Independent Business Micro Marketing

Marketing on a limited budget for small business. 

By Eric Hines 

During the current economic climate business owners are learning quickly that:

1. Not marketing isn’t an option.

2. Materials need to be developed to meet a specific demographic.

3. Traditional advertising/marketing doesn’t always work.

4. Nobody can sell your business like you can, so people need to hear your voice.

There are a lot of different avenues that allow businesses to create relationships with future customers without spending a lot of money, but they do require a lot of effort. Therefore, replacing a large budget with a time investment. The following examples need to follow your current brand aesthetic or else you can lose your customers or have your hard work disregarded.  

Networking: Nothing beats face to face time with a prospective client. But truth of the matter is in a networking environment you probably won’t meet your perfect client. Therefore, you need to impact everyone you meet in a memorable way so that they pass your name along to their personal network. Your memorability is increased if you have a business card that’s clever, well designed, or dual purpose. If your card has an exclusive offer on it then it might be passed along faster. This doesn’t mean cheapening your card or business by turning your card into a fun-run t-shirt door prize bonanza. Keep your promotion clean and concise, it’s secondary to your business information. In the same respect, putting together another marketing piece to give away beyond a business card to good prospects is a viable idea as well. This piece should identify your strengths and how you are different from the competition. You might notice over time that the more money you pay to get into a networking event the more money that is there, so choose wisely so as not to waste your time. 

Befriend the “Talker”: In the networking circles at some point you will meet only a couple people that are really unique. Let’s call this person Cali. Cali is always happy, too happy (almost annoyingly), has a lot of friends, regular at all the events, extreme extrovert and is probably a little loud. Cali might even be the person throwing the networking event… Become her friend and do something nice for her. Pay special attention to her because she talks, a lot. Before you know it she will be bragging about your company or services to everyone in her circle, which is a very large circle. Keep in touch with Cali on a regular basis and send her a token of your gratitude for her referrals. 

Using Contacts: After collecting business cards at networking events, put them to work. Put together an email newsletter that allows another touch point with people you’ve only met once. Send a newsletter out only quarterly so as not to annoy people or end up in a junk folder, unsubscribed or on a shit list. The newsletter should include an offer, update or press release of some sort. Use short paragraph descriptions in the email and link to larger articles on your web site to elaborate. Some common email systems include Emma, Constant Contact and Vertical Response. These systems are inexpensive and some can mail postcards as well as newsletters if you include all of your contacts information. 

The Internet is Your Friend: Beyond an email system and a web site it’s important to decide if social marketing is the right fit for your company. If it isn’t, don’t waste time with it. Social media will suck the life out of you like a time-deprived mosquito. If social media is a good fit use it for promotions and another touch point with current and future customers. Additionally, blogs can be used as another marketing device. The difference with a blog is that it’s a forum for you to be an expert in something that parallels with your company. For example, if you own an organic restaurant your blog could be about organic cooking and purchasing of foods. Post regularly, about three times a week, and always stay on topic. 

Piggyback: In order to put together events to gain new customers sometimes it helps to work with another company to help finance the event and drive attendees. The company you partner with needs to parallel your goods or services. Sometimes known as “power partners” these symbiotic relationships share current customers and look for new ones as a team. The event can be for a variety of reasons including customer appreciation, new location, change of season or because it’s Friday. Using the previous example of an organic restaurant, putting together an event with the local organic grower of the food could benefit both companies. 

Alternative Advertising/Marketing: This has become a buzzword relating to atypical marketing techniques. Generally creative and well thought out they are the ultimate tool for promoting your business. Usually used by large corporations (think Denver Water “Use Only What You Need” campaign), this thinking can be applied to a smaller scale to work for you. When developing a piece like this, much like any marketing piece, you need to consider your demographic, where to find them and what you are going to leave them with. This piece of marketing material could be the item you hand to a solid prospect or “talker” at a business mixer. The same organic restaurant might put together a custom seed packet/oversized business card. On the back of the seed pack they might include the effort that is gone through to grow their food organically. In order to keep cost to a minimum, the packets can be handmade with specialty envelopes and hand-stamped information. Remember sometime less money means more time, this is a perfect example. 

These are only a couple examples of ways to put your company on the map and resonate with customers. The more you explore these options, the more obvious it will be as to what will work for your business. Once again the visual branding of these pieces is essential. If your prospect receives a business card that doesn’t match a web site or email newsletter they are unlikely to connect the dots. Best of luck with your business venture… 

Eric Hines is a partner (a.k.a Concept Mechanic) at Honest Bros. Everyone at Honest Bros. is a thinker and a doer. Our team is composed of photographers, artists, silk-screeners, print makers, music enthusiasts and other creative types that can’t sit still. We have proven expertise – covering a diverse range of design and branding projects for a wide variety of companies, artists and organizations. We create work of quality and distinction, which communicates clear and consistent messages. We do it by working hard to understand what our clients need to say, providing personal attention and honest feedback. www.honestbros.com