It is said that money is the great inhibitor of innovation. When businesses have to trim budgets and increase market share—the scenario most of the business world found itself in these last eighteen months—it presents an opportunity.
Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch seems almost prescient with his 2008 statement: “The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small, anymore, it will be the fast beating the slow, the nimble beating the bureaucrat, the aware beating the asleep, the world is flat and opportunities are for the taking.”
Whether you’re the business owner, the ad agency, or the social media marketing army of one, here are 10 marketing ideas to help you gain visibility and market presence in spite of a limited budget.
1. Make sure your product or service is best-in-class. Spending even $50 on an ad is wasteful if the product is lousy. Conversely, with a highly valued product or service, the social media channels await your brand engagement. A good story told with sincerity can travel at light speed on Twitter. Ford Motor Company created www.thefordstory.com to encourage Blue Oval fans to submit their own stories. Let your product do the talking—blog it, tweet it, and post it on YouTube for tremendous Return on Investment and Return on Information.
2. Don’t forget the basics. Write a Letter to the Editor or an 800-word op-ed to position your message in front of your audience. It’s a fraction of the cost of advertising. Newspaper editors, trade association pubs, and business journals love to receive well-written articles. The better the writing, the higher the placement opportunity. Once it’s in print, send the link into the public timeline with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn conversations for immense ROI.
3. Announce new hires, product launches, surveys, blogs, seminars, events, and company awards in media releases. As much as we would like to believe everyone in 2010 is social media savvy, it’s simply not true. Reporters and editors are probably following you on Twitter for regional information and to take the pulse of the community. Many businesses are skeptical and uninformed on social media. Start with the basic PR tools and then add social media tools to increase the influence.
4. Comment on blogs and offer your expert opinion when appropriate. It’s even better if you have a countercultural or uncommon point of view.
5. Your Web site is your communications engine. Get the most out of it by continually updating it with fresh content. Tweet articles and content that’s easily found on your site.
6. Ask publications and Web sites if they offer discount ad fees for non-profits, start-ups, or small-budget businesses. Team up with another small business to co-sponsor events or co-market ads.
7. Conduct a short (5-10 questions) survey of your customers or prospects to find out what they like and what they may want to change about your services or products. There are many Web-based services that offer custom-built surveys to capture valuable information from your current and potential users.
8. Mail your customers a handwritten thank-you note with a discount coupon. My clients often tell me that they love receiving my handwritten notes of appreciation. Good manners never go out of style.
9. In B2B marketing, write an article for a state trade magazine. Magazine and journal editors have space to fill and are always searching for quality articles. Magazines post their content online, so it’s easy to tweet the link and mention it. More mentions equals more influence.
10. Become an expert in your field. Make yourself accessible to the media by offering your contact information, a positive attitude, and a steady flow of information on your service or product. If you’re easy to find and have the right words, you or your client will be the first ones quoted in traditional and social media news—not your competition.
Anne Deeter Gallaher
CEO/Owner
Deeter Gallaher Group LLC
4999 Louise Drive, Suite 102
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
T 717.766.ADGG
F 717.766.0415
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