Between maintaining customer accounts, managing employees, and just keeping the business on its feet, finding the time to handle your marketing can seem impossible. However, there are ways to put your business’ name out there without spending hours agonizing over a full-fledged marketing campaign.
So, to help you out, we’ve put together a list of a few bite-sized marketing strategies you can employ over the course of a short lunch break. So sit down, open up the laptop, and don’t forget to chew your food, because it’s time for a marketing blitz.
Tip #1: Write a Tweet
Social media has quickly become a leading tool for marketers all over the world, and with good reason. Popular feeds on sites such as Twitter and Facebook can draw thousands of followers. However, in order to get those people to follow you and your company, you need to post stuff!
What kind of stuff? Any kind (within reason).
A Twitter tweet has a limit of 140 characters. Ten minutes is more than enough time to write a couple of short sentences about your company, what you’re doing right now, or what you have planned. Hashtag your posts with relevant subjects to help followers find your content when it’s most relevant to them.
If you don’t have a Twitter account for your business, setting one up only takes a few minutes, and your first post can even be about how you just set up a Twitter account.
Tip #2: See What others are Saying about Your Company
While you’re on your Twitter and Facebook accounts for purely work-related reasons, you might as well see what others are saying about your company. Is your company trending? Is anyone saying anything about you at all?
Odds are, if your company has a following in your area, people are talking about you online. Seeing what others are saying about your company allows you to better plan your future marketing campaigns to address possible issues that people have. You can set up RSS feeds to help you find chatter about your company.
Tip #3: Make a List, Check it Twice Daily
Organize a short list of customers whose transactions did not go so well. Whether it is a cancelled order, failure to pay, or simply a customer who reported a negative experience overall, it is important to learn from transactions that went wrong.
Read up on one or two of these transactions a day, and try to find out exactly what it was that went wrong. Were their expectations not in line with the product or service offer? Where did these unsatisfied customers come from? Did a specific ad lead them to your site, or something else?
As the famous saying goes: “Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” – George Santayana.
Learning what led to customer dissatisfaction in the past is key to improving future marketing. At the very least, it can help you to identify potential issues.
Tip #4: Study Successes
On the other hand, you can look at your best customers as well. Take a few minutes to compare some of your top clients and see what they have in common.
What was it that these customers liked about your company, product, or service? What led them to your company?
Many of your best customers probably have a few things in common, such as what they’re looking for in your products/services, age, budget, or even hobbies/interests. Learning what your best customers have in common can be a huge help when you’re trying to craft new marketing campaigns in the future.
Tip #5: Brainstorm Ideas
Once you’ve researched your best and worst customer experiences, think up some new marketing campaigns that speak to the needs of your best customers, while avoiding or correcting issues that caused problems for some of your customers in the past.
Think about your ideas for a few minutes, and jot them down so that you can discuss them with the other people in your business later. Which leads us to the next tip…
Tip #6: Talk to Your People
Not every company can have a marketing department head, or a marketing department, but just because there might not be such a person or division in your company doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help. Before you create a whole ad campaign, take a couple of minutes to go over it with someone in your company who works with your customers and ask them for their opinion.
Chances are that if they’ve worked with your customers for a while, then they’ll have valuable insights about what your customers will appreciate.
Tip #7: Talk to Your Customers
Reach out and talk to one of your customers directly. It doesn’t have to be about their transaction, just drop a line and introduce yourself to people once in a while. You’ll be surprised just how much you can improve your company’s reputation by simply taking a few minutes out of the day to talk to customers and ask them how they’re doing.
If the conversation does gravitate towards their experience with your company, try to find out what it is that the customer did or didn’t like about their most recent transaction, or even your company as a whole. Customers like to know that their concerns are reaching you, so make yourself available once in a while.
Other Ways to Improve Your Marketing Efforts
There are more ways to improve your marketing, although some of them might take more than 10 minutes:
- Updating the signage in and around your business. For businesses that rely on foot traffic, the signs that you put up around your business are where potential customers will often get their first impression of your business. Ask yourself if your signs are making the right first impression with your customers. If your signs are outdated or are sending the wrong message, you’ll want to make some exciting new signs to replace them.
- Arranging a special event. Whether it’s a big sale, a new store opening, or a live performance, holding some kind of spectacular event once in a while can really help drive awareness about your business. So make some banners and get ready for your next big event!
- Get involved in the community. Volunteer some time to help others, and people will take notice. You don’t have to spend vast amounts of money on donations to the local church or youth organization, just take a couple of hours during the week to help others. There is an endless need for help in the world, so go out there and make a difference. Not only will you build a positive reputation in the community, you may just find the work rewarding.
- Preserve your positive press. Should you happen to get featured in the news, commemorate your articles and share them with your customers. Creating attractive displays of your featured news articles gives customers something interesting to read, and such articles serve as proof positive of your business’ reliability and standing within the community. People like dealing with businesses that they can trust, and an article from a well-known publication is something that proves that your business is a positive, reliable, and trustworthy establishment.
For more tips about promoting your business, or for help preserving your favorite featured news articles, contact us or call 888-715-4900 today. That’s Great News is here to help you commemorate and preserve your story so that you can share it with others for decades to come.
