From the traditional basics such as networking and press releases to newer tools such as social media and mobile websites, learn the low cost or no cost ways to take your business to the next level with better marketing.

1. Marke&ng
on
a
Shoestring
Budget

2. What We’ll Cover Today
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages
2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics
3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers
4.
How
to
use
social
media
5.
How
to
leverage
your
website

3. What We’ll Cover Today
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages
2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics
3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers
4.
How
to
use
social
media
5.
How
to
leverage
your
website

4. Think about your brand.
Get beyond the services list.
Define your brand identity. Get
beyond your services list to what
makes you different – an elevator
pitch could capture this.

5. Know your goals.

6. Sample goals
Expand into a new market
Grow your customer base
Promote a new service

7. Identify & prioritize your
target markets
They can look very different and need different marketing
approaches and messages to reach effectively.
Good marketing is not one size fits all.

8. Adjust your message
for each market

9. Write your key messages for
each target group

RULE:
People
don’t
read

Bullet
lists,
not
paragraphs

Include
brand
differen6ators
 Incorporate
your
elevator
pitch
messages

10. Developing clear brand messages
SECTION REVIEW
Paid marketing won’t work if you
haven’t clearly spelled out why people
should consider your company.
Define different targets and have
customized messages for each.

11. What We’ll Cover Today
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages
2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics
3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers
4.
How
to
use
social
media
5.
How
to
leverage
your
website

12. Have a professional website
 This will serve as the central hub providing the
most complete information about your company
and directing people to social media channels.
 Does your website convey your brand and
messaging?
 Is the information current and accurate?
 Is it on par with or better than your competitors in
terms of design and quality of content?

13. Create a professional handout
 People don’t read
 Business cards or rack cards may be
enough if you have a good website –
primary purpose of many print materials
today is to drive to web or social media
 Include testimonials, if room permits
 Use low cost VistaPrint.com templates

14. Hundreds of designs by industry

15. Send out Press Releases
 Search “How to write a press
release” online
 Has to be newsworthy – launch
new products, announce
events, new staff, new account,
big project, awards
 A few times per year, if you are
lucky

16. Network! Network! Network!

17. The 3 Rules of Networking
Don’t heavy sell
It is like dating - ask questions
about them! (But watch for openings
to share info about yourself and your
business)
Don’t worry about how many people
you talk to, just make sure they are
good conversations

18. Speaking engagements
bring great visibility

19. Doing the traditional basics
SECTION REVIEW
Have a professional website and a
professional handout:
Drive traffic and awareness through
Networking, press releases, and
speaking engagements

20. What We’ll Cover Today
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages
2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics
3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers
4.
How
to
use
social
media
5.
How
to
leverage
your
website

21. Customer profitability tends
Customer
2% to increase over the life of
Reten&on
Costs
a retained customer
10%
It costs
to get a new customer
vs. keep an existing

22. Make your existing
customers feel special
 Quarterly phone calls or
e-newsletters
 Welcome notes, thank you notes,
holiday cards
 Purchase level recognition with
gifts
 Customer of the quarter gift cards

23. Ask for Referrals

24. Ask for
testimonials

25. Leveraging your existing customers
SECTION REVIEW
Keep in touch with them – regularly!
Get more leads by asking for referrals
Generate leads and close more
business by asking for and using
testimonials

26. What We’ll Cover Today
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages
2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics
3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers
4.
How
to
use
social
media
5.
How
to
leverage
your
website

27. What are your top options?

28. What can you talk about?
 Company announcements
 New customers or completed projects
 New staff or staff stories
 Awards or achievements
 Customer stories
 Related business or community news
 Unsure? look at what others in your industry
are doing

29. It is about ENGAGEMENT (and SEO)
WOW!
DID YOU COOL!
HEAR?
AWESOME!

30. CAUTION: Don’t start anything
you won’t continue long term

31. Schedule ahead:
 Great free (or inexpensive) tools
for this:
• CrowdBooster.com
• TweetDeck
• HootSuite.com
• My new favorite: www.bufferapp.com

32. NutshellMail.com

33. Facebook
 Showcase your work, recognize customers,
share knowledge, post specials, show
your company’s personality
 Share blog posts, YouTube videos, photos
 Link back to things on your website
 More complex: Embed “like” button on your
website or add html to your Facebook page
 Post several times a week

38. LinkedIn
 It’s made for business.
 Opens your networking circle and
identifies shared contacts for getting
introductions to prospects.
 Join and participate in groups
related to your target market.
 Request Testimonials
 Post weekly at a minimum

39. Make sure all key employees have
profiles and actively build connections

40. Ask for testimonials

41. Search for and actively participate in
industry groups locally, nationally,
internationally

42. LinkedIn groups are a great way to
monitor buzz and trends

43. You can create business
pages too

44. Twitter
 Rapidly growing in importance
 Gen-Y and tech savvy participants
 Some industries more than others
 Search Twitter and “research” what
people are thinking about things (or
saying about your brand) – great
focus group
 Post daily or multiple times per day

45. Brand your Twitter page

46. Brand your Twitter page

47. Twitter just changed profile
layouts this week!

48. Using # and @ to
increase visibility
 Use @ to mention an organization or individual
by name – this shows up in their feed (and is
very desirable) @RedSageAL
 Use # to highlight topics to show up in searches
such as #PromDress #Marketing #Huntsville
 Create your own #hashtag for an event or
promotion such as #RiverFest2012 or
#SageAdvice – use to create buzz at an event

49. # and @ in action

50. Google+
 Small (but growing) audience
 At a minimum, duplicate the posts you
are posting to Facebook or Twitter – but
best to build out like microsite – allows
photo galleries, videos, services pages,
more information than Facebook
 For some local businesses – may be
best way to show up on page 1 of
Google!

53. YouTube
 Highly recommend starting to
incorporate video into your efforts, if
you are not already doing this
 It does not have to be perfect high
quality in many cases!

54. Testimonials

55. Showcase your facility,
equipment process, or product

56. Blogging
 Create content to share across web and
all channels
 Increase the odds you will show up in
search engines – awesome SEO tool
 Drive traffic to your website
 Short articles – very personal,
conversational – your thoughts on your
business, your industry, your life

58. Cross share
content (and
have your
employees
share too) to
make it all
work!

59. Give it time!
 It can take up to a year of diligent
work to see the results of good social
media participation
 A campaign can shorten this
timeframe considerably

60. How to use Social Media
SECTION REVIEW
Only start the channels that you are committed
to – and that match your audience
Try to engage people to respond or share as
much as possible
Cross share content as much as possible

61. What We’ll Cover Today
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages
2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics
3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers
4.
How
to
use
social
media
5.
How
to
leverage
your
website

62. Cover the Basics
 Does your website convey your brand and
messaging?
 Is it current and accurate?
 Is it on par with or better than your
competitors in terms of design and quality of
content?
 Are you incorporating links to social media?

63. No website? Look at
“build your own” Web Sites
 GoDaddy.com, NetworkSolutions.com,
3dcart.com, Homestead.com, Officite.com
 Industry specific websites (realtor websites etc.)
 Benefit: low cost and can include applications
like photo galleries
 Drawback : depends on your time and writing
skills, cookie-cutter design

64. Drive Traffic to Your Website
 Search engine optimization (SEO)
 Links from other websites
 Links from social media and blogs
 Links from email newsletters
 Press releases list your web address
 Business cards and marketing materials

65. Make your site Mobile friendly
Best option may be to build a separate mobile
website that can detect access by mobile phones

66. Features typically include
 Optimized for 5,000+ phones
 Geotagging, Google Maps & Analytics
 QR code marketing
 Social media integration
 Coupons
 Request reservation
 Tell a friend button – automated text message

68. How to leverage your website
SECTION REVIEW
Make sure your site is professional, current,
presents complete information, works on mobile,
and conveys your brand
Use your site as a central hub:
1. Link out to (or embed) social media channels
2. Drive traffic with social media and print materials

69. We are done!
1.
How
to
develop
clear
brand
messages
2.
How
to
do
the
tradi&onal
basics
3.
How
to
leverage
your
exis&ng
customers
4.
How
to
use
social
media
5.
How
to
leverage
your
website

70. Download this presentation at
www.slideshare.net/ellendid4
Please connect with me!
www.RedSageOnline.com
facebook.com/redsage twitter.com/ellendidier linkedin.com/in/
twitter.com/RedSageAL ellendidier