NotoriousREV

I'm looking for some pointers on promoting a small business venture. I've got loads of ideas, but don't really know what works and what doesn't and would like a bit of advice. I know my target audience, but want the best ways of reaching them and eliciting a response! I'll be targeting SME's in my local area, if that helps at all.

NotoriousREV

bump for a monday morning!

David Lock

Think about joining Federation of Small Businesses as they arrange networking meetings in local areas. Spend half a day in library and see what info is around on local businesses. Sometimes the council publish a Directory of Businesses. Local chamber of commerce. Take a stand at trade shows? Much depends on type of business (which you don't say). D

Andy Hall

What is your target audience, domestic or B2B?
You could speak to Business link or FSB or BNI (Business Network International) BNI is a global networking organisation, there will be a weekly meeting in a town near you. Your first 2 visits are free (apart from the breakfast) and you will get an oportunity to stand up for a minute and speak about your business in front of about 30-40 people. It really depends what you are selling as to whether BNI will work for you. Drop me a mail if you want more info.

Cheers
Andy

Harry_Boy

Bit of local & regional PR mate. PM me if you want a chat.

Cheers, HB (Chris).

GaryK

Rev,

Dont want to be negative but what works? Nothing! Been and tried it all:

Advertising: Paper/Magazines/Business directories: no good
Direct Mail: Various mail shots with offers: no good
Telesales: Outsourced / In house, very limited results
Email Marketing: Limited results, cost per lead ended up too high

Its worth attending FSB meetings just so you can speak to other business owners and get their views, it depends what your product of service is. You'll find speaking to people that advertising generally doesnt work, all it does is raise awareness and you need to run long campaigns at expense that you dont need when starting out. I personally dont like BNI and I think its flawed but each to their own and you should at least try it.


So what does work? Referrals! We get most of our business from referrals passed to us or you can actively harvest your existing customers (even if you only have 1) and direct mail their customers, sometimes referred to as host/recipient marketing. You need to do it in a specific manner for it to be effective, PM me for details.

Im not a marketing expert, just spent lots of money trying lots of different things and read alot of blurb on it!

Good Luck

Gary

OllyK

Gary

Not sure what you mean by "nothing worked". What kind of uptake were you expecting? In general response rates are pretty low - that's expected. If you were expecting to get 50% or something from the target audience then you would be dissapointed. I used to deal with magazine inserts and a 3% response was considered to be an excellent campaign.

GaryK

Olly,

O yes I know you are looking to get typically a 1% response to say a direct mail campaign, we have been lucky to acheive that in certain cases, I also am aware that the business we run (telecoms) is competitive and doesnt have the best reputation.

I guess what I am trying to say is that typically anyone starting a business thinks that just by a bit of advertising and direct mail they are going to jump start their business and I have spoken to many many business owners over the years and most of them have found money on advertising to be ineffective.

Its all about least cost of acquisition and certainly for a start-up its critical.

Gary

OllyK

That I agree with I think a lot of people go in to a marketing / advertising campaign without having sat down and defined what the goals of that campaign are and what they expect to get back from it.

Directory advertising does work, but it is long term, as directories tend to be the place that people go when they feel they need a product or service, it is not going to convince people to come and look at your product and be persuadd when they weren't even considering it!

David Lock

So much depends on the type of business. Magazine articles can be very effective in some insstances. I'll give you a specific example. Pal of mine set up a come-to-your-home handyman operation which was going OK but struggling a bit sometimes. His wife did a couple of articles for baby/mother-to-be magazines about preparing the house for new one's arrival mentioning the need to redecorate etc. Just a nice angle. They got a huge amount of business from this and a lot of referral work for the future. What type of business is it? D

minor_threat

I work in marketing (strategic planning) but I'd need to know more about your target audience before I could make strong suggestions. Are you selling a product or a service - this is critical because the marketing mix you need to adopt for each one is fundamentally different.

Advertising is not a strong channel to market in the business to business arena - place more value on personal contact (phone calls, face-to-face meetings, consultations) and direct mail (which in itself only elicits a small response but DOES work if done correctly).

You need to write down your goal and identify what differentiates you or your product/service from that of your competitors. Once you know this play on it, market yourself on what you can offer that the competition cannot - in b2b the key differentiator is usually services (the services you can offer to your clients such after-sales support etc.)

You say you know your target audience, but how much do you know about them? Do you know who they are as well as what they need and how they operate?

Definitely talk to Business Link, FSB and Business Network International. Do a SWOT analysis - that is, write down the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of/to your business. It's amazing how many businesses (of all sizes) do not know this about themselves. Knowing your strengths and weakness can give you a significant advantage when planning ahead.

Use PR to promote yourself, don't pay for advertising yet. A press release to the local paper/regional paper/local radio is a great method but you have to put a spin on the press release - what's your story, how are you helping SMEs? You have to bear in mind that it's hard to gauge response and collate feedback from this but it's a good way to start.

If writing direct mail always focus on the problems, solutions and benefits - in that order. Problems faced by SMEs, solution to their problems (ie: your product/service) and the benefits they will gain from your product/service.

I can help you more but I need more information from you. Good luck with it

NotoriousREV

Wow, excellent response, thanks to all of you.

PM's being composed and sent!

deano

I tried national newspaper ads with a poor response, then I used Google and it all started to work. The internet is an amazing tool for business promotion, in fact another order has just dropped in whilst I am typing this. I use pay per click and have a strong repeat business, but word of mouth is the best advertisment because it costs nowt

Scooby96

Try getting your local rag interested in doing an article, especially if its a unique product and/or service. I'm hoping I'll be in the Kent Courier this week - free advertising!!

GaryK

just a thought but perhaps SN could have a business-to-business section for people to promote their business?

Gary