With more businesses springing up in their thousands, sale of products and services have indeed become more competitive. Business owners and advertisers, more than before, continue to churn out strategies and tactics to get their offerings into the minds and eventually the pockets of existing and potential customers or clients.
The big companies allocate huge annual budget for their marketing campaigns; while small businesses tend to struggle to make themselves known in the market.
This trend, however, has forced thousands of small businesses to close shop, while others have gone the way of cheap or free publicity and promotion in order to keep cost at an all time low. You find them in online forums, blogs, pay-per-click, classified ads, banner exchange, social networking websites, online directories and even small business meetings.
I have painstakingly researched and compiled 101 marketing strategies the big companies use to publicize and promote their businesses. Surprisingly, as small business owners, we can make good use of them tool!
1. Use a direct mail campaign to sell your offerings
2. Send customized bulk SMS to your target audience.
3. Create a blog and start blogging.
4. Advertise in newspapers and magazines
5. Print and hand out quality business cards
6. Distribute corporate souvenirs
7. Write professional articles on your products and services.
8. Issue press releases in both the print and electronic media.
9. Advertise on billboards and street banners.
10. Sponsor or co-sponsor special events
11. Join social networking websites, e.g Facebook.com
12. Design a beautiful website for your business.
13. Join and participate in online forums, e.g Nairaland.com
14. Establish mutual community relationships
15. Target your audiences well
16. Attend trade fairs/exhibitions
17. Organize road shows
18. Distribute quality fliers
19. Paste quality posters
20. Have an efficient customer/client contact center
21. Offer discounts on your products/services.
22. Do a documentary on your business
23. Distribute annual reports to your stakeholders
24. Be open to criticism
25. Advance a dress code for your employees
26. Use a consistent brand identity on all promotional materials.
27. Include contacts information on all outgoing communication.
28. Share your statements of purpose and core values with all stakeholders.
29. Treat your employees with respect & admiration.
30. Initiate corporate social responsibility programmes
31. Hold annual general meetings
32. Advertise on tv and radio
33. Organize facility visits for your stakeholders.
34. Give opportunity for customer feedback always.
35. Publish a house journal/newsletter regularly
36. Create events around new products and services
37. Use in-store/open market display stands
38. Brand your vehicles
39. Use roll-up/pop up banners within your business premises and at important events.
40. Beautify your business premises
41. Partner with other businesses to sell your products/services.
42. Recognize and appreciate loyal customers.
43. Use word of mouth always
44. Offer quality products/services always
45. Covet and win awards for your company
46. Use a good trade/ brand name
47. Advertise on the internet
48. Re-brand your products/services if necessary
49. Meet and discuss with other business people at events.
50. Ask your existing customers/clients for referrals
51. Request for written third-party endorsement for your products or services.
52. Maintain an open communication policy with journalists.
53. Partner with you local and state governments on developmental issues/projects.
54. Publish a book/magazine
55. Establish branch offices at strategic areas
56. Drive a posh car (for Nigerians only!)
57. Maintain a high dress sense.
58. Use state-of-the-art office equipment
59. Have only intelligent employees on your payroll.
60. Only employees with good communication skills must answers phone calls and deliver corporate speeches.
61. Place and honour all statements of warranty on your products and services.
62. Use beautiful packaging for your products.
63. Offer the best product/service at a reasonable price.
64. Initiate a market research for an existing or new product/service.
65. Use e-mail marketing
66. Embrace new technology
67. Smile always
68. Organize a press conference when necessary
69. Tailor your product/service offerings to different segments of your market.
70. Schedule a visit with potential clients/customers
71. Use a punchy slogan to drive home your message
72. Pay a courtesy visit to traditional rulers, regulatory agencies, the media and other important publics.
73. Avoid lawsuits and respect the rule of law.
74. Put your customers first when formulating policies
75. Have an in-house public relations expert or consultant on your payroll.
76. Focus on delivering superior products/services
77. Empathize with your clients/customers
78. Set new and challenging marketing goals regularly.
79. Recruit ad-hoc sales people for sales promotion
80. Maintain a non-discrimination recruitment policy
81. Manage your internal and external crisis well
82. Never speak ill of your target audiences
83. Submit your website to search engines and directories.
84. Submit your articles to article submission websites.
85. Position and re-position your products/service against your competitors.
86. Discuss pertinent but controversial issues over the media
87. Insist on quality printing work always.
88. Build excellent relationship with your target audiences
89. Offer free delivery service where applicable
90. Give customers the opportunity to buy and pay for your products on the internet.
91. Pay your creative department /agency well to do a quality newspaper, TV and radio advertisement for you.
92. Say “thank you” each time a customer or client patronizes you.
93. Display your statements of purpose, beliefs and awards inside your business premises.
94. Keep and update a mailing list of your target audiences
95. Offer free services as often as you can.
96. Provide a toll-free number for customer/client feedback.
97. Have customer relationship officers respond to enquiries on time.
98. Pay your taxes regularly.
99. Maintain a credit worthiness policy with your banks and other lenders.
100. Include a “signature” (business information) in all your outgoing e-mail messages.
101. Invite me to speak with your employees or seminar audience on how they can use each of these strategies to publicize/promote your (or their) products/service effectively.
