Small business marketing ideas are crucial to the success of small businesses. This is primarily because small businesses are different from big businesses, especially when it comes to budget size for marketing activities. While big businesses can afford to spend a large portion on marketing; unnecessary, unproductive marketing expenses can instantly kill small businesses.
Small business marketing ideas are what compensate for the limited marketing budget of small, new and yet-to-be-established businesses. Here are five examples of small business marketing ideas.
Social networking sites
Social networking sites are probably the most popular sites in the Internet nowadays, even surpassing Yahoo, Google and MSN. Small businesses can benefit greatly from these sites by establishing marketing presence as members of the social network. Small businesses can choose from several popular sites including Facebook, Friendster and Multiply. Of the many small business marketing ideas, this is probably the cheapest but most effective method to gain mileage for your company and products.
Buddy marketing
You can also seek out partner companies which agree to give out your fliers or brochures for as long as you include theirs in your distribution. This strategy is called buddy marketing. It not only promotes partnerships with other companies, but also provides a chance to reach a whole new pool of potential customers.
Use stickers, stamps and handwritten notes on all of your direct mail efforts and day-to-day business mail. Remember, when you put a sticker or handwritten message on the outside of an envelope, it has the impact of a miniature billboard. People read it first; however, the message should be short and concise so it can be read in less than 10 seconds.
Make follow-up offers after they've purchased
Customers often go back to stores or shops where they feel welcome and special. You can make your customers feel welcome and special by handing out handwritten notes to your customers, thanking them for their business and informing them of special private offers upon their return. The notes serve as a special personal touch as well as a way for them to avail of the promised offers or discounts. To create urgency, you can include an expiration date in your note.
Newsletters
It costs six times more to make a sale to a new customer than to an existing one, which is why one of the good small business marketing ideas is to concentrate considerable effort on focusing your marketing on past customers. Newsletters do exactly this, while keeping the costs down from frequency and high production values. Newsletters can be e-mailed to customers for a cheaper alternative.
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