Best Tips for Small Business Marketing in 2012

We've made it through another year! With 2011 at an end, if you haven't done your business planning for next year... it's never too late!

Many business owners find that marketing is somewhat of a catch-22. Even though it's the last thing you should cut from your budget, it is often the first. For 2012 here are a few must haves in your marketing mix for any small business whether you selling products or services.

1. Business Cards
Duh, right? Don't pinch on quality for your business cards, have them professionally designed and printed on good paper. They are an inexpensive way to give out your information.

2. Website
If you don't have a solid website, it is past time to get one. It not only adds to your credibility and gives customers peace of mind, it can be a way to communicate with your clients on an emotional level.

Your website should tell a story, look current and be easy to use, with your contact information (or how to buy) on every page or easy to find. Where you might have paid $10,000 for a site, this is not the case any more for small, simple sites. On the other hand, you do get what you pay for and quality service is a very important trait to have in your web designer. Read more about my website design services.

3. Review Sites/Online Directories
Have you claimed your Google Places page? Yelp listing? Angieslist? All of these (and more!) are FREE to list your business, add to your website's page ranking, allow users to rave about you and find you easily. It can be time consuming and a pain in the rear, but it is well worth it.

4. Social Media
Another FREE place to list your business - Twitter, Facebook, Google +, etc... but does take a commitment to posting regularly. Use tools like Hootsuite to schedule posts and monitor activity. Don't forget to respond to comments! This is a great place to be in conversation with your customers.

5. Blog
A blog adds two things to your online marketing:

1. Traffic to your website through search engines
2. Establishing you as an expert

Who doesn't want more of that? By writing about what you know and delivering it in a useful and engaging way you can attract customers to your site. This also takes a commitment to post regularly and if you are not a good writer, have someone help you with crafting awesome blog posts.

This article has some great research on Blogging and Social Media.

Remember: It doesn't matter how much traffic you get to your blog or your website if you don't inspire an action like a contact or a sale!

6. Networking
For many of us, we are referral based businesses which means that web traffic and traditional advertising, while helpful, don't create as many leads as our referral base. Who is your referral base? Don't be afraid to ask people for referrals!

• Past clients
• Current clients
• Business contacts
• Friends, neighbors
• Family
• Strategic partnerships
• Trade associations
• Referral groups
  

Oh, is that all???
How do you find time for all of this and provide a superb product or service? Of course a good time management system can't hurt, but you can also find virtual assistants and outsourced marketing to give you a hand.

For any marketing activity you have to really work it - be in it for the long haul, don't give up and do it regularly.

What do you do about negative online feedback?

You just can't please some customers and lets face it, we are all more likely to complain than complement. So what do you do when a customer complains in public, in an online review?

First, take a look at your reviews as a whole. Are they mostly good, bad or a mix? Is there a common theme of complaints (or complements)? You can take the information and update (or develop) your customer service policies with your staff to address issues.

Stop before you reply.

Many sites allow the business to reply to a review. This is your opportunity to shine. I know that my first reaction is usually to be defensive to negative feedback but I doubt that you will win new customers who are looking at your reviews if you are defensive in your reply. However, if you are sincere and express your disappointment in their experience and offer to fix the problem, you will win other customers over. I once read a slew of responses from a business owner slamming each reviewer who had a complaint. I quickly decided not to buy from that company.

There will always be a crazy or two that we will have to live with but if you showcase your willingness to fix an issue, other customers will notice.

Monitoring your listings on online review sites for feedback can be daunting. You can't cover them all but depending on your industry there are some key sites to pay attention to. (If you don't have a listing, get one - most are free.)

• Google Places
• Yahoo Local
• Yelp
• Bing Local
• Citysearch
• Angie's List

Vehicle Signage Graphics - Your Rolling Billboard

Let your car or truck work for you!

One of the best advertising return on investments is your vehicle signage. It reaches thousands and thousands of people every time you head out on the highway.

For example, UPS trucks are everywhere, everyday. You know who they are when you see them, you rarely see a dirty and I bet you have never seen an old used one for sale. UPS is controlling their message in every way. Your vehicle should do the same for your company.

What message are you sending?

You don't have to invest in a "full wrap" of your vehicle to get results but keep in mind that your vehicle is representation to potential customers of your product, service, level of quality and more. Meet your customer's emotional needs if you can, photos and images are a good way to do this but don't go so crazy you can't read the company name.

Key information on your vehicle graphics design.

Don't forget your phone number and web address! Often, people will pick up the phone and call right on the road. You don't want to miss this opportunity.

Tracking Website ROI with Google Analytics

Do you know how many people visit your website? The tools are free and easy to implement through Google Analytics.

You need:

• A website
• A Google Analytics account - get one here http://www.google.com/analytics/
• Someone that can put code on each page of your site

Once you have a Google Analytics account, you can add your website to the account and it will generate a bit of code that you place on every page of your website that you want to track.

After Google starts tracking your site, you can view statistics on visits, page views, average time on your site, pages per visit and bounce rate. Most of the statistics are self-explanatory except for bounce rate which is the percentage of visits where the person left your site from the landing page (often the home page). This number is supposed to be a gauge of the relevance of your page however, it can be a little deceiving. If someone finds your page, locates the phone number or other piece of information on the home page and leaves, this would be a bounce. However, the user has found what they were looking for and it is relevant.

Once you have data for your website, check out the traffic sources tab. Direct traffic is where someone types in your web address in the browser (not in the search box). Referring sites are sites that link to your site which are a great source of traffic (and important to your ranking). Lastly, search engines direct traffic through keywords which are words and phrases that people are using to search and find you. Google tracks all this very handy information!

Analytics are a great tool to evaluate the effectiveness of your website and get information on how your site is being found and used. Have your web person install it today!

A lesson we can all use for our business!

BUILD Retreat Project

Last weekend over 130 building industry professionals gathered for the 3rd Annual BUILD Retreat to collaborate, get to know each other better, learn new stuff and have some fun.

The main presenter was Shawna Schuh, a professional speaker who took us on a journey to discover how we can embrace technology, produce a marketing tool for our business and have fun. Here is what we did:

1. We were broken into teams of about 10 people, given a video camera, laptop, instructions and 2 hours.
2. The instructions were to produce a video that sold the team in some fashion and everyone had to have their face on the video.

This probably scared the living daylights out of some folks but it was quite easy if you break it down.

1. Create a plan. Create a storyboard to set up your scene order. Know what your message is and what you want to say in advance.
2. Film short clips. You can edit and put them together much easier if you break it down into scenes.
3. Tip: make sure you start and stop your scene facing the camera and give a second or two pause at each end to make for a nice transition.
4. Tip: delete scenes that you don't want as you go which will save you upload and editing time later.
5. Upload: After you upload your scenes from the camera to your laptop, number the scenes in the order you are going to use them.

Depending on the software you use, the video editing will be slightly different but the basics are:

1. Import your videos to the software
2. Drag and drop them into the project
3. Add a title, maybe some music and transitions

You're done! If this sounds overwhelming, I suggest giving it a try. Many phones today do a decent job of video recording as well as point-and-shoot cameras.

Using QR Codes For Small Business Marketing

What is a QR code it?

I bet you are wondering what this little square is. You may have seen it around but did not know what it is for. It is called a QR code and it can be scanned by a mobile phone to route the user to a web page, phone number, coupon or other bit of information.

Scan it with your phone!

I have downloaded a QR code reader app to my smart phone and use it to scan QR codes to get information on a product or service. It's very handy when I need more information to help me make a purchase decision.

Where do you get a QR code?

Free QR codes to put into your marketing materials, signage, product labels etc can be generated at http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Why use QR codes for your small business marketing?

Although not widely adopted in the U.S. yet, the uses are plenty. I have put one on my printed brochure that when scanned, takes potential customers to my website. Maybe you have a retail outlet where each product has its own landing page on a website for more detailed information. Say you have a home in a home show, QR codes can be used to give people paint colors, take you to the granite supplier website or give you more information on "green" features of the home.

All this can be done easily and quickly. Start by downloading your own QR Code Scanner to your smart phone and start scanning and see how it is being used. Then try a few QR codes of your own!

Applying the 80/20 Rule to Marketing Your Small Business

Many people know, or have heard, of the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 Rule means that in anything, a few (20%) are vital and many (80%) are trivial. This rule can apply to quality control, sales, wealth distribution and more. In this discussion I will be defining it in terms of sales.

"80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients."

So how do you know if that is the case for your business? First, an analysis of your sales through your accounting or customer relationship management system (CRM) could point you easily to the answer. Don't have the data? I would suggest that you survey your customers to determine 1) how they found you and 2) why they buy from you. Tracking where your customers come from or what leads them to purchase from you will help you in marketing your business.

Focus on the 20% that matters.
Let's assume that you are tracking and you come to the conclusion that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers and that business comes all from referrals. This is a big clue to where to invest your marketing dollars! Developing a referral program to thank clients who refer new customers to you is easy and makes everyone feel good!

What if the same 20% of your clients (delivering 80% of your sales) are internet sales? Same thing. Invest your marketing dollars in internet advertising, SEO and other web devices.

In any small business, small marketing budgets are the norm and focusing those pennies on what matters could be the difference in growing your business or not.