unique in the eventual development of
sales.

In order to make your product/service or organization a household name, you need
to learn and master each phase effectively. Before going off to sell your services,
follow each of the steps in the inverted pyramid.

The inverted pyramid theory works on the premise that all sales or motivations take
place first with getting the word out. In other words, publicity. From there, marketing takes over. It is only once these considerations are in place that sales or
the actual ”closing” of a deal can occur.

Beginning with a strategy of how you wish to brand your organization through to
the publicity you need , all require individual efforts before people begin ‘knocking
down your door”.

Once your satisfied, give some serious thought to the marketing materials you’ll
want to use when people start asking for more information. And above all, never
stop reviewing and testing your brand.

Mark Buzan is the owner of Action Strategies: http://www.action-strategies.ca, a public
affairs & marketing communications consultancy. You can subscribe now to his
monthly PR tips newsletter by visiting and dropping down the “newsletter” menu. You
can also subscribe to his blog: http://actionstrategies.blogspot.com.

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Small & Mid Sized Business owners, have you revisited your marketing strategy lately? Your Marketing ROI? Some of you have spent this past year just trying to get bymaintaining the web site, sending out occasional press releases, attending various networking events. Yes, you’ve endured our slow-to-grow economy, but how far have you deviated from your marketing strategy in order to survive? And to correct your approach, what new marketing programs should you add and what should you do first?

Simplify what seems like an overwhelming task by asking the following questions:

1. Has my competitive landscape changed over this past year? Like so many companies, you probably haven’t spent much time evaluating your competition over the past year, but instead relied on what could be outdated assumptions. Before you can identify the right marketing strategy, you must take another look at your competitors. Are their any new players on the block? Has anyone disappeared? It’s time to create a new competitor list, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each one. How are they positioning themselves? Can you determine what makes them unique? Once you have these answers compiled, outline your strategy against each competitor. Write down your competitive rant (why a prospect should choose your company over the competitor). Circulate these findings to your team for their input and buy-off.

At the end of this exercise you should understand the following: Where is my competition currently marketing? What are they doing well? Who are they targeting? How are they positioned? How do I position against them…or with them?

2. Is my target market still the same? During difficult economic times, many companies abandon their target market strategy completely. Watching the pipeline dry up prompts even the most steadfast to relinquish their strategic approach and start trying to sell to everyone, everywhere. Not only does this weaken the marketing programs you do implement, it makes you lose your focus and forget whom you should truly be targeting for long-term success.

Before you determine what your marketing plan is, re-examine your target market. Supplement your existing customer data with a little market research. Check online at trade associations and market research firms for free information that provides insights into industry trends. Once you have re-established your market, create a detailed profile for each of the following: who purchases your product or service, who influences the purchase of your product or service, and who uses your product or service. Your profile should have enough detail around it that you could source a prospect list from it to support your marketing programs.

At the end of this exercise you should understand the following: Who is my customer? Who are their influencers? Which of my products/services are they likely to buy? Where do they go to get their information?

3. Is my company and product/service positioning still relevant? You may have unknowingly diluted your company’s positioning over time. When leads are hard to come by, companies understandably (but unfortunately) try to be everything to everyone in order to win the business. It is time to restate what you bring to the table, that is truly unique, and how that uniqueness benefits your customer.

Correct any confusion you may have created over who you are, what it is you do, who you do it for, and why people should buy from you. Create 25, 50, and 100-word statements that describe these elements in a succinct fashion. Once you have this determined for your company, create clear, concise descriptions for each of your products and services. Using this positioning consistently throughout the year will correct any misconceptions about what you offer and explain why your customers should buy from you.

At the end of this exercise you should understand the following: Does my positioning statement clearly (Remember clear is always better than cute) communicate what makes my company different from the competition? Does it state how my offering can solve the pain they are experiencing?

Once you have reassessed your competition, reevaluated your target market, and recreated your positioning language, you will have the strategic foundation you need to determine the marketing programs you need to implement in your marketing plan. This information will help you choose relevant and appropriate marketing vehicles, and then establish solid priorities.

Think, Strategize, Act and COMMUNICATE.

Laura Aldridge is CEO of Aldridge Corporation, a minority, woman-owned strategic marketing communication & public relations firm. Big deal. That title sounds powerful, but don’t be fooled. She readily admits you might catch her in the line of a local Los Angeles area store, playing with her husband and kids at the lake, coaching her daughter’s cheerleading squad, watching youth football practices, or art show.

And on occasion she finds time to write articles on various topics, writing training material for technology based applications, speak at a conference or two, designing just about anything for almost anybody, making calls and trying to get her client’s all the press and exposure they can handle, and serve on the board of directors for some great organizations. She’s worked for a couple of great companies that saw the value of her ideas and style; she has won an award or two. But don’t let the “powerful” title trick you; she’s just “Laura” to most people.

Aldridge Corporation
20955 Pathfinder Rd, Suite 105
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
888.312.1923 (tollfree)
http://www.aldridgecorp.com

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