Small Business Marketing Ideas for 2013

Here comes the new year! And, of course, it is a great time to plan for the coming 12 months and figure out how to market your small business. If you happen to be one of those small businesses that does not have a lot of money for marketing, here are a few ideas for you to consider in 2013:

1. Set aside a small budget for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising each month if you can. This is especially critical if you have an online store, but it can be a great way to drive traffic to any website. You don't have to spend a lot of money, even $50, $75 or $100 a month will create results. You can buy search ads on Google, Bing/Yahoo and other sites, as well as place ads on Facebook. Twitter is planning to introduce this service soon, too.
2. Use social media regularly. Post every day if you can to keep your name "top of mind" among customers. Make sure you invite your customers to "like" you on Facebook and "follow" you on Twitter. Google+ is another growing social media site where people can share information about your business. Set up Foursquare and encourage people to check in at your location, if you have a retail business.
3. Use press releases to share news about your company. Local newspapers, radio stations and TV stations are hungry for local news. Just be sure it IS news - a new service you provide, a new location you have opened, etc. Write a brief news release and send it out to the editors of your local media. It is OK to follow up if you like, but don't make repeated calls or e-mail contacts.
4. Think about direct mail. This tactic is still effective even in this digital age. You can target individual neighborhoods using either the US Postal Service or a mail house. It can be an inexpensive way to get your name in front of potential customers, but make sure you have a compelling piece that will grab attention.
5. Take advantage of your local Chamber of Commerce events and other networking opportunities. After hours events, expos and luncheons can all be excellent opportunities to tell others about your business and generate referrals. 

Making sure you have a plan for your marketing is also very important. I have developed a guide that helps small businesses create a marketing plan that is available at no charge. Just E-mail your request for "Marketing Plan Guide" to Kim@DeppeCommunications.com

Do it Yourself?

We live in a DIY (do-it-yourself) age, a time when entire cable TV channels are dedicated to helping you fix stuff, bake stuff, make stuff, paint stuff and re-arrange stuff without the help of an experienced professional. Big box retailers like Home Depot and Lowe's are pretty much located in every town and staffed with people to help guide you with your projects.

So it is easier than ever for us to think that we can pretty much do anything ourselves. There is so much help and information available on the internet and on TV that we can learn many things. But that doesn't mean we still don't need professionals to help us sometimes. As one of my small business colleagues likes to say, electrical work is not a hobby.

And neither is Marketing. Those of us in the field not only have specialized education and training, but plenty of in-the-field experience learning what works and, more importantly, what doesn't. But it can be tough to sell a small business owner on the value of spending their money to hire a marketing professional. After all, people are crawling out of the woodwork to help them for free.

Yes, the local newspaper sales rep will get your ad designed for free. The cable TV folks will do a 30-second commercial for you at no charge when you buy the airtime. Radio ads can be scripted and recorded at no charge by the station when you buy the spots. It goes on and on. So what's not to like?

Well, the truth is that you almost always get what you pay for. In this example, you would end up with a hodge-podge of messages, designs and what we call "look and feel" to support your brand. Without a coordinated approach, there won't be any consistency to your marketing and then you might as well be throwing money out the window.

Harsh? Yup. But the truth is that letting sales people determine your marketing message and design is like handing over the keys to your car to a complete stranger. It might come back safely, but you just don't know. That's why hiring a marketing consultant, ad agency or PR firm is a great move for small business owners. Small business marketing is just like other kinds of marketing, just using a smaller budget. It doesn't mean the strategies or tactics are any different. Marketing that works for a large, multi-specialty medical practice also works for a one-woman practice. As my father used to say, "it's the same thing, only different."

When you think about how you are going to market your small business, I encourage you to think about your overall budget first. What are you willing to spend, and what can you afford? Then, talk to a consultant or agency and see if they can help you while staying within that budget. If it's the right firm, I know the answer will be yes.

How a sandwich inspires brand loyalty

I live pretty far from the place I grew up, the South Jersey coast or "down the shore" as we say. So whenever I come home for a visit, there are a few things I really like to do and most of them have to do with eating foods I cannot get where I live now. First among those is the cheesesteak sub followed closely by Tastykake lemon pies and Manco & Manco's pizza from the Ocean City boardwalk.

I don't want just any cheesesteak sub, either. I want one from Vic's Subs in Absecon, NJ. Just a few houses down from the house where I lived as a child there is a small sub shop known for its tasty subs. I always go there first.

So this got me to thinking this morning as I am sipping coffee in the early morning Jersey sun, why is it that more brands don't inspire that same kind of loyalty? I literally drive past dozens of sub shops to get to Vic's. I don't even consider going anywhere else. Why? Because I am loyal to their brand. And why is that? Because I have an emotional connection to Vic's that I don't have with those other sub shops.

For me, Vic's brings back fond memories of big pickle barrels where you could reach in with long metal tongs and pluck out a huge dill pickle, then slip it into a wax paper bag to carry home. It is the place my little brother and I used to walk to when I was just 5, holding hands and gripping our dimes so we could buy popsicles. Or the smell of frying onions when you drive by with the windows open. The place connects with me through memories and smells and, of course, a great product fairly priced.

The lemon pies are the same. I can buy lemon pies made by other companies where I live in Florida, but I don't. They might taste good, but they won't taste the same as the Tastykake pies because I have lifetime of memories and emotional connections with that brand.

So how do you command the same kind of loyalty with your customers? It isn't easy to create an emotional connection that lasts for years, but it can be done. The thing to remember is that it doesn't and can't, by definition, happen suddenly. You must consistently deliver excellent product with excellent service. Then do something memorable. Make it special for your customers, a place or a product that they will want to return to over and over again.

A few months ago, I was here in Jersey and shocked to learn that my favorite pizza place had changed its name from Mack & Manco's to Manco & Manco's. I am not sure what happened to Mack, but I worried if the product would be the same. Would the cheese and the sauce and the big, steaming pies still taste like "home" to me? Well, thankfully, the recipe is secure and my experience there this week was nothing short of memorable. We waited in line to get in and I wouldn't even think of eating at any of the other pizza places that line the boardwalk. And that is brand loyalty we can all hope for from our own customers.

Last Things First

Recently, the world lost Steven Covey, a remarkable writer who is famous for authoring "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." I remember picking it up on audiotape and listening to it during my commute time. I marveled at the simplicity and common sense messages he packaged so neatly. He really had a way of getting to the nuggets of truth inside human behavior and teasing out simple strategies for making us more effective people.

Among those habits was "Start with the End in Mind." I like this one the best because, as a marketing strategist, it is a mantra I have always promoted with my employers and, today, my clients. Whenever someone comes to me and says "I need a brochure" or "I need a marketing plan," my first question is always "what is your goal?"

By starting with the end in mind, we can save ourselves a lot of time chasing down rabbit trails that will take us nowhere. If I know that I want to increase my sales of widget A by 10% in the next 90 days, then I have a nice, specific target to go after. It refines my thinking. It keeps me on task.

Whether you are creating a new website or a business card, try starting with the end in mind. You will get a better result just by thinking through what you hope to accomplish. Because another favorite saying of mine is "if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."

Common Sense SEO

There has been a fair amount of confusion across the internet about what works in the wake of Google Penguin's changes to search engine optimization and search engine results. I have seen any number of suggested steps to take that promise to reverse the effects of Penguin. For websites that took a serious kick from the update, I am sure that any kind of quick fix looks attractive, but it is probably a bad idea. Because I believe those kind of quick fixes it what prompted the changes in the first place.

I have a lot of respect for the Google model. I think they have the best interest of the searchers in mind, mostly, with a healthy dose of looking out for their own interests mixed in. They are pretty up front about that, so I don't get heartburn when the Google Plus posts show up higher than other items. Like me, Google is in business to make money.

But trying to constantly find ways around the Google algorithm changes will probably land your website in a circular path of constantly having to react to more changes. With somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 changes a year, Google doesn't exactly sit around twiddling thumbs. If you are trying to out-maneuver all of those changes, you are wasting a lot of time.

How much easier to just get in there and provide good content for your customers. Make sure the basics are in place and then just do the same thing over and over. You know, slow and steady wins the race. Basic blocking and tackling. Choose your favorite allegory and run with it, but if you are talking to your customers in a way that makes sense to them, well you should be attracting the right kind of attention.

Need some help with that? Contact me, I will be happy to write, edit or help you develop ideas for your website. 

How to write a Marketing Plan

A lot of businesses are wary of the “Marketing Plan.” Too often, they envision it as a big binder stuffed full of useless data collected to impress people. In this vision, there is a complicated chart filled with dates, names of responsible people, milestones and gibberish about CPM, gross ratings points and Nielsen ratings. They dismiss the need for a plan because they have a few sitting on the shelf collecting a thick cover of dust.

So I developed a more streamlined version - one that takes up just 2 or 3 pages and is made up of bullet points. No charts, no spreadsheets, no executive summary. For me, and for my clients, it is a far more useful and workable document that quickly outlines where we are going and what we are going to do to get there. 

Here is a brief rundown of what goes in to the average marketing plan:

Background summary - this is a one paragraph description of why we are doing this. It includes a brief history of the situation and why the plan is being created.

Goals - it is imperative to list out what you are hoping to achieve. Be specific, create those SMART goals that will keep you accountable.

Target Audiences - who is it that you are trying to get to take action? Are there internal audiences, too? Think about vendors and any stakeholder that should be considered.

Key Messages - what are the 2 or 3 things that you want your audiences to know and remember.

Strategies - in a broad way, how are you going to approach this and reach your goals. Are you going to create a series of events, or create a website or develop a multimedia campaign? Think 30,000 foot level here. Make sure your strategies link directly to your goals and that you have at least one strategy for each goal.

Tactics - what specific things are you going to do to achieve your goals. Here is where most people start, unfortunately - but this is where things like print ad campaigns, podcasts and brochures belong. Make sure you have developed at least one tactic for each strategy, although typically you will have several. This is the task list and it really isn’t possible to create it until you’ve done the other things first.

Budget - how much are you planning to spend? How do you want to apportion that among the strategies.

Measurement and Evaluation - how, specifically, will you track results? How will you keep you and your team accountable for results? Will you do a survey, count noses at a special event, track media coverage?

That’s it. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours to think through it if it is your own business. But if you need some help, just contact me and I would be happy to work with you to create your business marketing plan. E-mail me at Kim@DeppeCommunications.com.

Public relations is still a good marketing tool

I love marketing online for a lot of reasons, but especially because it is so cost effective for many of my clients. I like the immediate feedback you can see with analytics programs and the ability to make changes quickly if things are working. But good, old-fashioned PR is still a great tool for many companies and equally cost effective. Case in point: I recently helped a local company create an event to raise awareness of the new business. By holding a grand opening event and creating a compelling story, the press releases got immediate media attention and generated a wonderful Sunday story. The result was not only that the business got great coverage, but there were people waiting in line when she opened her doors that very day. Immediate feedback, immediate sales. The great part is the lingering effect that the event will have. People who were there will tell others. The newspaper story will be out on the internet for a long, long time. I have shared the coverage and the photos through my social media sites and people are talking about it days later. Public Relations is a powerful tool in your marketing tool belt, and it works.

If you would like to learn more about the Black Horse Winery in Orange Park, FL, visit my Facebook site: www.facebook.com/DeppeCommunications. 

What's A Google Penguin?

There is talk across the blogosphere about the ill effects of Google's latest Panda update called Penguin. Launched on April 27, Penguin plugged some holes in Google's algorithms (again) and it is now tougher to improve your search results(SERPs) using content farms. Just like they reduced the impact of link farms, Google is now reducing the impact on SERPs from sites that simply piled on SEO heavy articles. There are many websites crying foul and a few that saw their SERPs fall off a cliff. But the average site most likely never noticed the change, and that is how it should be. Content farms are churning out articles that are simply cover for keyword-stuffed strings of sentences. Of course they are not all like that, but the ones who were most affected by Penguin were. It should not have come as a surprise that Google would find a way to improve their results. It is what they do, and they do it dozens of times each year. Yes, optimizing your site for keywords is good, but keyword stuffing is just dumb. Your readers want to get good information, not sort through gibberish to find the point. There is no easy way out, no shortcut to the finish line. Marketing is a long, careful process of many variables clicking together in harmony. There is no quick fix that lasts very long and without a sound strategy behind it, no marketing tactic can succeed. All the wailing and gnashing of teeth about Penguin is, I think, scaring some folks. But the thing to remember is that if you are doing the right thing for the right reason and you aren't trying to find the Philosopher's Stone of SEO, then all will be well. Good content that is relevant to your customer base is the gold standard.

Marketing Word of the Day: Consistency!

Today's marketing word is consistency - doing the same thing, over and over. In the marketing world, consistency is what builds your brand, your reputation in the marketplace. It helps your customers, and your future customers, know what to expect from you.

I often use the example of McDonald's when I am talking to groups about branding and consistency. No matter where in the world you go, if there is a Mickey D's there, you know what you are going to find inside. The prices may change, and there may even be a couple things on the menu that are different, but you know that there will be golden arches, Big Macs and french fries. There are no green arches, pink ones or blue ones just because the manager didn't like yellow. They can't change the name to the "Big Jack" just because that's the franchise owner's name. They can't substitute onion rings for french fries. Why? Because the entire brand is built on consistency. It may not be my favorite place to eat, but when I'm traveling and I pull into the drive-through, I know what I am going to get.

Consistency in your own brand is just as important, even if you are a one-person company. Make sure that whatever marketing materials you have look the same, from your business cards to your signage. Choose a color or two to represent your company and stick to it. Pick a font you like, and stick to it. Over time, your "look and feel" will become known to your customers and they will know it is you when they see your materials.

Make sure your customer service is consistent. That includes your operating hours, the way you answer the phone, how you greet customers and the way your employees dress. Make sure the impression you are giving is one of professionalism and that you create trust with the customer. Of course you must deliver on your promises and uphold service levels that will create a positive image for your customers.

Be consistent, even when it feels boring. There is an old saying in our business that just about the time you are getting tired of seeing it, that's when your advertising is beginning to work. Remember that your customers have to "see" something a half dozen times or more before it even really registers. So consistency in your advertising and all your marketing efforts is important if you want to build a strong brand in the mind of your customer.

Online Marketing

Internet marketers Lock, Lee & Farrell have a limited time offer that might be of interest to you. Their special includes tickets to the upcoming SAM (Sales Advertising & Marketing) conference in Utah. Thought I would pass it along!


Click Here

"It Really Works!"

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a presentation about social media marketing to a business networking group I belong to. I used my white paper "Social Rules of Engagement for Businesses" as the basis of my presentation. A few days later, one of the people in the group came up to me to tell me she had tried out the suggestions I gave and that it was working. She was getting people to engage with the business through Facebook and more people were liking their page. I could see she was going to be doing more social media marketing and it made me feel great that I had been able to help that business grow even with just a few tips. Social media marketing does work, but of course it takes some work and it doesn't work for every business. It requires consistency and the commitment to being authentic and genuine. It also requires that you ignore the temptation to use it to sell things or services because you will lose the interest of your audience very quickly that way. It means you have to set aside time to do it regularly and make it a priority, not an "if I can get to it" task. More and more, customers are finding the front door to you business on their monitors. It may be your website they see first, but it also may be your LinkedIn or Facebook page, or even a video on You Tube. Take as much care with what you have out there online as you would with your storefront. And if you are not good at writing, then find someone who is because misspellings and bad grammar will hurt your business. It works, it really works. And if you would like a free copy of the "Social Rules of Engagement for Business" just email me at Kim@DeppeCommunications.com and I will get it right out to you.

Social SEO Strategies to Start Using Right Now

Social SEO Strategies to Start Using Right Now

This is an interesting and spot-on article about the need to use social SEO strategies along with your traditional SEO work. Neither is going away anytime soon!

Social Media for Small Business

Think you've done social media because you have a Facebook and Twitter site? Even if you happen to be posting as much as you can and effectively, there are still quite a few social media sites out there that you should consider for promoting your business. Here are a few I suggest:

Merchant Circle - this is a great site for interacting with other local businesses. While I believe they may be light on the interactivity, I do think there are very good prospects here for businesses. It is certainly good for most small businesses who offer services to other small businesses. If little else, it proliferates your brand by getting your company's name on the web in the business community. Consider it an internet based Chamber networking event. <a href=\"http://www.merchantcircle.com/\" title=\"http://www.merchantcircle.com\">www.merchantcircle.com</a>

Manta - this is one of several listing sites out there, but it is still free. They furnish free company profiles and having a listing will certainly help with your backlinks and influence the page rankings of your website. Again, I think it is a growing B2B social site that offers plenty of opportunity. It is more sophisticated than Merchant Circle. <a href=\"http://www.manta.com/\" title=\"http://www.manta.com\">www.manta.com</a>

Yelp - Yelp started out as a way for individuals to give eachother experiences about local businesses, both negative and positive. It has evolved into a robust rating system for all sorts of businesses, with a lot of valuable suggestions for restaurants, shopping, and other verticals. For those who don't \"own\" your Yelp listing, you should go online very soon and make sure you capture that. First, it will prevent anyone else (like a competitor) from taking control of your business on Yelp. Secondly, it should assure you maintain a listening ear to whatever individuals are saying about you on the site, providing you with the opportunity to respond right away.<a href=\"http://www.yelp.com/\" title=\"http://www.yelp.com\">www.yelp.com</a>

 YP - once upon a time we use to have these big books with telephone listings and business ads in them and that was how we found merchants. The yellow pages have moved online and now provide listings and ads coupled with news and information about events and activities. They have mobile apps and \"deal of the day\" to encourage engagement.<a href=\"http://www.yellowpages.com/\" title=\"http://www.yellowpages.com\">www.yellowpages.com</a>

 This is a brief overview and there are many more social sites for B2B marketing. If you d like to know more about getting your business more visibility online, just Email<a href=\"mailto:Kim@DeppeCommunications.com\" title=\"mailto:Kim@DeppeCommunications.com\">Kim@DeppeCommunications.com</a>.

Lose the "One and Done"


So, this whole starting your own business thing is pretty imposing! I am finally done with all of the legal things (I think) and got all the systems and processes in place to do the back end work. I think. I reflected the other day that I am playing a lot of roles now - not just president/ceo, but also the chief financial officer, chief marketing officer, HR, IT - well, you get the picture. I'm head of marketing but also procurement, business development and janitorial services. Whew, no wonder my head has been swimming.

And, of course, like the cobbler's children who went without shoes, I've neglected my own marketing. Of all people, I should know better, right? I guess it is a good sign, in part, that I haven't had the time or felt the need in a pressing way.  It means I am working and that's a good thing. But I also know that marketing is a long-term investment and you can't be "one and done." That is always something I fought against in the corporate world, and that I try to impress upon my clients today.

One and done. It's the soft underbelly of marketing, a place where initial success can spell resulting failure. Because when the first campaign rolls out and brings in a lot of business, some companies think that's all they need to do. They expect the business to just keep on rolling in without the need to sustain the marketing efforts. I can't tell you how many times I have witnessed a company discard a campaign that is really working because - well, because it is really working. It is a short-sighted vision that ultimately leads to lost market share.

I have also seen companies that bounce around from one strategy to another, never satisfied with what they've got and thinking there is always something better around the corner - even when the current strategy is delivering results. The idea of consistency seems dull and boring to them, repetitive in a negative way, and the powers that be insist on changing things up.

This is a bad idea, as my fellow marketers know. The next shiny thing is not as effective as the dull, boring yet effective campaign you have. Consumers want to know what to expect from you as a company. They want to know that they will get the same products, the same level of service and the same basic pricing from you every time they walk in your door. Your marketing is the window through which the consumer sees your company. If you have a revolving door instead of a window, it makes it that much harder for the consumer to understand what it is you are doing. If you constantly change the location or the color of the window - to extend the metaphor - you are just confusing the heck out of your customers. They won't know who you are anymore, or what you stand for.

That is not to say, of course, that you shouldn't freshen your marketing regularly. You must keep current with the trends in your business and respond to changes in the market. Occasionally you will even need to completely revise your marketing approach. But this should be something that takes place every few years, not every few weeks. Think of the big companies like McDonald's, Sears, Home Depot, Apple. They have a solid foundation of marketing messages that they deliver over long periods of time. I bet you can tick off in your head their current ad slogans, and probably a couple of older ones, too. And while the messaging may be tweaked based on the audience they are talking to, the underlying message is rock solid and consistent.

So fight against the urge in your company to abandon a perfectly good campaign. One and done is a waste of your money. 

What Did Google Do?

OK, I never have copied a blog from my website to this blog, but this is such a hot topic, I thought I would go ahead. Truth is, the Google v. Twitter thing entertains me even if it doesn't really concern me much. I don't think it is a major endpoint in the game either way. So, here's what I said on my website blog (www.DeppeCommunications.com).

Wow, is there ever a hot debate flowing across the web tonight about whether Google’s changes to its search engine results algorithm is a good thing, a bad thing, or an unimportant thing. Read Tempest in a Teacup on TechCrunch, a pretty down-the-middle assessment of the issue, or In Tiff With Google, Twitter Turns to Wrestling, Mashable’s look at how Twitter is fighting back. I’ve been enjoying the comments across Twitter and Google+ and learning how passionate people can be about their search results.

My take is this: Google is a part of our world. Over 60% of all searches take place on Google. Google+ was created as a way to enhance the social networking of Google users. Google is not stupid and they are in business to make a profit, just like Facebook, Twitter and, well, me. Of course they are going to help their Google+ users find more relevant results by adding in Google+ information to the results page. That makes sense to me. I think it is important that they set it up so that you can search outside of this model simply by searching from somewhere other than your Google+ account. So you can still get the usual results page, or you can go for the enhanced results page - your choice. 

Now, most SEO folks are acknowledging that this change will make it harder for us to do our jobs. But the constant evolution of Google does that anyway, in my opinion, and it forces me (at least) to stay informed. Combine that with the ever-changing rules at Facebook, Yahoo, Bing, Twitter....well, you get the idea.

And hey, if you have a Google+ account, please add me to one of your circles. You’ll find me at +DeppeCommunications. And if you don’t, I’d suggest you think about creating one, I think you are going to need it.