Small Business Marketing
Insider-advice on small business marketing to help give you a competitive edge and a better return on your time and money spent on marketing your business.
1. All companies, large and small, have the same marketing goals
Every company wants to get customers, keep customers, get existing customers to buy more, fire unprofitable customers and create customer advocates.
Since everyone has the same goals, success in marketing is about what you choose to do and how well you implement or execute against those goals.
- Marketing Planning and Strategy - how-to guides and templates
2. It's better to do a few things well, than a hundred things poorly
Focus on mastering the marketing basics that are needed to retain and attract profitable new customers or clients. Then focus on developing a winning marketing strategy, one thing that you can be known for.
- Small Business Marketing Must Do List - Here are the twelve most important priorities for small business marketing to help you get the best return on your time and money, along with how-to guides to get this done!
3. Small business marketing Job #1 should be customer/client satisfaction
Here are the top reasons customers never return to give you repeat business:
- They have a bad experience
- They don't feel special, important, or valued
- They are not encouraged (reminded) to return or buy again
- They bought on a price off deal and don't see the value of the full price product/service
4. Marketing Job #2 should be nurturing and creating brand fans and customer advocates who share positive word-of-mouth with others
You want your customers to be so satisfied that they proactively share positive word-of-mouth about your company, products, services and/or employees. Why is this so important? It's now easier than ever for people to share positive (and negative) stories about their experiences. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, forums) has given everyone a microphone to reach a much wider audience.
- Word of Mouth Marketing
- Viral Marketing
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Brand Fans
- Brand Fan Marketing Strategy
- Build brand loyalty
- Brand love
What small businesses consider most important for small business marketing success
Here's data reported from eMarketer on that.
Word-of-mouth recommendations are critical.
What drives positive word-of-mouth?
- A great product or service
- Consistently great customer service with some "wow effect" that is worthy of sharing with someone else.
- Positive word-of-mouth being shared by others in person and online by customers on places like Facebook and Twitter.
- A winning marketing strategy that differentiates a company
- Great branding - that is far more than a logo. It's going to market in a consistent, unified way that makes a company look bigger and more like a "safe buy".
- PR coverage, including positive word-of-mouth from bloggers and industry influencers
- Positive reviews on sites like Yelp and Google Places
- Employees at the company who are excellent "brand ambassadors"
TIP: Positive word-of-mouth is achieved by doing many things right and aiming for Brand Love, something much greater than brand loyalty.
Targeting your marketing to small business?
- How to Target Small Business Owners - this article has advice on how to reach and market to small business customers
What do you have to say about small business marketing?- Share your comments below
- Or give advice on small business marketing
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Google tools
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Twitter for business
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