Big Advertising Strategies on a
Small Business Budget
by Anne M. Obarski
I am always amazed by business owners who say that they can't spend any
money on advertising. Many of them validate that idea by saying,
"Besides, most of my business is by referral." Building a business based
on repeat and referral business is admirable. It simply means that
clients are so pleased with the value of the product or service they
receive on a consistent basis, that they become "cheerleaders" for that
company. Consistency is the key word.
If a company combines a strong, branded advertising campaign to an
already strong marketing and service program, that becomes the
foundation for a successful business. I use the example of a three
legged stool. One leg is your product or service, the second leg is your
marketing and advertising and the third is the customer service you or
your employees offer, all on a consistent basis. If any one of the legs
has a "weakness," the stool is going to wobble.
Have you ever had a wobbly table or stool in your home? You probably
tried to fix it by putting something under it to stabilize it. It was
just a "band-aid" and not a true correction. It fixes the problem for a
while, but sooner or later it will start to wobble again and at that
point you probably say it is time to replace it.
Customers will be happy to be a cheerleader for you if you are
consistent in how you run your business. After all, their reputation of
referring a good company is on the line. Each of us has the ability to
recommend or discredit a company based on past experiences. What is more
important is that we have a circle of contacts that could either become
a referral stream or a business choker.
Companies would be smart to study the three following statements and
focus on how that could affect your "word of mouth advertising."
1. You don't know who I know!
I am in the midst of selling a home. I think I would rather have
brain surgery than go through this again. I have bought and sold 5
houses in my life and this has been the worst. I firmly believe that the
job of a real estate person is to make the job of "selling" the house as
easy as possible. That is, if they are willing to do the work to make
things happen seamlessly.
I chose my real estate person because her name was everywhere in my
town; mistake number one. Mistake number two was that I didn't interview
at least three potential agents to find out what their plans would be to
sell my home in the shortest amount of time. Her focus is on how many
houses she can list and not the service she could offer in order to make
me a happy customer. I have told everyone I know that I would never use
her if I had to do it all over again.
Unhappy customers like to tell other people and that is a fact. 95%
of unhappy customers leave a business because of uncaring employees.
Unfortunately, I have a binding contract and I am stuck. I have a
reputation of being the person to call when you need just about anything
because everyone knows what I do for a living. You can imagine how many
people I can influence with just one sentence. Now the question is, what
will that sentence sound like?
Do your employees realize the importance of treating each and ever
customer like they have a golden tongue? They can build your reputation
or ruin it with the words, "I wouldn't use anyone else but..." The
question is, "Is your name the one that follows the word "but"?
2. I don't know who YOU know!
Every business owner loves to hear a client say that they were
referred by another happy customer! Day after day you probably have new
customers walking through your doors who were referred and you didn't
know it!
So how can we increase that number? One simple word, "ask"! A basic
sales class will teach you that if you don't ask for the sale you won't
get it. So why don't we ask for referrals? We are scared of the answer
"I don't know anyone." That is like asking a person the age old question
"May I help you?" You know the answer is going to be "No, I'm just
looking."
I recommend changing the request to: "Mrs. Smith, I know you have
shopped here a long time. I hope that you will mention our name when one
of your friends is looking for ..." Better yet, tell Mrs. Smith that for
every third person she refers who come in and actually buy, you will
give her 25% off her next purchase!
Everyone knows someone who can use what you offer at some time. The
point is to use your own mouth and become a shameless self promoter!
Just ask!
3. Have a "Super Bowl" commercial!
Do you remember what kind of hype occurs just before the Super Bowl?
Football, yes; but the biggest hype is about the commercials during the
game. There are teasers before the game and then there are "arm chair
quarterbacks" critiquing the commercials on the early news channels on
Monday morning. So what makes them so important? They are memorable and
they are repeatable.
That's where big business and small business owners differ. Big
businesses realize that if you are out of sight you are out of mind.
They spend billions on advertising to make sure you don't forget. If I
said the words, Target, Dell, Wal-Mart, McDonald's and gave you crayons
and asked you to draw their logos, you probably could without even
having an artistic background. Those logos are embedded in our brains.
Strategically executed like a well run battle plan!
However, you may be saying; "I'm not one of the 'big guns' and I
could never begin to develop an advertising plan like that." You
probably can't. But what you can do is create a 30-second commercial
that perfectly describes what you do so that your "cheerleaders" can
repeat it to everyone they know.
Here is an example. I have a favorite restaurant in my town that I
love to recommend. When anyone asks where I think they should go to eat,
I become the biggest cheerleader for this family owned restaurant. I
say, "You have to go to _____because they have the best cold salmon
salad that will ever pass through your lips and the atmosphere and
service are unbeatable." If you just screwed up your nose when I said
salmon, then how about the hot apple pie and cinnamon ice cream dessert
that is to die for.
Each and every one of us has done commercials for businesses that we
like to do business with. What do you do that is unique or different
that makes you and your business memorable. If you could eavesdrop on a
conversation between one of your satisfied customers and a potential
client, how would they describe you and what you do?
You'd be surprised the different ways people would describe your
business. The question is, are they pin-pointing what you want to be
known for? If not, then maybe your "Super Bowl" commercial isn't
memorable enough. Work on a sentence that describes you or your business
and practice saying it whenever you meet someone who asks; "so tell me
about your business." I once worked with a financial planner who said
that people walked the other way when he told them what he did. I said,
"Why don't you tell people that you help them sleep better at night." He
really looked puzzled, but the end result of managing your finances well
is that you probably will sleep better at night. It also was a definite
conversation starter!
You may not have the million dollar advertising budget, but you could
have word of mouth advertising that affects millions.
Anne M. Obarski is a professional speaker and trainer. For
more information, visit her web site at
http://www.merchandiseconcepts.com/speaking.html or email Anne at
anne@merchandiseconcepts.com.
She can also be reached via telephone 724-941-4149 or fax 724-941-4304.
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