100 Powerful Marketing Tips

Here are our top 100 marketing tips for small or medium businesses: simple
ideas to easily increase sales and visibility. The truth is that marketing is all
about satisfying your customer needs. Use these powerful marketing tips to
help understand customer needs, find ways to satisfy those needs, and
better communicate your solution.
Remember, marketing should be ongoing. Commit to never letting a day go
by without engaging in at least one marketing activity, no matter how
small. Keep these marketing tips on hand, or check out our other small
business marketing ideas, or these creative marketing ideas, and pull one
out each time you need a little extra boost in your sales or visibility.
1. Maintain a tickler file of marketing tips and ideas for later use. When
you have some time, or are running short of a quick marketing
activity, then pick one of the marketing tips out of the file.
2. Submit a timely and newsworthy press release.
3. Try to start each day with two cold calls.
4. Create a tagline for your business, and include it on your website,
letterhead, literature, email signature and invoices.
5. Publish your own blog on your industry or your specialty, following
these blog marketing tips. Make sure you update it regularly (twice a
week is preferable).
6. Publish a regular newsletter for customers and prospects. You can
either send it as a hardcopy piece using direct mail, or start a more
economical email marketing mailing.
7. Always carry business cards with you, whether you are on business or
personal time. Find opportunities to engage others about your
business and exchange cards. Give prospects two so they can share
one if needed.
8. Talk to your current customers. Ask them why they hired you. Solicit
suggestions for improvement. Put together a brief customer survey.
9. Ask former customers why they left. Ask them what might bring them
back.
10. Identify a new market segment (niche) that could use your product
or service.
11. Join an e-mail list or online forum related to your profession. Post or
answer questions.
12. How do your customers use your product or service? Could you
create a new, complementary service, technique, or product that
would make yours a more end-to-end solution?
13. Offer a simpler/cheaper/smaller version of your product or service.
Think about how you position it so as not to cannibalize sales of your
higher-end version.
14. Offer a higher-end/more expensive version of your product or
service. What features or offerings would a more advanced
user/customer be looking for?
15. Review and update your services or product brochure. Does it have
the best current positioning? Do you have more recent case studies
or testimonials?
16. Join an association or organization related to your profession.
17. Get a marketing intern. It will give the intern experience and you
some free/cheap marketing help. They may also bring some fresh
marketing tips themselves about how to promote your business.
18. Hire a marketing consultant to brainstorm with and suggest other
marketing tips.
19. Write up a testimonial or case study from a recent customer. Make
sure you have the customer's approval first.
20. Start a marketing advisory and referral team with complementary
and/or neighboring business owners. Share marketing tips and
referrals. Plan joint marketing activities. Meet regularly for coffee.
21. Create a suggestion box for customers (either a physical one at your
place of business, or on your website).
22. Start a referrals program to reward current customers, employees or
partners for bringing in new business.
23. Reassess your fee structure. Does it need adjustment with the
recession? Could you make it more modular? Make sure you support
all the payment options your clients need: make it easy for them to
pay you.
24. Give regular clients a discount.
25. Create a poster or calendar to give away to customers and prospects.
26. Create or update your email signature to be used for all your e-mail
messages. It should include your contact details, Web site address
and your tagline.
27. Offer discounts to members of certain clubs/
groups/organizations/websites in exchange for promotions in their
publications or on their site.
28. Publicize your 100th customer of the year (or other notable
milestone).
29. Sponsor a competition.
30. Create an annual award and publicize it.
31. Develop or update your brochure of services.
32. Produce separate business cards web pages and literature for each of
your target market segments. Have value propositions, case studies,
and positioning targeted to their specific needs.
33. Include testimonials from customers in your literature and on your
website. Don't just have a "testimonials" page, but include one or two
wherever they are relevant.
34. Test a new mailing list. If it produces results, add it to your current
direct mail or email lists or replace a list that's not performing well.
35. Do a postcard mailing or other direct or email marketing promotion.
Announce free or special offers in your direct response pieces, with a
clear customer call-to-action. Check this article for some postcard
marketing tips.
36. Update your media list to make sure your press releases are being
sent to the right media outlet and person.
37. Write a column for the local newspaper, local business journal, or
trade publication.
38. Publish an article and circulate reprints.
39. Get public relations and media training or read a recent PR book.
40. Appear on a radio or TV talk show, seminar panel, or webinar.
41. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or trade
 magazine, or comment on a blog in your industry.
42. Add a page to your website with relevant information for your target
customers. Make it SEO-friendly to bring in search engine traffic.
43. Update your LinkedIn, Plaxo or other social media profile.
44. Get a publicity photo taken and enclose with press releases, include
on your website, with articles you write, etc.
45. Consistently review websites, blogs, newspapers and magazines for
possible PR opportunities.
46. Submit tip articles to newsletters, online article sites, and
newspapers.
47. Create a press kit and keep its contents current. Make it available on
your website.
48. Ask your clients to come back again. Ask them how you could make
their experience with your product or service better.
49. Write up a FAQ for your website, or set up a email system to easily
respond to customer inquiries.
50. Record a memorable message or tip of the day on your outgoing
answering machine or voice mail message, and/or include it in your
email signature or blog.
51. Ask customers what you can do to help them.
52. Take clients out to a ball game, show, or another special event - just
send them two tickets with a note.
53. Hold a seminar at your office or other location for clients and
prospects, or host an online webinar.
54. Send handwritten thank you notes.
55. Send birthday cards and appropriate seasonal greetings.
56. Photocopy interesting articles and send them or email a link to clients
and prospects with a hand-written FYI note and your business card.
57. Send a book of interest or other appropriate business gift to a client
with a handwritten note.
58. Create an area on your Web site specifically for your customers.
59. Join a Chamber of Commerce or other organization.
60. Join or organize a breakfast club with other professionals (not in your
field) to discuss business and network referrals, and share marketing
tips.
61. Mail a brochure to members of organizations to which you belong.
62. Serve on a city board or commission, or a subcommittee of a
professional organization.
63. Hold an open house.
64. Send letters to attendees after you attend a conference or give a talk.
65. Identify the peak seasons for your business and focus your
advertising then.
66. Get a memorable and search-engine friendly domain name (eg,
www.your-product-value.com) and point it to your site, or do the
same with your phone number (eg, 1-800-MYPRODUCT).
67. Promote your business jointly with other professionals via cooperative
email or direct mail.
68. Advertise in a specialty online directory or in the Yellow Pages.
69. Write an ad in another language to reach the non-English-speaking
market. Place the ad in a publication that market reads, such as a
Hispanic newspaper or website.
70. Mail bumps - photos, samples, and other innovative items to your
prospect list. (A bump is anything that makes the mailing envelope
bulge.)
71. Consider placing ads in your newspaper's classified section or in
Craigslist online.
72. Code your ads and discount coupons and keep records of results.
73. Improve your building signage and directional signs inside and out.
74. Invest in a neon sign to make your office or storefront window visible
at night.
75. Create a new or improved company logo or recolor the traditional
logo.
76. Get a booth at a fair/trade show attended by your target market.
77. Sponsor or host an event or at your business or other location in
cooperation with a local non-profit organization. Talk about how the
organization helped you.
78. Give a speech or volunteer for a career day at a high school or
university.
79. Teach a class or seminar at a local college or adult education center
or online.
80. Sponsor an Adopt-a-Road area in your community to keep roads
litter-free. People that pass by the area will see your name on the
sign announcing your sponsorship.
81. Volunteer your time to a charity or non-profit organization.
82. Donate your product or service to a charity auction.
83. Appear on a panel or give a talk at a professional seminar.
84. Write a How To pamphlet or article for publishing.
85. Produce a How To video and distribute it online (eg, Youtube).
86. Follow up on your direct mailings, email messages, and broadcast
faxes with a friendly telephone call.
87. Reduce response/turnaround time. Make reordering easy - use
reminders. Provide preaddressed envelopes if it is done through the
mail.
88. Display product and service samples at your office and other business
locations who are willing to display them (eg, doctor's office, retail
locations, local deli, etc).
89. Remind customers of the other products and services you provide
that they aren't currently buying.
90. Publish a book.
91. Give your sales literature to your lawyer, accountant, printer, banker,
temp agency, office supply salesperson, advertising agency, etc.
(Leverage a free sales force!)
92. Follow up regularly with former clients to try and reactivate them.
93. Attend a marketing seminar or read a current marketing book.
94. Find a new marketing newsletter or other publication and subscribe,
or sign up to an online marketing forum.
95. Find a new market research study about your profession, industry,
product, target market groups, etc. and read it.
96. Collect competitors' literature and advertising. Pick one and read it as
if you were a customer. What is compelling? What is not? How does it
compare to yours?
97. Give discounts for cash or up-front payment.
 98. Offer financing or installment plans.
99. Create a friendly bumper sticker for your car.
100. Create a personal nametag or pin with your company name and logo
on it and wear it at events, meetings any time you are in a public
place of business. You could do the same with using pens.
Follow these marketing tips regularly, and try to work on at least one of
them every day (some of these marketing tips will take more than one day
to implement, of course). You will soon see a boost in your sales and
visibility.
For some useful web site marketing ideas, take a look at this internet
marketing strategy article also, and check out this article as well for some
marketing tips to keep your online efforts as productive as possible. Finally,
we have some additional small business marketing ideas here.