BEST KIND OF MARKETING STRATEGIES

What marketing strategies work for small businesses today? What are the best ways to get customers to know about your
business contact you or make a purchase? Here are 24 marketing strategies that work for small businesses.

Finding the right marketing strategies to use has always been a challenging task for small businesses. But the growing
number of marketing channels available today make it even more difficult to find the best marketing strategies to build
your business.

The consumer who's searching the web for the best price on printing business cards may never see your ad in the local
newspaper. The woman who gets a text message at 11:15 am from a nearby deli telling her that today's lunch
special includes a free diet soda may never bother to look at the coupons your bagel shop mailed with a similar offer.

The homeowner who needs a dishwasher repaired may look first at the classified ads in the local weekly newspaper. And,
the middle school teacher who thinks her students and their parents spend too much of their waking hours using
computers or other digital devices may never see the free sample ad you're running on Facebook.

So, what is the best way to promote your business today? Unfortunately, there's no one push-button marketing idea that
will send a steady stream of customers to your door. Whether you sell products or services, you must use multiple
marketing strategies to attract and keep customers.

The list below presents a variety of marketing strategies and ideas. Some of the ideas are pretty basic, but very often it's
those all-important basic marketing strategies that businesses forget or ignore.

If you've been in business for a long time and haven't changed your marketing methods over the years, pay particular
attention to the strategies that involve the Internet and digital marketing. No matter how your existing customers found
you, businesses and consumers today regularly turn to digital media to gather information about their needs and research
service providers before deciding which service provider they'll use. You want them to find your company.

1. Identify a target market. Create a profile of your ideal customer. What type of person buys this service most frequently
today? Why do they need and strongly desire this service? What is their job function? If it's a consumer product, where do
they live? How old are they? How much money to they earn? What other factors make them a likely customer? Where are
they most likely to look for the service or hear about it? Who might they ask for a referral?

Once you answer those questions, ask yourself one more: "Where should I be networking or what should I be doing to
make myself known to that potential customer or to people who give the prospect referrals." After you've answered the
questions, act on them.

2. Promote what your customer wants to buy. Customers don't really want the service you perform. They want the
solution to a problem or benefit your service provides. Think about it. A plumber's customers aren't really interested in
plumbing. They want a leaky pipe fixed. A web developers' customers don't want a database or design. They want a
website that will make them look good, get found in search engines, and help them get new customers. If you need help
figuring out what your customers are really buying, ask them. Write down their answers and use Get better results from all
the marketing you do by focusing on the specific problems your service solves or benefits it provides.

3. Make yourself a trusted resource to prospects and customers. People like to buy from people they know and trust.
They also don't like to have anything "sold" to them. Become a trusted resource to your prospects by providing information
that will help them make a good choice.

4. Make yourself a resource for the media. Members of the press are always looking for authoritative sources to quote.
Keep in touch with local media through online and offline network groups and subscribe to HARO to receive inquiries from
media who are looking for interview subjects for stories.
5. Set up professional profiles for yourself and/or your business on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google
Profiles (which also serves as your profile on Google+). Be sure each of your profiles has a link to your website. If you
meet a prospect and they lose your business card, they might type your name into the search engine to try to find you.
Having a profile on the biggest social media sites will allow them to find you and the link to your website.

6. Claim your place on Google Places. Google places listings aren't just for fast food establishments or retail stores.
You can search for any type of service by location, and Google will show a list of companies that match the service you
searched for in the location you specified. If you live in a big city, there's no guarantee your places profile will show up on
that first page listing. But having a profile gives you an edge.

7. Look for social media discussions groups that attract your target customers. Depending what you sell, look for
topic-specific groups and/or location-based discussion groups. Set aside a few minutes a day to read the conversations,
and then join in when appropriate, making informative comments or posting useful resources. If you don't have time to do
this, hire a freelancer or an employee help by scouting out conversations that you may want to participate in.

8. Write informative articles related to the service you provide. Put some of the articles on your own site, and distribute
others to articles sites and to other sites that reach your audience and use contributors' articles. Be sure to include an
"about the author" resources box with a link to your website. (For more tips on article marketing, read Article Marketing
Do's and Don'ts.) The articles will help get yourself and your company known, and help establish your credibility.

9. Print up flyers or brochures and distribute them at membership groups you belong to, if allowed. You can get free
templates from HP and Microsoft you can use to create your own. Print small quantities of flyers or product sheets
yourself on a color printer. (Be sure to use good quality paper – something heavier than standard copier paper.) When
you know you'll need a hundred or more copies at a time, compare the cost of having them printed to the cost of printing
your own. Be sure to allow enough time to have the printing delivered to you.

10. Volunteer to speak at local business groups. Local business groups always need interesting speakers to attract
members to meetings. Your talk should be about some area of your specialty, but should focus on the audience's
informational needs and the problems they want to solve.

11. Submit proposals to speak at industry group conferences. If you don't have a lot of experience speaking, see if
you can get on a panel, instead of giving a solo speech. Be sure to promote your participation in the panel before the
event, and link to any videos or other after-event promo the conference planner has posted.

12. Refer business to other businesses in your networks. Giving referrals is as important a networking tool as getting
them. People recommend people they like….and business people usually like other business people who send them
business.

13. Tweet, mention and link to blog posts and social networking posts made by other individuals if what they've
written something of interest to your audience. Besides providing good material for your followers, it's a good way to win
social media friends, expand your network, and get your name and specialty known.

14. Build an email list and send informative mailings to it on a regular basis. Your mailing list should be made up of
people who have asked to be on it. (Having a newsletter signup box on your web page is one good way to get people to
"ask" to be on your mailing list.)

15. Join and participate in local business groups and try one or two leads groups as well. The best source of business
for many small service businesses is referrals.

16. Stick with groups that attract the types of people you want as customers. Even when people don't really know
you, you become a more trusted resource just by showing up.
17. Keep in touch with potential customers and existing customers with a postcard mailing. The person who
doesn't have time to talk to you today, may need your services (or know someone else who does) a month or 6 months
from now.

18. Ask for referrals. Besides asking existing clients if they know anyone else who can use your services, consider what
other professionals you know who could refer business to you – and vice versa. If you're an electrician, talk to local
builders and remodeling contractors, plumbers, and people who lay tile. If you are a graphic designer talk to web
designers and ad agencies, about referring work.

19. Pick up the phone and call likely prospects. Cold calling is hard and you have to be able to deal with rejection. But
it does work. If you are fearful about trying it, check out this article about making cold calls easier.

21. Don't be too quick to discourage tire kickers. It's hard to know where to draw the line with people who keep asking
questions without any indication they plan to make a purchase, but sometimes those questions are used as much to size
you or your business up as they are to gain information.

22. Have a website and publicize it. It amazes me, but there are still businesses that don't have a website. I was at a
Chamber of Commerce meeting a few months ago and met someone who said he was a copywriter. I asked for a
business card, and his card didn't include his website, so I asked for his website URL. Amazingly, the person who had just
tried to convince me he could write copy for the web, didn't have a website.

No matter how much in-person networking you do or how much social media networking you do, you still need a website.
Your prospects will want to see samples of your work, get more information about you, and if you're a consultant or other
expert, they're probably going to want to read things you've written about your area of expertise. You can control what
they see on your own website. You can't control what ads show up next to your posts or what the rules are on social
media sites.

If you can't afford to pay a web developer, set up at least a simple website using free or low cost website hosting and
design tools such as Weebly or GoDaddy. Once you have a website, be sure it's listed on all your sales literature, your
business card, association member directories, and as many places as you can get listings.

23. Have a fully functioning website. Another circumstance I find amazing is the number of small businesses who join
local business networking groups and have non-working websites listed in the group's membership directory. Occasionally
it's because the directory listing was published with a typo in the domain name. But often, it appears the business that
owned the domain name let it lapse – or never finished setting up the website. Don't let that happen to you. Be sure you
register the domain name yourself (instead of letting the web developer do it), and be sure that you keep your credit card
information up-to-date at the domain registrar. Double check your association directory listing after it's published to be
sure there are no typos and the link works. Check each page on your site to be sure you didn't leave up any links going to
blank pages or to "under construction pages."

24. Don't stop marketing. Once business starts coming in on a regular basis it's tempting to ease off on some of the
marketing and networking you do. But that's a mistake. You need to market continually to keep business coming in
regularly.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TRIGGERS

Humans are emotional creatures.  Our emotions drive our purchasing decisions, which is why the majority of our posts focus on the
fact that effective marketing makes us feel rather than think. The first impression a visitor receives from a landing page has huge
consequences on the purchasing habits of our customers. If we manage to trigger specific emotions in our customers prior to the
purchase we can increase revenues dramatically.

The 10 psychological triggers listed below are just the tip of the iceberg to what can be done with psychological triggers. Boost your
conversion rates, lower buying resistance, and increase the value of every visitor that comes to your website with these psychological
triggers.

1. AUTHORITY

“The simple truth is, if you aren’t deliberately, systematically, methodically – or rapidly and dramatically – establishing yourself as a
celebrity, at least to your clientele or target market, you’re asleep at the wheel, ignoring what is fueling the entire economy around
you, neglecting development of a measurably valuable asset.”  These are the words of Dan S. Kennedy, the godfather of Direct
Marketing.  Humans will inherently trust figures of authority.   This is why celebrity and expert endorsements are used to promote
products.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY

Online there are other ways to establish authority and a sense of security by using specific icons on your website that show your are
trustworthy and dependable. The amount of customers/ users, your client’s logos, your partners’ or even your mentions in known
magazines and newspapers will establish your credibility and authority.

2. ANCHORING

In 1974, cognitive psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky identified what has become known as the “anchoring
heuristic.”  A heurist, also known as a cognitive bias, is a mental short cut that we use to simplify a complex problem.   We tend to
rely the first piece of information we receive more heavily than subsequent information in order to make a decision.  Once an anchor
is placed, decisions are made around the anchor.  In the past we wrote an extensive article on Anchoring and its different uses in
marketing.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY

Proper use of anchoring can have major implications to pricing and discounting.  In a study of discounting insupermarkets, it was
found that multiple unit pricing increased sales.  In the study, one ad stated, “4 Rolls of Bathroom Tissue for $2” vs. “On Sale,
$.50/roll.”  The first ad performed much better, 40% better to be exact.  Our brains use the number four as the anchor and apply
greater value.

There are other great ways to using anchoring, for higher conversion rates- on pricing pages (having one price dramatically higher
than the other), using the “sale” sign on particular products and even more efficient setting a “cap” on the amount of products one can
purchase.

3. SOCIAL PROOF

When other people see someone like themselves purchasing a product or service it has a positive influence on their purchasing habits.
From a marketing perspective, social proof is seeing someone like you utilizing, and enjoying, a product or service that makes you feel
you want to too.  If a consumer feels like their peers approve of a product or service, they will have more trust and feel a desire to
approve as well.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY
Create social proof on your landing pages by adding things like customer reviews and testimonials.  Make sure to place the
testimonials strategically where users can easily read them.  If you can, try and include a head-shot or image of the person who gave
the testimonial.

With Smilebox’s landing page we used several quotes and testimonials from customers to increase social proof.

4. LOSS AVERSION

Imagine you are in the office and you overhear your boss saying he wants to give you a raise of $400/month.

Now imagine another scenario…Imagine you are making a coffee when you hear your boss talking to HR about cutting your salary
down by $400/month?

Research shows that the feeling of losing and gaining the same amount are vastly different.   People would rather choose not to lose
something over gaining the same thing.  Our brains are wired to feel a much stronger reaction to loss than to gain.  This psychological
trait is known as loss aversion.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY:

To utilize this trait craft your marketing message should talk of what your prospect might lose if they don’t buy something rather than
what they would gain if they did buy.   Take a look at  the Dollar Shave clubs ad.  Instead of saying “Save $xx per month,” their ad
states “stop over paying on Blades.”

5. FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR

The foot in the door technic is the tactic of getting a person to agree a minor request (like purchasing a product) by having that person
agree to a smaller request (signing up for example) earlier on. Humans are social creatures and we are always looking to form new
connections.  Once a new social connection has been created we have a compulsion to continue the bond, even if we don’t realize that
we have made one.   This is why we are more likely to honor a request if we have already said yes to a smaller one.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY

Creating a bond and an ongoing relationship is key to success. Email marketing is a great way for nurturing quality sales via email. 
By being top of mind with our prospects and establishing an ongoing relationship they will be more likely to buy from us in the future.

A great example of this method is an offline one, when a child turns to their parents: “Can I go over to John’s?” and then later add,
“Can I stay over night?”.

In 1993 Taylor, T., & Booth-Butterfield ran an interesting experiment to reduce drunk driving. One group of drivers was first asked to
sign a petition against drunk driving while the other, wasn’t. Then later on both groups were asked to get a taxi if they had drunk and
the group who had been asked to sign the petition earlier on was much more likely to compile with this request.

6. SCARCITY

Maslow’s pyramid of hierarchy demonstrates the basics needs of our customers. Feeling deprived of our basic needs like love, food,
money, or time can lead to anxiety and fear. We have a natural inclination to become fearful and anxious when there is a threat of
scarcity.  This sense of anxiety from scarcity interferes with motivation and causes us to become more vulnerable to temptation and
impulse.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY
We can use scarcity in marketing to leverage the fear of a shortage to sell more.  Limited time offers and time sensitive discounts use
the fear of scarcity to get people to act.  Scarcity can also be used to increase the perceived value of a product.  The fear that there is a
limited supply of something can make a customer purchase quicker and with less thought.

 7. COMMUNITY

We have an inherit need to be a part of a social community.  Being part of a community makes us feel more comfortable and inspires
us to take action to achieve our desired results. Being around people who share our goals or care about our progress makes us feel
more secure.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY

When you sell something to a customer make them feel like they are now part of something bigger, or part of a community.   Starbucks
does a great job of this with the Product Idea section of their website.  Users can post ideas for new products and others can comment,
vote, and share the ideas.  Creating a community can help lead to loyalty and following for your brand.

LookHuman sends fantastic emails building their community and sharing “the love”.

8. ANTICIPATION

Every time Apple launches a new product there is a line around the block.  They achieve this by building anticipation around their
product launches.  Anticipation, or looking forward to something, is a key stage in happiness.  Anticipation requires the something to
anticipate, and the mindfulness to do the anticipating.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY

A known tactic that many retailers use on their sites is “end of the month sales”, throughout the month subscribers get emails
reminding them that the big sale will be coming very shortly and create a huge anticipation by customers. In addition to getting people
excited about their sale, they’re also growing their subscribers database and getting more people on board.

9. FREEDOM

Freedom is deeply embedded into all of us, and one of the most powerful motivators.  Teachers have found that by giving students
greater control over their decisions they behave better, and happily engage in learning.  Some companies are even learning
to incentivize employees with more flexible work schedules in lieu of raises.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY

Position your brand as an aid to a life of greater autonomy in a particular area of life.  Start with understanding your customers’
limitations, time constraints, frustrations, aspirations and desires, it’s not about the pricing. Then explore ways you can become an
ally in their pursuit of freedom.  Very few things can drive conversion further or faster than the promise of greater of freedom.

10. CONTROVERSY

Too much controversy can push people away, but small amounts have a tendency to draw people in.  Jonah Berger, the best selling
author of Contagious, found that “controversy increases likelihood of discussion at low levels, but beyond a moderate level of
controversy, additional controversy actually decreases the likelihood of discussion.” Mild controversy can inspire curiosity, but it can
also create anger.  Stirring anger is one of the most effective ways to inspire viral content.

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAY
Think about your audience and their beliefs.  Can you align with their beliefs, or challenge them in order to stir emotion?   It’s
important to be careful with this one and avoid areas that could stir a negative move.  However doing this right can have a huge impact
on your marketing.  I think ManPacks does a great job in stirring controversy and curiosity it their landing pages. I’ve mentioned them
in a few articles before, mainly for their brave headlines and emotional triggers but their design can be remarkable to: