Ten Marketing Strategies To Help Businesses Thrive In 2010

With 2010 right around the corner and no signs of immediate relief from the overwhelming economic crises, business owners are struggling to determine their next best step.  Many are weighing the value of launching a marketing program against the concerns that neither businesses nor consumers are spending money, which could result in a negative marketing ROI.

The truth is that there are still people, companies and other entities buying right now.  Even though there has been a sharp decrease in the number of buyers and/or purchases for any given market, the bottom line is that you want your business to be the one that those remaining buyers choose.

That is why marketing in this economy is critical. In the present environment, it's important that you do everything possible to ensure that those buyers who still exist come to you with their business. Whether you are looking for consumers to patronize your business, or you are looking to be included in the next RFP from a particular organization, your business needs to have greater visibility than ever to attract attention and increase awareness and interest of your target audience.

Some of the more traditional forms of marketing and promotions may be cost prohibitive in these economic times. However there are a myriad of low-cost, high-impact marketing and advertising strategies that can help keep your business front and center in the minds of your clients and prospects.

Below are 10 marketing and promotional tips for businesses looking to gain market share in a struggling economy:

1.    Target Your Audience and Your Offer - Rather than launch a mass media campaign that reaches thousands of non-prospects in addition to your target audience,  focus your message on the most likely prospects for your business and consider a highly specific, one-to-one message to grab their interest and response.

2.    Advertise Online - Identify specific websites that cater to your target audience and are relevant to your business, and can purchase online ads. These ads are not only extremely affordable, but they are also specific to your audience. In addition you'll have the benefit of tracking click-throughs, opens and new sales to determine which ads work and which don't. Armed with this information, you can fine tune your ads and messaging as you go.

3.    Reach Out To Past Clients and Prospects - You already have a relationship with past clients and even prospects who never turned into clients. Why not re-approach them with a special offer?  Remind them that you would still love to do business with them and give them a reason to re-consider your business with an offer that they can't pass up. Times are tough and you have to be willing to work a little harder to get the new business you want.

4.    Layer Direct Mail with Email For Maximum Results - As you streamline your list and focus on your primary prospects or target audience, you'll be surprised at how affordable it will become to implement direct mail to send a special offer to each prospect. Once the direct mail piece has been sent, follow up with an email to reinforce the original promotional message and encourage the prospect to take advantage of the offer. You'll be able to track click-throughs and opens, and even see which offers were of most interest to prospects. This will enable you to plan future offers that are of most relevance to your target audience.

5.    Incorporate Public Relations Into Your Overall Plan - By developing strategies to reach out to the media and gain coverage about your company, product or service, you'll gain third party credibility and exposure at minimal cost. Whether you are hoping for an interview with a local news outlet or you are trying to gain coverage about your new product in a niche trade publication, effective public relations can generate interest and enthusiasm among media outlets and help garner attention and coverage for you and your company.

6.    Make Your Website Content Rich - Is your website an online brochure providing an overview of your company, capabilities and management team? If so, you can increase attention, awareness and traffic by incorporating tools such as white papers for download, blogs and other content of interest to your target audience. By giving your clients, prospects and media contacts a reason to visit your site and download content or subscribe to an enewsletter or blog, you will gain credibility and recognition within your industry as a source for the latest information.

7.    Align With A Strategic Partner - By working together with a strategic partner, you can increase awareness and exposure of your business overnight.  A bakery owner could consider partnering with a local party planner to offer unique and tasty treats exclusive to anyone who books a party, a landscaper could partner with a nursery to offer bundled services including a discount on plants and flowers with the purchase of a landscape plan, etc. Anything that helps bring additional business to each of the parties and also gives you additional lists of prospects to reach out to is a worthwhile partnership.

8.    Customer Loyalty Programs -Establish a way to recognize and/or reward your existing customers. By giving incentives to do more business with you, your customers may be swayed to place an order today that they otherwise would have put off until tomorrow.  Consider packaging a bundle of services for a special price or for every X sales made, reward your customers with special incentives, discounts or gifts.

9.    Local Online Presence - When looking to increase awareness in your local community, the first step should be to ensure that your business is located in all of the local search directories (examples include Yahoo, Google, Bing, etc). Start by looking at your competitors to see where they are listed.  Check their inbound links to see if there are directories you can add your business to. In addition, be sure to verify that your business has been added to Google Maps using the Local Business Center.

10.    Social Media - Do you tweet? Has your business started its own Facebook page? Have you been blogging?  When done correctly social media can draw new leads to your business, generate new business from the customers you already have and get people buzzing about your business Determining the right social marketing tools for your business is key and once employed, a consistent and dedicated effort to content development and management is critical.

Any and all of these strategies will help businesses survive and thrive in 2010. Most of these strategies can be self-executed and managed. However, if you are looking for a team of professionals to assist you with the execution of your 2010 marketing plan, the Bouchard Team has effective and affordable solutions for businesses of all size.