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Ingredients of Small Business Marketing
A business may be small,
but the efforts of operating it is not. Small business owners often wear
many hats - financing, product development, marketing, sales and
customer support. While major corporations have sufficient resources to
kick off a thoroughly planned marketing campaign, small business
marketing is often on a budget. Marketing a small business should not be
limited to a single channel because of the size of your business.
Customers will always go through the three phases of a purchasing
decision making: 1) aware of the products or services, 2) collecting
enough information before the purchase, 3) and action of purchasing. The
ingredients of effective small business marketing provides the
information they need at each stage of a purchasing process.
Reach
the Customers
Most small businesses
target local market. Your business, of course, should be listed on local
phone directories. Ads on local newspapers and flyers will bring you
business from your local communities as well. Distributing business
cards is always one of the most popular and inexpensive ways for small
business owners to market or advertise their services and products. For
instance, some landscaping companies distribute business cards
door-to-door in newly constructed communities. If your services involves
with artistic design (interior design, web design etc.), color business
cards or custom business cards are more effective. They show the
artistic tastes of the designers.
Provide
Information About Your Products and Services
Awareness of a product or
service is the start-point for customers to make a purchase. They will
further research and compare similar services or products before they
make contact for possible purchase. Now that you need a brochure or a
website to present your business with product details, testimonials
etc.. If business card design makes a good first impression, brochure
design and brochure printing (or booklet printing if you prefer) are
effective for converting leads into sales. Brochures that you send out
will get more attention if you enclose a personal note with personal
touch to introduce yourself and your company. A professional Web site
serves as an online brochure to promote your products or service so that
the prospects can get the information about your business 365 days a
year and 24 hours a day. Affordable Web hosting costs as little as
$25-$50 a year.
Call for
Action
Once customers have made up
of their mind to purchase your services or products. The brochure or the
website should offer clear direction for further actions. The advantage
of a website over brochure is that you are able to update as frequently
as you want, offer discount or incentives for customers who make
purchase in a certain timeframe. When they’re ready, a transaction is
just a few clicks on a website powered with online shopping carts.
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Natalie Aranda
writes on small business and marketing. While major corporations
have sufficient resources to kick off a thoroughly planned marketing
campaign, small business marketing is often on a budget. Marketing a
small business should not be limited to a single channel because of
the size of your business. Distributing
business cards is always one of the most popular and
inexpensive ways for small business owners to market or advertise
their services and products. If business card design makes a good
first impression, brochure design and
brochure printing (or
booklet printing if you prefer) are effective for converting leads
into sales. |
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