I have listed below, four methods that are either free or are very low cost solutions for your marketing. These are not the be all and end all - these are aimed to get you thinking in the right direction.
Granted, every business is different and will require different strategies - use these as inspiration in terms of developing the strategy that will fit with your business / organisation.
- Previous contacts / clients
Look at the unconverted leads that have been in contact with your organisation in some way shape or form within the last 6 to 12 months. People that have visited your website, signed up, created an account, sent an enquiry form your contact form. People that you have sent quotes to after telephone enquires, or those you have spent an hour with understanding their company in order to quote them afterwards.
What about you current database of previous customers that have made it all the way through to the pint you took their money? People often forget to ever make contact again. Use this database of existing or previous clients to market your services again. Products/service that relate to those previously bought, or just letting them know of new lines that you are following.
- Upselling - ‘You want fries with that?’
Think about the times that you pop into any of the fast food outlets on the high street and when you order yourself the triple decker meat patty sandwich with batavia lettuce, hot chilli sauce all on a toasted sesame seed bun... what is the standard response? Do you want fries with that Sir? Would you like to super-size your meal Madam? They seem to have no problem doing it, why can’t you?
Adding that extra little thing on and getting and extra 10-20% is a result! That is an extra 10-20% that you would not have had otherwise.
Another way of thinking is to make a list of your products then see how they might work best with each other. See how you can package them up. Offering packages of services is a great way to show your customer how they are getting value for money. If three of your products each cost £50 on their own, package them together and reduce the cost from £150 to £135. Then point out the £15 or 10% saving that they will be getting. The old supermarket buy 2 get 1 free works well too.
- Guerilla marketing
Write a list - write down a list of the companies that you want to target. Any good military attack will start with researching the enemy. Go on the offensive knowing who you are going to target. Understand who the company are, who it is you want to speak to and how what you are going to say will be relevant to them.
Take the fight personally... fight for every last part of your business. Write to your customers/contacts with personal letters. Don’t just use a template, mention things like ‘It was great to meet you last Tuesday, the lunch was great wasn’t it’ or ‘Hope you had a great time on holiday last week’ - Follow these up.
Only focus on between 10-12 at a time - don’t get bogged down with the broadcast marketing that can cost the earth and return little. Focus on the few that you really want to get until you get a firm no, or a firm yes. Then move on with the work or to the next one on your list.
Give them more of your time - Saying something like ‘I’m in the area in a weeks time, when would be a good time for me to pop in for a 10 minute coffee?’ may be too forward for some prospects, but great for others. Laying on networking functions for your clients and prospects and inviting them along FREE of charge may work in your favour in a number of ways. Speaking to the venue and negotiating free usage of the room, saying... that you hope to get a number of business people along who may return to use the facility, inviting them in on the event, having a guest speaker to give an insight and your clients will hopefully rave about you to any potential prospect.
Think from your customers point of view - they are busy, there may be a need, you can fix that need. If you come at the right time and have done your research correctly you will land the easy fish. If they are the business owner and they are too busy worrying about running the business then they may not have the time to look at and sort out the part of the business that is lacking the service you are offering. Many people are prepared to pay for someone else to do something if it will save them time!
- Email marketing
Time and time again I get emails from companies that get email marketing so wrong. They use it purely as a sales tool. If done correctly this can work well, but rarely on it’s own do companies see a good return on this.
Our strategy for successful email campaigns:
- Use Auto Subscriber/Contact Management - normally built into your website as a ‘subscribe me’ form and then managed by the email marketing software that you will use to send the emails.
- Keep the content appealing for your target audience. Useful information, simple wording, short sentences, relevant imagery. Once you have these things sorted then you can think about your sales pitch - but keep it short and sweet.
- Ensure that the design has cohesion with your brand (look and feel as a minimum). Always get a professional in if you don’t have any experience in coding marketing emails. They are completely different for coding for the web, so if you are going to ask your web developer to do it, ensure they have done it before and know the vital differences.
- Only use tried and tested delivery systems - Use systems that have been in the marketplace for a while. These systems are tried ans tested and work for enough of thier customer baser
- Other methods
There are many other easy methods to get your marketing right including: joint ventures, collaboration, PR and article writing, blogging and forums posts - for more information contact me on 01793 238697 or visit www.toinfinity.co.uk.
