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By Bob Gorman http://goo.gl/lj7ntg
If you are not happy with the results of your marketing efforts for your small business, you are not alone. The unfortunate truth is that many small business owners often feel lost when it comes to marketing. There may be a general idea of funding one marketing project and seeing what the results are before you move forward with other efforts. If you like the results, you may repeat the project. If not, you may move on to another marketing project. While this approach may provide some results, the fact is that the best results come from developing a strategic, well-thought out marketing plan. This plan essentially will be well-researched and will focus your marketing dollars in different, planned areas.
Defining Your Budget
Before you can determine if you want to fund a radio campaign, a Yellow Pages ad or some other marketing option, you need to define your budget. The fact is that you have a limited amount of funds available for your company’s marketing, so you want to channel these funds into the most cost-effective solutions. Defining your budget up-front before you create your plan will help you to determine how to best allocate your funds for a certain period of time.
Incorporate Social Media
If you are not already incorporating social media into your marketing efforts, you are missing out on a highly cost-effective way to reach out to your existing consumers and to branch out your presence in the marketplace. Most social media marketing is free of charge to you. For example, it is free to create a business presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other sites. Once you have created an account, you can use your business presence to announce promotions, build your brand’s image, promote contests, announce new products, and more. This can be done free of charge, and you only need to develop a following on these social media sites and make an effort to use them regularly to enjoy great results.
Think About Corporate Gifts
If you are like many other small business owners, you may immediately think about marketing solutions like investing in signage and radio or television spots. However, you may also benefit from investing in more personalized marketing solutions. For example, corporate gifts like customized magnets, pens, water bottles, golf towels and other items can be highly beneficial. Corporate gifts are one of the most sought after promotional items. The best corporate gifts will be personalized with your company’s logo, a tag line if you have one and even contact information or your website address. These may be gifts that your target audience regularly uses, so they keep your company at the forefront of your audience’s attention.
Engage Your Audience
As a final point, when you are creating your small business marketing plan, think about how you can engage your audience. Marketing is generally viewed as a one-way method of communication, but the most successful campaigns often include some participation from the audience. For example, you can think about how you can create contests or use coupons to more actively engage your audience. Through interaction, you can create a buzz and keep your customers thinking about your company, and this can yield great results. One idea would be to offer a discount to any customers who re-tweet your promotional message on Twitter.
The fact is that marketing can cost an arm and a leg, and you may be overwhelmingly frustrated by how much money you spend on campaigns and efforts that yield little return. As you can see, you can develop a marketing plan that is cost-effective for you and that will incorporate many free or affordable solutions. Keep in mind that a great marketing plan may need to be revised and updated as new information about return on investment becomes available. However, sitting down today to develop an initial plan that includes some of these great ideas will help you to put your best foot forward as you reach out to your audience
By Bob Gorman http://goo.gl/lj7ntg
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