Green Business Certificate - Starting Small Business Promotional Campaigns
So you're beginning a little company. You figured out what you wanted to sell or do and went out and got it all set up, had your DBA framed and on the wall and now all you need is for someone to buy your product or use your service. Correct?
How are you going to go about having your public to know you even exist?
Promote! Promote! Promote!
Well that all sounds simple, but say you are a financial specialist, a boat builder or llama farmer. They most likely didn't teach the basic principles of starting little company promotional campaigns in boat-builders' school. So what do you need to know, and how do you go about it?
Let's begin with the "Basic Principles" of promotion:
What is Promotion?
Promotion: Anything, as advertising, public appearances, etc., done to publicize (get the attention or interest of the public) a person, product, event, etc. The New Webster's Concise Dictionary2003 Encyclopedic Edition
Why do you promote?
The purpose of promotion is to make certain people know you are in business. You market because should you don't, you won't make it in business. You promote simply because it is communication that you need to engage in in order to survive. You market in order to expand and get the attention or interest of the public for your items or services. You market because if you do not, no one will know you exist and no one will buy from you and...well, you get the point.
How do you promote?
You will find much more methods than you would ever think. Have you ever heard someone say, "I never promote and I am usually busy" OR "I do not need to promote, all my company comes from word-of-mouth"? They might not be aware of how they're doing it, but I promise you they're promoting somewhere. Perhaps they just go around telling everybody they talk to, that they do not promote. (Sound funny? It's still promoting.) Perhaps their larger-than-life running water faucet in front of their store attracts so much attention that they don't require to do anything else. Well here are some ideas you can do "knowingly" to drive in the business.
*Greeting your customers with a smile is a great place to begin.
*Calling your customers right after they have had a chance to use your product is a good method to market that you care about their experience with your organization. It can also produce an opportunity to make much more sales.
*A neatly packaged product, the shipping label on straight, promotes that you take pride in what you do.
*Always keep up-to-date brochures or catalogs about your company in your reception area for people to see and take with them.
*If you have customers coming into your business, make sure they are greeted pleasantly, professionally, and immediately.
Anything that gets the attention or interest of the public for the company, its employees, its products or services (in a positive way) is promotion. But how do you go about promoting to the masses?
Here is a story that could save you thousands of marketing and promotional dollars, as well as months or years of experience.
"I was working as the Communications & Promotional Director in a medium size company. We were fortunate enough to have our own commercial printing press, that put out lots of very fancy letters, catalogs, brochures and other promotional items, and oh yes, envelopes to put them in. My full time pressman and his helpers, spent several days each week obtaining everything printed, cut, folded and sent over to the mailing house."
"There, they had machines that automated all the stuffing, sorting, addressing and stamping. All in all everything was going very well. We were sending out about 40,000 pieces per week at a cost of about $10,800.00, and getting around 120 to 140 good leads per week. This generated an average of 2 new sales per week for a product that cost around $12,000, and re-sign income of around $45,000 more. We weren't growing very fast, but we were making money."
"THEN...911 hit. "
"Suddenly, nobody wanted to open envelopes. Our leads were dropping to nothing. We were heading toward our own disaster like so numerous other businesses did. I knew I required to promote, but what great did it do if nobody read it!"
"I was talking towards the owner of the mailing home and he suggested the use of POSTCARDS rather than letters. So we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, I had a lot less cash to allocate towards promotion, so I started by sending about 20,000 postcards weekly. The total cost-per-piece, needing only 1 day on the presses, half the labor at the mail house and a substantial decrease in postage, was reduced by about 60%."
What was the result? Try 120 to 140 leads per week!
Why?
*You don't have to open a post card!
*You see it correct away, the bright picture is not hidden from view by an envelope.
*The message leaps correct out and you can't ignore it or throw it in the trash unopened (the fate of many bulk mail pieces).
Postcards are the best medium to reach new customers when beginning a little business promotional campaign.
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Green Business Certification
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