Mega Grassroots Marketing Strategies

One of the main reasons businesses fail is the lack of proper

marketing.  With limited funds marketing can easily get the short end
of the stick and bypass this extremely important aspect to becoming a
successful company. Of all the forms of marketing grassroots
marketing can by far provide the best returns for the investment yet
few small businesses take the time to kick off a grassroots campaign.
Further more business owners generally turn to traditional
advertising, social media, and other online options to get the word out
to attract customers.  

Those forms of advertising and marketing do little to truly get you the
leads your looking for because your message is competing with
millions of other messages out there on the few devices people are
using such as a TV, computer, or wireless phone.  With grassroots
marketing you garner the power of word of mouth and turn it into an
all mega powerful opportunity to build relationships with a community
that will support and spread the word for you.

Viral -vs- Grassroots

Today grassroots is considered a viral campaign which companies
might find more attractive in terms of evolving with the times.  The old
fashion grassroots campaign is lost and something only bands and
politicians do these days but that does not have to be the case and
should not.  A viral campaign while exciting due to the attention your
content is getting may generate little value if that traffic generated
overwhelms your ability to track and actually market to them.  It
actually does more harm than good if requests for more info are not
met or worse can't afford to fill orders.  

With a grassroots campaign customized for your business not only

will you have the opportunity  to have people offer that information to
the public for free but they will also root for you and generate warm
leads via word of mouth.
How To Get Started
Getting started requires a plan.  Your plan should state the goals your
looking for in terms of new customers and sales and the blueprints of
your overall strategy.  Start by making a list of your strongest
supporters and customers.  This list can also include friends and
family members who will be your very own street team.  The goal is a
street team that does not mind putting in a couple of hours
sometimes to pass on the word about your company.  You can arm
your street team with free samples, flyers or posters, and contact
information.  

How much can you invest?  What ever that number is will be where
you'll start and what you'll have to work with.  Even with low budgets
you'll see how powerful this form of marketing is and how it can
produce tremendous results for your company.

Your plan should include how you'll communicate with each other and
execute various strategies. Making sure the people helping you out
are as effective as possible will help drive  positive results.  How
much time do you have to commit to this strategy?  Realize this is an
effective part of an overall balanced marketing strategy.  Don't put all
your marketing into one basket but make the best choices based on
return on investment.

How To Organize A Powerful Small

Business Street Team
Taking cues from the politicians and musicians, a small business
street team is the key to generating buzz about your product or
service. The team should consist of a reputable team leader whom
others in the community trust or looks up to.  This person can assist
in coordinating the actual locations or events you'll be targeting for
your campaign.

Once you have the leader find a few others who would make great
company ambassadors.  The team activities would revolve around
generating word of mouth in a hot spot where they could give away
free samples, etc but that would not be a good use of the actual
power of word of mouth.  Your team should target close friends and
people they know personally.

Consider a street team of 4 people who are passionate about your

company and products.  Charge your team with an initial task of
spreading the word about your offer to 5 close friends generating a
pool of 20 targeted warm leads.  These 20 people can then call,
email, or join your social media network and receive free samples,
printed material, etc.  The key is to receive the initial batch of leads
from people who are already educated about your offer and  build a
relationship with them.  This is where the double freebie comes into
play.  Excite those 20 leads with a second free gift as quickly as
possible, you want that to be a surprise and special bonus for just
being friends with you and being excited about your company.  Ask
those leads to also tell 5 people about your company and to join your
network, call, or email.  Hopefully your also be creating an email list
with these specific leads because they are going to explode your
business very quickly through this process.  

Continue this strategy over and over and never stop.  What you'll find
is that your marketing efforts are stronger and more profitable over
time and that your street team can continue to inform people they
know about your company with enthusiasm and generate buzz about
who you are.  Reward your street team members to keep they
motivated and singing your praises.

Be Passionate
Grassroots marketing may not be exactly the same as it use to be but
one ingredient that is required is PASSION.  You have to have
passion for your idea, company, product, or service.  The energy has
to come from you and don't be afraid to ask your repeat customers to
tell a friend.  Actually ask all your customers to tell a friend.  Form
long lasting relationships with these people which basically requires
the ability to hold a person to person conversation and be genuinely
interested in providing not only value but a voice that understands
what they are going through.  It's not all about the sale but about the
people.  
Remember to tell a friend also, what could better than a customer
with a small business getting a lead from you telling others about their
great company.  Genuine care is the fuel that moves a company
forward.