Creating an Effective Promotion Plan For Small Businesses
SBA Statistics show that one of the top 7 reasons, many small businesses fail within the first few years is due to lack of planning.
As Raymond J.
Keating, chief economist with the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, a nonprofit advocacy group told the New York Times "Some 60 to 80 percent of new jobs come from small businesses, and more than 50 percent of private sector gross domestic product is created by small business.
" Neither the importance of small businesses in the economy nor a good promotion strategy that works can be understated.
"The reasoning is simple, if you can't get customers through the door, you will have no sales and eventually run out of business.
No matter how much capital or strategically located you are.
None of that is important without patrons in your business.
" Said Sonya Baker, a business consultant with JD Baker & Associates, an Atlanta based public relations firms that help small businesses increase their market visibility.
How do you get customers and most importantly keep them? oKnow you customers Marketing 101- go back to the basics, figure out who your customers are, not who you want them to be.
Customers would be those that have a need for your product, otherwise your 'niche".
Not all businesses can be number one, but each business can compete by differentiating themselves from competitors.
80-20 Marketing rule - says 80% of your business comes from the 20% of your clients.
Start focusing your marketing attention on the 20% of your customers that do use your services.
Once you know your niche market's motivation for buying products, try to anticipate their unmet needs.
By fulfilling them you will exceed your customer's expectations.
How to cultivate this important group of consumers? Attract them to your website or store location using simple gimmicks like hosting a fan based event.
Spread the news with a newsletter.
Say you know your customers all love Elvis, promote an Elvis themed party or contest.
Create a database of these customers, that way you will always be in touch with them.
oForget about you, it's all about them.
All your promotion efforts must be customer oriented, in other words listen to what they say, then deliver it.
Stress only your product's benefits to them, not your company history or how many people you've served.
As a business owner, you need to understand this.
People are only interested in themselves, and therefore, only interested in what your product or service can do for them or how it can help them reach their goals.
Save historical facts as a backgrounder for your press kit.
Find cost effective ways to gain publicity There are a variety of ways to seek out free publicity, for which you don't necessarily need a public relations firm to execute.
However, all free publicity requires a lot of time and effort, it then becomes cost effective for you to outsource that responsibility.
Small businesses are often overwhelmed with keeping up with their every day tasks and have little time to seek out free publicity opportunities.
Besides leaving such a tedious but important task to the professionals frees up time for you to do what you really enjoy: running your business.
A statement that JD Baker & Associates' tagline "Because every business needs an entourage," explains.
Use friends, family, word of mouth and referrals With technological advances, opportunities to connect with myriad of people have increased tremendously compared to a decade ago.
Social network Marketing is perhaps the most effective tool a small business has at its discretion to generate a buzz about its business products and services.
Through viral marketing a small business can create a little message, pop it in the email, send it a couple of friends who pass it on to ten more people.
By lunchtime, people as far as India have heard of your event or services.
They might not be beating down your doors but at least they know.
Research shows that people are more trusting of messages received from someone they know versus a marketer.
Take care of existing customers This is the crucial step that most entrepreneurs neglect when it comes to drumming up business.
They focus too much on drawing new customers in, offering hefty discounts and promotions.
Even big companies such as Comcast, ATT and other phone companies always give away free phones and sometimes one- month service for free to customers who sign a 2-year contract.
What about existing customers? They can provide you with leads and new business referrals.
So once in a while, host a customer appreciation night, where they buy one item to get another one for free.
You will also enjoy unlimited loyalty from them.
So what does a good promotion plan look like? Though most promotion plans take a long time to manifest into sales; it is important that your plan is measurable.
Know where you are before you begin a plan, so you will have a way to measure if your promotion plan is working or not.
It also includes media readiness.
Though this is not an event that occurs regularly, but with a strong promotion plan that relies strongly on generating publicity; the event would not be so out of the ordinary.
When that opportunity knocks at your door, be ready to open it.
As Raymond J.
Keating, chief economist with the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, a nonprofit advocacy group told the New York Times "Some 60 to 80 percent of new jobs come from small businesses, and more than 50 percent of private sector gross domestic product is created by small business.
" Neither the importance of small businesses in the economy nor a good promotion strategy that works can be understated.
"The reasoning is simple, if you can't get customers through the door, you will have no sales and eventually run out of business.
No matter how much capital or strategically located you are.
None of that is important without patrons in your business.
" Said Sonya Baker, a business consultant with JD Baker & Associates, an Atlanta based public relations firms that help small businesses increase their market visibility.
How do you get customers and most importantly keep them? oKnow you customers Marketing 101- go back to the basics, figure out who your customers are, not who you want them to be.
Customers would be those that have a need for your product, otherwise your 'niche".
Not all businesses can be number one, but each business can compete by differentiating themselves from competitors.
80-20 Marketing rule - says 80% of your business comes from the 20% of your clients.
Start focusing your marketing attention on the 20% of your customers that do use your services.
Once you know your niche market's motivation for buying products, try to anticipate their unmet needs.
By fulfilling them you will exceed your customer's expectations.
How to cultivate this important group of consumers? Attract them to your website or store location using simple gimmicks like hosting a fan based event.
Spread the news with a newsletter.
Say you know your customers all love Elvis, promote an Elvis themed party or contest.
Create a database of these customers, that way you will always be in touch with them.
oForget about you, it's all about them.
All your promotion efforts must be customer oriented, in other words listen to what they say, then deliver it.
Stress only your product's benefits to them, not your company history or how many people you've served.
As a business owner, you need to understand this.
People are only interested in themselves, and therefore, only interested in what your product or service can do for them or how it can help them reach their goals.
Save historical facts as a backgrounder for your press kit.
Find cost effective ways to gain publicity There are a variety of ways to seek out free publicity, for which you don't necessarily need a public relations firm to execute.
However, all free publicity requires a lot of time and effort, it then becomes cost effective for you to outsource that responsibility.
Small businesses are often overwhelmed with keeping up with their every day tasks and have little time to seek out free publicity opportunities.
Besides leaving such a tedious but important task to the professionals frees up time for you to do what you really enjoy: running your business.
A statement that JD Baker & Associates' tagline "Because every business needs an entourage," explains.
Use friends, family, word of mouth and referrals With technological advances, opportunities to connect with myriad of people have increased tremendously compared to a decade ago.
Social network Marketing is perhaps the most effective tool a small business has at its discretion to generate a buzz about its business products and services.
Through viral marketing a small business can create a little message, pop it in the email, send it a couple of friends who pass it on to ten more people.
By lunchtime, people as far as India have heard of your event or services.
They might not be beating down your doors but at least they know.
Research shows that people are more trusting of messages received from someone they know versus a marketer.
Take care of existing customers This is the crucial step that most entrepreneurs neglect when it comes to drumming up business.
They focus too much on drawing new customers in, offering hefty discounts and promotions.
Even big companies such as Comcast, ATT and other phone companies always give away free phones and sometimes one- month service for free to customers who sign a 2-year contract.
What about existing customers? They can provide you with leads and new business referrals.
So once in a while, host a customer appreciation night, where they buy one item to get another one for free.
You will also enjoy unlimited loyalty from them.
So what does a good promotion plan look like? Though most promotion plans take a long time to manifest into sales; it is important that your plan is measurable.
Know where you are before you begin a plan, so you will have a way to measure if your promotion plan is working or not.
It also includes media readiness.
Though this is not an event that occurs regularly, but with a strong promotion plan that relies strongly on generating publicity; the event would not be so out of the ordinary.
When that opportunity knocks at your door, be ready to open it.
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