101 Small Business Marketing Activities

One universal small business goal is to sell the business's products and services. This is usually best accomplished by positioning the business in front of the target audience, and offering something they can't refuse or find elsewhere.

To this end, one of the smartest things a small business owner can do for their business is take the time to develop a small business marketing plan that will set them apart from the competition. A marketing plan clearly outlines how you will reach your ideal customers by effectively implementing your marketing strategy.

There are thousands of ways you can promote your small business. With the right mix of activities, you can identify and focus on the most effective marketing tactics for your small business. Here is a list of 101 small business marketing ideas to get you thinking about all of the different ways you can promote your business.

Marketing Planning

1. Update or create a marketing plan for your business.
2. Revisit or start your marketing research.
3. Conduct a focus group.
4. Write a unique selling proposition (USP).
5. Refine your target audience and niche.
6. Expand your product and service offerings.

Marketing Materials

7. Update your business cards.
8. Make your business card stand out from the rest.
9. Create or update your brochure.
10. Create a digital version of your brochure for your website.
11. Explore a website redesign.
12. Get creative with promotional products and give them away at the next networking event you attend.

In-Person Networking

13. Write an elevator pitch.
14. Register for a conference.
15. Introduce yourself to other local business owners.
16. Plan a local business workshop.
17. Join your local chamber of commerce.
18. Rent a booth at a trade show.

Direct Mail

19. Launch a multi-piece direct mail campaign.
20. Create multiple approaches, and split test your mailings to measure impact.
21. Include a clear and enticing call to action on every direct mail piece.
22. Use tear cards, inserts, props and attention-getting envelopes to make an impact with your mailings.
23. Send past customers free samples and other incentives to regain their business.

Advertising

24. Advertise on the radio.
25. Advertise in the Yellow Pages.
26. Advertise on a billboard.
27. Use stickers or magnets to advertise on your car.
28. Take out an ad in your local newspaper.
29. Advertise on a local cable TV station.
30. Advertise on Facebook.
31. Advertise on LinkedIn.
32. Buy ad space on a relevant website.
33. Use a sidewalk sign to promote your specials.

Social Media Marketing

34. Get started with social media for business.
35. Create a Facebook page.
36. Get a vanity URL or username for your Facebook page.
37. Create a Twitter account.
38. Reply or retweet someone else on Twitter.
39. Setup a Foursquare account for your business.
40. List your business on Google Places.
41. Start a business blog.
42. Write blog posts on a regular basis.
43. Start social bookmarking your online content.
44. Create a Groupon.

Internet Marketing

45. Start a Google Adwords pay-per-click campaign.
46. Start a Microsoft adCenter pay-per-click campaign.
47. Comment on a blog post.
48. Record a video blog post.
49. Upload a video to YouTube.
50. Check your online directory listings and get listed in desirable directories.
51. Set up Google Analytics on your website and blog.
52. Review and measure your Google Analytics statistics.
53. Register a new domain name for a marketing campaign or a new product or service.
54. Learn more about local search marketing.
55. Track your online reputation.
56. Sign up for the Help a Reporter Out (HARO) email list.

Email Marketing

57. Create an email opt-in on your website or blog.
58. Offer a free download or free gift to make people willing to add their email address to your list.
59. Send regular emails to your list.
60. Start a free monthly email newsletter.
61. Use A/B testing to measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
62. Perfect your email signature.
63. Add audio, video and social sharing functionality to your emails.

Contests, Coupons and Incentives

64. Start a contest.
65. Create a coupon.
66. Create a "frequent buyer" rewards program.
67. Start a client appreciation program.
68. Create a customer of the month program.
69. Give away a free sample.
70. Start an affiliate program.

Relationship Building

71. Send out a customer satisfaction survey.
72. Ask for referrals.
73. Make a referral.
74. Help promote or volunteer your time for a charity event.
75. Sponsor a local sports team.
76. Cross-promote your products and services with other local businesses.
77. Join a professional organization.
78. Plan your next holiday promotion.
79. Plan holiday gifts for your best customers.
80. Send birthday cards to your clients.
81. Approach a colleague about a collaboration.
82. Donate branded prizes for local fundraisers.
83. Become a mentor.

Marketing with Content

84. Plan a free teleconference or webinar.
85. Record a podcast.
86. Write a press release.
87. Submit your press release to various distribution channels.
88. Rewrite your sales copy with a storytelling spin.
89. Start writing a book.

Marketing Help

90. Hire a marketing consultant.
91. Hire a public relations professional.
92. Hire a professional copywriter.
93. Hire a search engine marketing firm.
94. Hire an intern to help with daily marketing tasks.
95. Hire a sales coach or salesperson.

Unique Marketing Ideas

96. Get a branded tattoo.
97. Create a business mascot to help promote your brand.
98. Take a controversial stance on a hot industry topic.
99. Pay for wearable advertising.
100. Get a full-body branded paint job done on your company vehicle.
101. Sign up for online business training to revamp, expand and fine tune all of your marketable skills.

There are many more than 101 small business marketing ideas.

Do you have an idea not listed here? Add your small business marketing idea to the list.



By Jennifer Pricci

Achieving The Coveted:Viral Marketing

Viral campaigns yield the highest ROI... Information about your product spreads naturally, like a contagious disease... only a good one...

I once read up on the 5 C’s of viral marketing:

Community, Compelling, Comedy, Charity, and Contest

Let's talk Community...

We all know that viral marketing in the social media space is all about communities. In fact, I would argue that communities play a larger role than most people think, both online and offline. They can build a brand, kill a brand, make a career, break a career, influence elections, etc. Think about it; from an offline perspective, life is community driven through PTA organizations, church groups, sports leagues, stay-at-home mommy groups, and various school organizations (sororities, fraternities) to name a few. And of course online, you have Myspace, Facebook, Linkedin, Digg, Stumbledupon and hundreds of other social media sites jumping in the scene daily.

Within each of these online/offline communities consumers are talking and having conversations with each other. And, they are sharing opinions, experiences, advice, recommendations and commentary about products, services and companies usually based on real personal experience.

THIS IS VIRAL MARKETING.

The challenge with viral marketing is that it’s not always viral, if that makes any sense... Often, marketers plan for and label their marketing plans as “viral” but 9 times out of 10, it never catches on. It’s the things that just happen by accident that become viral. Remember the Diet Coke and Mentos video? At first, Coca-Cola distanced themselves from the exploding Diet Coke and Mentos viral video phenomenon, fearing it would damage their reputation and brand; however, just recently that have fully embraced the concept and now there are over 7,000 consumer generated videos on YouTube, millions of pageviews, hundreds of comments, and favored by thousands of fans. The community here is not only the millions of YouTube enthusiasts, but also the micro-communities of people and their offline conversations about these videos.

• Formulate your marketing message. Think about the product or service you are advertising and create a message that communicates the benefits and uses of what you are selling. A website is nonnegotiable.
• Make the content on your website sharable. For example, you can allow readers to embed a funny video from your website onto their own blogs. An "email this article to your friend" link is another way information spreads from one person to another.
• Use email as a viral marketing tool. Include a marketing message about your product or service in the tag lines of your emails and also include your advertising message in auto responder emails you send to those who email you.
• Post your content on other Internet sites such as message boards and blogs. However, do this carefully; many forum managers are now aware of this practice and may delete your messages if they think it's spam.
• Incorporate your marketing message into rich media. Video clips and Flash games are very popular on the Internet, so if you have a great idea for this medium your message will spread like wildfire.
• Spread your message off line as well. Tell your friends and colleagues about your product or service and hand them business cards with the URL on them along with a catchy tag line, perhaps the same one you use in your emails.

What are you doing to boost your buzz factor?



By Jennifer Pricci

Printed Ads vs Internet ads... What is more effective in Real Estate sales?

As Marketing Director at a leading New Jersey real estate firm this is a question often posed by my agents. According to the New Jersey Association of Realtors 95% OF POTENTIAL HOME BUYERS BEGIN THEIR SEARCH ONLINE. For that reason it is my firm belief that if you are not online, you are not in the game.

But don't take it from me, let the trends do the talking. Reuters notes that print newspaper ad sales were $42.2 billion in 2007, down from a high of $48.7 billion in 2000. That being said, many home sellers still see newspaper advertising as an essential component of selling a home, but younger brokers, home sellers and buyers are clearly more focused on using the Internet. So your answer? AN INTEGRATED APPROACH.

Yes, realtors now have a number of alternatives besides newspapers for listing homes for sale, such as Realtor.com a site run by the National Association of Realtors, in addition to major online destinations CyberHomes, Zillow, Yahoo and more. I can understand how as home-buyers flock online, it's tough on realtors, since home-buyers are expecting to see extensive color photos, descriptions of the neighborhood as well as video tours of the property — all of which costs money to produce. But what also needs to be taken into account are the many LOW COST online marketing methods a realtors can leverage, thus evening out your spend and maximizing your budget.

The absolute biggest trend in marketing during the current economic downturn is Web 2.0 and social networking strategies. Web 2.0 refers to the new interactive areas on the web which includes Blogs, Social Networks, Forums… anywhere content is user-generated and there is opportunity to make connections and relationships with other users. The social web is without question the popular web. It is where people are spending the vast majority of their time online. It is a great place to build community and create real, lasting relationships with people connecting to your services.

For example, one of the agents at my firm is extremely active on ActiveRain. To her credit she won #2 place for blog of the year, 2010, on the site. The very same agent received the Top Listing Agent award at the firm for 2010. This is NOT a coincidence.

And for those concerned about Google rankings… yes SEO (Search Engine Optimization – the practice responsible for engine ranks) matters. All those links you get from social campaigns do a lot of good to boost your search rankings. The two are integrated and reciprocal.

The secret of the web is patience. If you’re patient and driven to succeed, you can outlast, outrank and outsell.

Think you are not web savvy enough to have your own blog? There are free blog services that almost anyone could set up in a matter of minutes. Millions of people blog from around the world. It’s not just something for young people, or geeks, or cool folk, or Westerners, or even for people with their own computers - instead its something virtually anyone with access to a computer and the internet once a week can start up.

Check out this great online video which introduces you to blogging.

Below are some top Real Estate related Blogs as recommended by Real Estate professionals. If you don't have your own blog, commenting on one relevant to your industry is a great way to market yourself, increase awareness about what you have to offer, network with colleagues and potential clients and enhance your professional reputation by exhibiting know-how.

• Behind The Mortgage http://www.behindthemortgage.com/
• Brownstoner http://www.brownstoner.com/
• Curbed http://curbed.com/
• Grow-a-Brain http://growabrain.typepad.com/
• Hot Property http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/
• Housing Panic http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/
• Inman http://www.inman.com/blog
• Lenderama http://lenderama.com/
• Matrix http://matrix.millersamuel.com/
• Property Grunt http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/
• Real Estate Marketing Blog http://houseblogger.typepad.com/
• The Real Deal http://ny.therealdeal.com/
• The Real Estate Blog http://franandrowena.blogspot.com/
• The Walk-Through http://walkthrough.nytimes.com/ 

By Jennifer Pricci

And In This Corner...

What research is available to demonstrate the superiority of online market research versus traditional -- in terms of "soundness" and validity -- and and vice versa?

In my experience I do find that online marketing methods are more efficient than traditional marketing in terms of "soundness," "validity," and most importantly, measurability and ROI, however, I feel an integrated, 360-degree approach is really key to the marketing mix.

Here are some great statistics on the effectiveness of online marketing but it also speaks to integration as a winning approach:

http://www.clickz.com/3626795

I agree with (name ommitted) who asks whether online is really considered nontraditional at this point. However, given the current economic climate, I find online marketing the more efficient of the two.

Unfortunately, the traditional marketing and advertising sectors are bearing the brunt of the current economic conditions budget cuts. Emarketer reports that 59% of marketing executives initiated a decrease in spending on traditional marketing in 2008 and 65% decreased budgets for traditional advertising. Additionally, the Newspaper Advertising Association of America reports that total newspaper advertising revenues fell by $3-billion in the first six months of 2008, marking the lowest level in 12 years.

In stark comparison to the struggling traditional marketing sectors, online marketing firms have been steadily building market share for several years and are surprisingly unaffected by the current failing markets. Displaying a clear strength in a clearly chaotic business environment, both paid search and online advertising revenue have grown by over 28% since 2007. Marketing Sherpa reports that nearly half of medium to large businesses plan to increase their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) spending in the upcoming year.

I find online marketing benefits outweigh those of more traditional methods in that online offers...

1. Quantifiable Results.  Businesses who advertise online or use SEO can track and measure precisely how their company was discovered, the keywords used in a Google search, click through rates on advertisements, and direct sales results based on internet ads or searches. With this specific knowledge, tailoring campaigns to a particular market becomes easier and ROI can be easily monitored.
2. Flexible Messaging.  With traditional marketing and advertising methods, there are no second chances at making an impression or communicating a message effectively. Once an ad is placed and printed it is essentially permanent. Online marketing is a much more forgiving and flexible option. If it is shown that internet ads are not getting enough attention, companies can quickly and easily make strategic adjustments and reap the rewards.
3. A Focused Approach.  Using internet marketing, a company can hone in on specific customers that are searching for a particular product or service. Rather than convincing a customer to try their product, internet marketing works to position a company as a resource for those consumers actually seeking their specific business offerings.
4. Cost Effectiveness.  SEO and internet advertising is quite cost effective in comparison with traditional marketing and advertising.

Now more than ever it is important to think strategically about where and how a marketing budget is spent.  With online marketing options showing marketers greater value, flexibility, and insight into the changing trends of the market, we can expect to see more companies advertising online to help their firm weather succeed in the future.

What is the most important variable in your marketing mix?

What are your top 3 favorite social networks?

"A cord of three strands is not easily broken."

That's applicable where social networking is concerned as well. It's a matter of strengthening your social graph. Being networked with a given individual in three different places makes for a strong connection.

More and more business professionals are using social networks to build relationships, meet new contacts, and market themselves. For the uninitiated, however, diving into the virtual meet-and-greet can be daunting. Where to begin?

LinkedIn

For first-time users, the answer is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is your business suit. Developed specifically for business, the site doesn’t run the risk of blurring your professional life with your private one; and with more than 25 million users, it serves virtually every industry and profession.

While LinkedIn is not very conversational in its orientation, having a profile there has become expected. LinkedIn lends a degree of professional credibility. It is also the site that requires the least amount of upkeep.

Facebook

Now Facebook... that's business casual. Facebook allows more of a 360-degree view of you, combining both professional and personal sides. Plus, it's a more conversational platform.

Twitter

Twitter is cocktail hour. Think of after hours social networking events and you've got Twitter. It's the most informal of the three and allows for the greatest degree of conversation.

It's not enough that you have a presence on each of these sites, but that you leverage your presence to connect with others who are also present on each. Social media is about being "social." Each platform offers its own distinctive advantages, but it takes all three to build the strongest connection. Plus, it gives you ubiquity. You're everywhere!

The Most Effective Viral Marketing Methods

I struggled with the title of this blog post.  I wanted something kitchy, something to subconsciously imply this is indeterminable... because anybody who tries to sell you a viral marketing campaign should set up shop with an SEO expert who tries to sell you the #1 SER.  It is just not possible to guarantee.

Doesn't mean you can't try...

By far I find narrowcasting activities have proven the most effective for me in terms of generating a viral campaign... Below are 4 such narrowcasting activities I've implemented in my current position over the past year.

Writing 'Special Reports'

• Special Reports work great because they allow you to go into more depth about the Topic or Problem in question where you'll then be able to lead them to how your Product or Service (or Affiliate product) can fix there current problem.
• They give you Instant Credibility, which builds trust in your customer that you are knowlegdable in your industry.
• Website owners are always looking for quality "Free Stuff" to give away or offer to there Visitors and/or Subscribers.
• And your Contact Information will always be inside, no matter what. Meaning, as your report is being passed around the Internet you'll always be able to lead your potential customer back to your website where they could sign-up for your newsletter and/or read up more about your Products or Services you offer.

Putting Together A 'Free eBook'

• Free eBooks work great as well and have the same benefits as I outlined through the special report. The only difference using this approach is, you can put together a free ebook in less time then it would take to produce your special report simply because it doesn't even have to be your own material inside, it can be someone else's.
• And they also allow you to target more then one Product or Service inside because free ebooks are usually a compilation of related articles targetting a particular problem leaving you room to diversify.

Writing 'Articles'

• Writing Articles is probably ONE of the Best and Most Effective Ways to produce a wave of Viral Traffic to your website because every website owner needs FRESH content to feed to there visitors and/or subscribers.
• They also allow you to Target your audience's problem specifically that they're dealing with.
• And at the end of the article you have a spot called the 'Resource Box' to insert your personal Bio and/or Website information. Just imagine if your article were to be picked up by some Newsletter Editor with a large list or High Traffic website and they use it as a 'Featured Article' in there publication, you could see an INSTANT surge of targeted traffic to your website overnight. That's where your 'Resource Box' comes in.

Package a 'Kit' on a Landing Page

• Just using the word 'Kit' sends a message that your prospect is getting something of value. 
• If you package your content of value into a downloadable package that you can store on a Landing Page, you've just exchanged a potentially viral offerings in exchange for lead data.

Perhaps you've noticed what these 3 'viral' methods all have in common...

They're in HIGH demand by website owners.

They're HIGHLY Targeted.

They give You INSTANT Credibility in your industry.

They are all INBOUND MARKETING tactics.

They have YOUR Contact Details leading to Your website.

...they're all FREE!

If you're going to use cold calling...

With all of the online marketing tactics available these days I do find cold calling less and less effective.  But, if you're going to use cold calling for lead generation it is important to sharpen your strategy...

• Use a top down approach
• The executive assistant is our ally
• “Be people with people”
• Standardize all leads regardless of source
• Start with a great database
• Script your introduction & create a calling guide
• Write a voicemail script

On average 20% contacts in a database change annually.

It is imperative to make the most of each call...

• Confirm the decision-maker
• Find other players in the decision making process
• Gather basic information (eMail is critical)
• Start to talk about basic needs and concerns
• Leave your website address on voicemail messages
• Use phone and eMail combination
• Send an eMail follow-up

Regarding the last two points above, using an opt-in eMail marketing campaign can be a great way to generate leads and sales.

1. eMail is cheap. Which is why spammers love it. They don't care whether response rates are low because their costs are negligible. If you want to reach a large number of people and if you have access to a solid, opt-in list, go for it. A test sure won't cost you an arm and a leg.
2. eMail is fast. In two senses. First, your production time is minimal. As soon as you get an idea to test, you can write a motivating email, and hit the send button. Second, your prospect gets your email instantly so responses can start pouring in within minutes. Speed, from start to finish, means you can be a super-agile marketer.
3. eMail is a fabulous testing medium. As a result of the speed I mentioned above, you can get virtually instant answers to your marketing questions. Is a cross-sell offer going to be a winner? Send a group of prospects an email and you'll have an answer. Have you written two great headlines but can't decide which one to go with? Do some email testing and get your answer fast!

Do you still cold call?  What works for you?

Video Killed the Print Ad

I just finished reading a broadbandevolved.com blog post that cites statistics predicting enormous growth in online local video revenue by 2012. It also projects that small- and medium-sized businesses will invest nearly 12% of their online advertising budgets in video ads because “people love online videos.”

I agree with broadbandevolved.com which projects online video becoming a huge revenue generator, not only because of it's proven effect on inbound marketing, but also because, one done correctly, it adds a viral component to any integrated marketing plan which has the potential to catapult a brand or message.

Where I can agree there are many traditional consumers who still prefer the written word, I do not feel that online video has, or should, replace written content. I do believe it can compliment this content, present it in a more precise manner, ad tone and authority and offer the opportunity to engage... engagement being an important part of the lasting impression equation.

People love online video. Americans viewed a record 13.5 billion online videos during the month of October - with nearly 40% of them on Google’s YouTube - representing a 45% increase in video watching vs. a year ago.

Source: comScore

The numbers say a lot, but here are a few other reasons to consider doing more than watching online video:

• Inexpensive tools & software have made producing videos easier than ever
• Almost all online video services are free
• Online video is easily measured. Most services provide statistics on views, visitor demographics, and other valuable information

Here are some tips that I have found help escalate online video for inbound marketing purposes:

1. State Your Objective.  Have a plan and tracking effectiveness
2. Be Yourself.  Viewers respond to originality, so do what comes natural. Be inspired, make it memorable and capture the viewer's attention. Don't make your message too "salesy". You can increase your brand recognition with a very clever video without ever having to give a sales pitch.
3. Keep it Short.  Online video should be shorter than 3 minutes to be effective. If you have a ton of ideas - make a series of short videos instead of one long one.
4. Write A Good Description.  Video-sharing sites let you create "tags," which are words that describe your video. These tags, along with the title and description, are how your video will get searched for and located on video sharing sites. Search engines like Google have recently added video to their search results, so optimizing the metadata around your videos is increasingly important. The more "relevant" metadata you add describing your video, the more likely someone is to find your video.
5. Increase Your Online Profile.  Now that you've launched the video online. How do you let people know about it? Embracing social media platforms as part of your communications mix is an integral first step.

How are you using video as a marketing tool?

The First Three Steps Toward Social Media Marketing

While other channels are looking at cutbacks, social media marketing is on a growth path because it's low cost, it's proving to work, and it represents the future of marketing.

Creating a social media marketing plan should depend on your market’s needs and your company’s capabilities and offerings.

In my opinion, your first three steps should be: 

1. Clearly identify your target
2. Identify the key issues your target cares about as it relates to your offerings.TIP: create a bulleted list with no more than three or four words per item
3. Research which, if any, top bloggers are discussing these issues.TIP: User your bulleted list to search.

The following are good places to start:

• Technorati
• Del.icio.us
• Google Blogsearch
• Ask.com Blogsearch

Inevitably, any substantial subject matter area has a back channel where top bloggers and influencers chat. For example, PR and marketing bloggers tend to connect on Facebook, Twitter, and to some extent, LinkedIn. This back channel can yield powerful connections to highly influential minds who may not have blogs with top statistical ranking.

Marketers looking to find their subject area’s back channel should start with a basic search. Once your initial search yields important blogs, visit them and note which social networks the bloggers use to connect. Join their communities. And learn what your target really cares about.

Don’t just observe, participate. Comment on blogs and social networks in a non-promotional way.