Even More Marketing Tips

Is your start up fit and ready for the challenges of today's global economy? Here we suggest 15 simple marketing ideas that will help get your business into shape.

If your company wants to stand out from the crowd in 2006 then you’ll need to take a fresh look at your marketing activities and do something different for a change. It’s not rocket science and you certainly needn’t reinvent the wheel. In fact, I suggest you borrow some marketing techniques – just borrow them from outside your industry. Here's an example. Enterprise Rent-A-Car (www.enterprise.com) is one of the biggest and most successful rental car companies in the US. Enterprise became successful because it catered to a specific niche market - insurance replacement vehicles. If you're involved in an accident or your car goes into the garage, you need a rental car to drive until yours is ready, and that's where Enterprise comes in.

So what marketing technique did Enterprise use to get noticed? The answer is donuts. Enterprise employees regularly visit garages in their area and bring free donuts for the mechanics to eat. It's simple, it's cheap and it keeps Enterprise at the top of the list when customers need replacement rental cars. Could you use this idea? What would people think of your firm if you were giving out free donuts (or pizza) at places where your customers collect? Well, here are 15 marketing ideas to think about for 2006.

1. What are you doing?
This is the basic stuff. Review the marketing activities you use and the marketing skills you and your team have. You’re probably already doing things right. But here’s a quick check list of the bases you should be covering.

Understand what your market wants; where, when and why your customers buy; what benefits they want from your product or service; and be aware of what your competitors are offering. Define your objectives, identify and choose your target customer groups and position your business to serve your chosen market. Monitor the effectiveness of your marketing activities in terms of customer satisfaction and the impact on your bottom line.

Just like consumers anywhere in the world, Omani consumers are becoming more demanding and less loyal than ever before. They want to know that your product or service will be of value to them and why it’s better than everything else on the market from a price, quality or service perspective. In today’s economy, you’ve got to be customer-centric, you’d be surprised how few firms are. Make customer the focal point of everything your business does. At the end of the day, happy customers means greater returns, right?

2. Public Service
This is a great chance to do well by doing good. Sponsor a blood donation drive – I’ve seen the KOM-based Knowledge Mine business incubator program do this. Donate your product to local charities or give them out at special events. This is an excellent way to position your company in a positive light. the Wisconsin Bankers Association's (www.wisbank.com) Personal Economics Program is a case in point – it combines financial education and marketing by sending bankers on education forays into schools and colleges. The presentations are particularly effective with the parents of children whom the bankers reach at school. It's an outstanding example of good old-fashioned "cause marketing" that's even more relevant in today’s depersonalized age of low-touch.

3. Launch a Blog
Develop a blog – this is an easy and free way to stand out from your competition, to develop a relationship with current and potential customers.

Talk about your business. If you run a firm that manufacturers mattresses, then use your blog to talk about mattresses; give sleep, relaxation and exercise tips; special product ideas or ways to use your products; ways your mattresses can help alleviate spinal problems. Got a special promotion running? Use your blog to announce it.

The same rules apply to blogs as they do to newsletters. If your blog is just a sales pitch, don't bother. If, on the other hand, you can provide useful or entertaining information for visitors and subscribers, then your firm will benefit from a blog.

4. Not All Clients Are the Same
Customers are different so why treat them all the same? Treat them as individuals, look at how and when they buy. This will help to start putting them into groups and understanding the needs of each group. For example:

High volume/high value buyers - place frequent large orders
High volume/low value buyers - place frequent small orders
Low volume/high value buyers - place occasional large orders
Low volume/low value buyers - place occasional small orders

Customers are prospects too. Stay in contact with them. Find or develop other products or services you can offer them. It's easier to make a sale to a previous customer than to someone who’s never bought from you.

5. Nag Them
Never underestimate the nag factor — target Oman’s youth and establishing brand loyalty from a young age.

6. Your Environment
Pay some attention to how your office looks. Fresh flowers, a clean, light and airy office or workspace is welcoming to visiting customers. Indeed, how many dirty, badly lit offices have you visited lately? What your office looks and smells like says a lot about your company, believe me – so invest in your décor.

7. Word of mouth
Word-of-mouth is a cost-effective, powerful form of marketing. Write a list of 50 people you know but don’t see regularly. Send them a friendly e-mail or postcard to let them know what you’re firm is up to. Ask them for feedback, advice or contacts of anyone who might be interested in hearing about your product or service. People will help.

8. Networking
For many, networking can be intimidating experience but there are ways to make it less scary. Networking isn’t about sell, sell, sell - it’s about building relationships - go to a networking event looking for opportunities to help others. Ask questions, gather information, offer contacts and advice – people will remember you for it. Knowledge Oasis Muscat runs a monthly Open House (OER supports it!) seminar, it attracts anything from 75 to 150 attendees, this is a good place to start.

9. Business cards
Get a new card designed, stand out from the crowd. For example, print it on unusual material – textured card, plastic, wood – or make it an unusual shape. Offer a business tip or special offer on the back.

10. Testimonials
Collect testimonials from your customers and use them in your advertising. Testimonials provide evidence that your product or service delivers the results you promise. For maximum impact, use only testimonials that describe specific results the customer enjoyed. After all, testimonials also offer your customers great publicity. It’s win-win.

11. Press releases
They have to be targeted. There is little point sending round a generic press release to lots of newspapers and business magazines. Start by focusing on five publications ideal for your target market. Read back editions thoroughly – understand what kind of stories they like to publish and the style of language they use. Find a relevant news hook and tailor your press release specifically for each publication. The first paragraph is key and must provide the who, what, where, when and why of your story. Here’s a great press release story - when Jim Dutchess started a mobile wash business, he called the wire service UPI, told them he had a truck with portable washing equipment, and made an offer to go anywhere in the US and wash a UFO for free if he could get there in time. After the reporter stopped laughing, he ran the story. Dutchess got national coverage, became a celebrity in his home market and saw his start-up business boom.

12. Image: Look Beyond Price
Move away from price. Promote the value of your product or service not simply its price. Your customers and potential customers are looking for value and they believe you can provide it. Your challenge is to promote and sell the value of your product or service and ask your customers to take action to receive that value.

13. Postcards

Print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. Postcards are inexpensive and easy to use. Most recipients who ignore other types of advertising will read a brief ad when it's delivered to them on a postcard. Corporate Identity Solutions (www.identify-yourself.com) created and mailed a set of 4 postcards celebrating spring and featuring beautiful flowers and their symbolic meanings. A fifth card served as an introduction to the set, bearing the company's wishes for a happy spring season. It also explained the significance of the selected flowers (respect, wisdom, distinction, devotion) and how each relates to the company's approach. The reverse side of the postcards was left blank for the recipient to mail to a friend or associate. At a little more than a 500 baizas a pack including twine-tying and packaging, this direct mail effort delivered viral impact with a deft, light-handed approach.

14. 80 – 20 Rule
Continually test and evaluate everything you use or do to market your business. Allocate 80 per cent of your advertising budget to proven promotions. Use the other 20 per cent for testing new variations. Most businesses using this system continue growing - even in highly competitive markets.

15. Power of Odd Numbers
Express numerical claims as odd numbers with fractions or decimals. For example, "Our clients save 18.3 per cent" sounds more credible than "Our clients save 20 per cent" ...even if 20 per cent is the accurate number.

Develop a series of four or five different special offers. Use them one at a time with an expiry date. When one offer expires, replace it with the next offer and a new deadline. Continuously recycle through the same series of offers. This enables you to keep using special offers to generate sales without taking time to develop new ones. Remember, the majority of sales aren’t made on the first contact. Develop a method to capture and save the names and contact information of prospects who don't buy from you. Follow up periodically. A little gentle coaching will eventually convert many of them into buyers.

Each of these 15 marketing ideas can be highly effective. Take action now to apply those you overlooked. You'll be surprised by how much business it brings in.