Marketing Best Practices for Small Business

BEST PRACTICES:: Small Business Marketing Best Practices

Marketing for small buiness is very different than marketing for large, established corporations. The stakes are higher. The expectations are clear and precice. What seperates the men from the boys is the Big Idea, or the strategic spark of wisdom that makes campaigns exceeed all expectations.

Here are a few to get you started:

Personalized TV Ads?

We’re closer than you think.

Currently, digital cable/satellite TV allows for user interactivity, specifically on-demand movies. There is an opportunity here for some technically-minded advertisers. What if TV ads we’re allowed the same level of interactivity and personalization?

Imagine if, around dinner-time, a commercial came on the TV for Pizza Hut. However, rather than just promoting pizza to a mass audience, what if it marketed it to YOU?

“The evidence is now beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Scott Anderson of Wells Fargo & Company for the Wall Street Journal.

According to a study conducted by the Wall Street Journal in early March, 70% of economist said that the economy is in a recession. What does that mean for your business?

A lot of people think that designers charge too much money for something just to “look pretty”. Being a designer is very different from being an artist and the two are often confused.

So who do you look for when you need a website for your small business? You don’t want to pay an outrageous fee for something you don’t know if it will generate business, but you don’t want your business to look unprofessional. You are left with the questions: Can my website sell my product? Convey the integrity and expertise of my business?

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday slashed its key interest rate to a three-year low and signaled more reductions are likely, unloading heavy artillery in its effort to keep the credit crunch from triggering a prolonged recession.

The three-quarter-percentage-point rate cut, though extremely aggressive by any historical measure, was still seen as a pulled punch by Wall Street analysts who believe it will take a full percentage point cut. This is another sign of the severity of a situation that has already claimed Bear Stearns and forced Fed officials to use Depression-era tools.

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Really Alternitive Media

Look for "really alternative media" to cut through the barrage of other marketing messages and position your business squarely in the sights of your ideal buyer. You don’t even have to look that hard, but rather think laterally.

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Return on Marketing Investment

Most people have a hard time looking at marketing as anything but a dreaded cost of doing business. There's a move afoot, however, to change the way we look at marketing from a cost, to an investment.

It’s a little difficult to make that leap in logic, but let us lay it out for you. [read more]

The Holy Grail of Marketing

1 to 1 marketing or the ability to send your highly-relevant, personalized marketing communications to prospects as if you where speaking to them specifically, is often referred to as "the Holy Grail" of marketing.

This is easier said than done. [read more]

What's the Point of Marketing?

Mention "marketing" at a cocktail party and you'll most likely be met with blank stares.
Tell someone you're a doctor, a lawyer, an architect, or a plumber and people have a pretty good idea what it is that you do. This is not the case with marketing. The problem is, few people understand what marketing is and those that do understand often don’t see the point.

So, what is the point of marketing? [read more]

"Gotcha" Marketing

Bob Sullivan recently published "Gotcha Capitalism". While Bob’s got it right that we’ve become used to rip offs however, “Gotcha” is less about capitalism and more about marketing.

Here's the deal. [read more]

Trade Show Do's and Don'ts

Justin Downey Marketing's top 12 do's and don'ts list for your next exhibition.

Some might surprise you. [read more]

Blogging and Beyond

There are hordes of blogs on the Internet, but like most things that have become cost-effective and easy to learn, few are done well. There are three keys to developing something that goes beyond your nephew's blog, or page of links but becomes a valuable resource to your prospective customer base. The three keys to developing a great blog are: content, consistency and community.

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Marketing Customer Service

“Customer service” is one of those things that’s as over-used as it is rarely delivered upon. To give you a starting place on your path from good customer service to great customer service here’s our “7 Sure-fire Paths to Great Customer Service” and a few keys to marketing your new-found level of service.

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