Small Business Marketing Tips

When operating a small business, recognizing the key differences between large and small businesses can help you make decisions that are appropriate for your specific business structure, which can be the difference between a thriving business and a struggling one. In particular, effective marketing and advertising techniques can vary greatly between small, mid-sized and large businesses.  What works for mid-sized or large companies may not work for a small business, simply due to lack of financial or other resources necessary to market products and services. For small businesses, one of the most important factors to consider in a marketing campaign is cost. The following tips are inexpensive, yet effective ways for small businesses to market products or services on a large scale.

Pay Attention to Your Customers

While you are trying to gain more customers, do not forget about the customers that you already have. It is much easier to get more business from the customers who already know and trust you than from someone brand new. Take advantage of this by offering special deals to existing customers or releasing information to them before you release it to the general public. One idea is to send regular newsletters to customers by mail or email, keeping them informed on what the company is doing now and in the future. The better you treat your current customers, the more likely they will be to recommend your company to other potential customers.

Partner With Other Small Businesses

Find a non-competing small business serving consumers in your target market and negotiate a joint promotion. Your small business can offer to publicize their products or services to your customers, and in exchange they can publicize your products or services to their customers. For example, if your business is sending out a brochure, you could include a leaflet or business card from the other business and vice versa. This is a great way to reach a whole new audience at a very low cost. 

Use Social Media

Successful businesses of all types are steadily using this effective method for business purposes, especially marketing and advertising. Social media has quickly become one of the easiest and fastest ways to advertise virtually anything. More than 750 million people use Facebook every day, making it the most popular Web site on the Internet. It would be unwise for any company, large or small, not to use social media. By creating profiles on sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, you can personify your organization and instantly become more appealing to existing and potential customers and clients. Customers can get updates immediately through the use of these profiles, making them feel more connected with the company. It would also be beneficial to create a blog and be active on other blogs. The more active your business is on social media, the more likely people will remember it. This marketing technique is incredibly useful, and it is free to create most social profiles.

How Can Outsourcing Help Your Company?

Frustrated? Outsourcing can help!

Reducing overhead costs is the easiest way to save your business money, and therefore increase its bottom line. One of the simplest ways to reduce overhead cost is to eliminate or significantly reduce the utilization of full-time employees. Many companies have realized that outsourcing various services is beneficial in a plethora of ways. Outsourcing, using outside help to complete tasks that are normally performed in-house, is not a new concept, as companies have been utilizing outside advertising firms, accounting companies and distributors for decades. Small- to medium-sized businesses can also benefit from outsourcing other tasks, such as promotional materials, which has been proven to have significant advantages that outweigh monetary benefits—although those are nice as well.

In addition to saving money, outsourcing various marketing and public relations services has many long-term benefits for companies of various sizes and types. Long-term outsourcing benefits are as follows:

• Increased productivity and efficiency
• Reduced labor costs
• Reduced utility costs associated with workplace lighting and computer usage
• Reduced equipment costs for in-house staff
• Increase company attractiveness to investors—Invested capital will be spent directly making money rather than being poured into expensive salaries.
• Specialization—Outsourcing companies are often specialized in a specific area, rather than those who may be completing a project in-house who wear many hats.
• Increased competitive edge—Many small- to medium-sized businesses do not have the resources to compete with the in-house staff of large corporations. Outsourcing services provides smaller companies with an edge to compete.
• Increased focus on primary business concerns—Outsourcing writing and marketing services means that managers will have more time to focus on primary business operations, such as product development, distribution and sales.

Of course, there can always be too much of a good thing—outsourcing included. Sometimes it may not be wise to outsource all company writing or marketing services depending on the specific circumstances of the company. To avoid outsourcing too much or too little, prior to taking the leap into the world of business-to-business outsourcing, thoroughly evaluate current operations. How much is being produced and at what rate? Could outsourcing help you increase productivity and your company’s bottom line?