Marketing Tricks for the Frugal BudgetSmall start-up businesses don’t usually have the resources to launch huge advertising blitzes in multiple media formats. In fact, even if you are already in business, chances are you don’t have an extensive cash allocation earmarked for promotion, or you’ve tried many different advertising approaches and vehicles and haven’t hit on a really successful campaign yet. You aren’t alone!
Advertising is extremely expensive. Despite adequate funding, even large national companies often find it difficult to develop successful advertising campaigns. And, with an increasing number of companies advertising through every imaginable communication avenue, it is becoming increasingly hard to attract the attention of consumers.
However, there are non-advertising approaches to promotion. They generally require less money to implement and are often more effective. The only catch is that they require time and creativity to develop.
CouponsYou don’t have to distribute coupons in print advertising or in big direct mail campaigns. You can hand them out on the street corner, at trade shows, or just about anyplace else. You can send a few to your best customers, or you can include “next purchase” coupons in customer orders.
Coupons can be “quick and dirty” to design and print because their selling point is price, not image. To assure your chances of getting an additional sale or establishing an ongoing relationship with your customers, make your coupon offer exceedingly generous.
ContestsPeople love contests. They even love to see other people win! Just witness the phenomenal success of game shows on television. If you choose to develop a promotional contest, in-fuse it with fun, make it silly, and don’t forget to really talk it up. If your contest is wacky and crazy enough, you should be able to get good media coverage—and remember, this is essentially free advertising!
GiftsPeople love to receive something for free, even if they have to pay a premium price for a more expensive item to get the freebie. Don’t ask why! It may not make sense, but it doesn’t have to, as long as you make money. While this technique has been used most successfully in the beauty and cosmetics industry, it can be used in almost any business endeavor. It isn’t unheard of to see deals such as a free computer desktop with the purchase of a higher-priced notebook computer or, even a free subcompact car with the purchase of a full-price luxury sedan!
Frequent buyersFrequent-buyer programs can be very powerful tools for building loyal clientele for both retail and service businesses. The more common approach is to give customers a card that is marked after each purchase and results in a free or reduced-price product or service offering after a specified number of regular-priced purchases. For example, ten haircuts may net one free haircut. Another approach is to give regular customers a discount on purchases upon presentation of their “Frequent Buyer” discount card.
Some businesses charge a small fee for their frequent-buyer cards. Others tie freebies or discount levels to purchase volume. For example, after spending $100 at a computer store you might receive a free subscription to their newsletter or 5 percent off your next purchase of $25 or more. After spending $250 you might receive a free storage disk or 10 percent off your next purchase of $25 or more.
Frequent buyer programs are also often implemented by independent retailers trying to survive the onslaught of superstores that offer their customers super-low prices.
Exclusive offeringsOffering exclusive purchases or previews of new merchandise to existing customers is a great way to inspire a feeling of excitement and loyalty. To enhance participation, you may wish to offer a discount. If the exclusive offering is in itself extremely attractive, the discount can be small.
EventsHosting a special event in your business establishment, such as a celebrity appearance or a charity fundraiser, is a terrific way to introduce people to your business or maintain contact with existing customers. It also will create an aura of excitement and goodwill. You may even obtain media coverage!
Cross-promotionsYou don’t have to be a movie producer or own an international fast-food chain to cross-promote your product with another business. You might consider offering free tickets to the local theater with each purchase of a particular item or price level. Another great business-to-business cross-promotion might be to offer free tickets to a ball game to any business willing to invest fifteen minutes of time just to listen to your sales pitch.
TradesEver notice the ads for car washes on taxi roofs? Car washes don’t pay cash for these advertisements! They get the exposure in exchange for cleaning the taxis periodically. If you are absolutely sold on developing an advertising campaign, remember that smaller media outfits will sometimes accept products in lieu of payment.
GiveawaysYou’re probably wondering how you can make money if you give away product! Well, it’s a lot easier and less expensive than advertising. In fact, giveaways have their place in just about any type of business.
Selling business-to-business, you can generate goodwill with the people you choose—your best customers or a select roster of potential clientele—by occasionally giving them a small gift when you call on them. The giveaway should not be so expensive that a feeling of bribery is conveyed, but nice enough that it doesn’t end up trashed the minute you leave.
For consumer service businesses, you may want to offer your product for free trial periods, or offer free estimates if you are in a service-oriented business.
Retail businesses may hand out balloons or other novelty items to build traffic or retain customer interest.
New customer offersAttracting new customers is one of the most difficult marketing challenges to achieve even with powerful advertising or a dedicated sales force. That’s why different businesses—national greeting card manufacturers to local oil delivery services—offer incentive pricing, freebies, or extra advertising allowances for new customers. Even lawyers customarily offer a free first consultation.
marketing and advertising tips
how to write a strategic marketing plan or business strategy, marketing and advertising tips, internet and website marketing tips
A simple guide to marketing, strategic business planning, advertising and promotion and sales lead generation, for small UK businesses especially. With tips and techniques for advertising and PR, for non-marketing managers, and for marketing and advertising professionals too; this is marketing and advertising made simple. Also some easy tips on website design, internet advertising and marketing.
While much of this marketing theory page was written a while ago generally the principles apply just the same, if fact many of these basic pointers are good reminders of some of the simple things that are easy to overlook in these modern distracting times.
Incidentally, where references are made to the UK there will commonly be equivalent methods and processes and suppliers that are applicable in other countries.
a fundamental aspect of modern marketing
First, here's something that is fast becoming the most fundamental aspects of marketing to get right, especially if you want to build a truly sustainable high quality organisation (of any size) in the modern age:
Ensure the ethics and philosophy of your organisation are good and sound. This might seem a bit tangential to marketing and business, and rather difficult to measure, nevertheless...
Price is no longer the king, if it ever was. Value no longer rules, if ever it did. Quality of service and product is not the deciding factor.
Today what truly matters is ethical and philosophical quality - from the bottom to the top - in every respect - across every dimension of the organisation.
Modern consumers, business buyers, staff and suppliers too, are today more interested than ever before in corporate integrity, which is defined by the organisation's ethics and philosophy.
Good sound ethics and philosophy enable and encourage people to make 'right and good' decisions, and to do right and good things. It's about humanity and morality; care and compassion; being good and fair.
Profit is okay, but not greed; reward is fine, but not avarice; trade is obviously essential, but exploitation is not.
People naturally identify and align with these philosophical values. The best staff, suppliers, and customers naturally gravitate towards organisations with strong philosophical qualities.
Putting a good clear ethical philosophy in place, and communicating it wide and far lets people know that your organisation always strives to do the the right thing. It's powerful because it appeals to people's deepest feelings. Corporate integrity, based on right and good ethical philosophy, transcends all else.
And so, strong ethics and good philosophy are the fundamentals on which all good organisations and businesses are now built.
People might not ask or talk about this much: the terminology is after all not fashionable 'marketing-speak', nor does it correlate obviously to financial performance, but be assured; everyone is becoming more aware of the deeper responsibilities of corporations and businesses in relation to humanity, and morality, the natural world, the weak and the poor, and the future of the planet.
Witness the antagonism growing towards certain multi-nationals. People don't rail against successful corporations - they rail against corporations which put profit ahead of people; growth ahead of of society and communities; technology and production ahead of the natural world; market domination ahead of compassion for humankind. None of this is right and good, and these organisations are on borrowed time.
People increasingly prefer to buy from, deal with, and work for, ethical, right-minded organisations. And whether an organisation is ethical and right-minded is becoming increasingly transparent for all to see.
So be one.
Aside from which - when you get your philosophy right, everything else naturally anchors to it. Strategies, processes, attitudes, relationships, trading arrangements, all sorts of difficult decisions - even directors salaries and share options dare we suggest.
And it need not be complicated. The ultimate corporate reference point is: "Is it right and good?... How does this (idea, initiative, decision, etc) stack up against our ethical philosophy?"
Organisations are complex things, and they become more and more complicated every day. A good ethical philosophy provides everyone with a natural, reliable reference point, for the tiniest detail up to the biggest strategic decision.
So as you start to write your marketing plan, be it for a new start-up, a huge corporation, or a little department within one, make sure you put a 'right and good' ethical philosophy in place before you do anything else, and watch everything grow from there.
marketing index
marketing planning process - how marketing fits into overall business planning.
marketing is more than selling and advertising - other issues to consider
advertising and promotion - simple and important guidelines
types of advertising media - different methods and their uses.
direct marketing, advertising, and the law - notably the UK Data Protection Act and Preference Services for telemarketing, fax, mail, etc.
tricks of the trade - secrets of effective printed advertising and maximum response.
PR - make the most of public relations - use press releases for free advertising and publicity.
newsletters - for staff and customers.
website and internet marketing tips - simple tips for internet websites and online marketing.
See also (on other pages):
business planning which includes free strategic planning templates, samples and examples
sales and selling which contains lots of help for developing selling propositions and sales strategies
