Do you ever wish you had a bigger budget to do bigger and better things with like the big boys you compete with? I tell you now, you don’t need it! The big boys should learn a thing or two from you small businesses!
You must think I’m crazy stating this! But I’m mostly not… Think about it for a minute… Big businesses have a lot of money and not all of them use it wisely. Why would someone consider advertising on a billboard when it lasts a couple of weeks and then it’s removed and the thought of it is forgotten? The amount of money that big businesses spend on billboard advertising could be put more wisely into much more effective media outlets.
Consider this, as a small business you have a budget that can accommodate for social media advertising; as you are able to control your daily budget and your specific audience. Now someone please tell me how a billboard advertisement would be more effective than a specific social media pay-per-click campaign???
Businesses need to be sensible with their marketing budgets. It’s not about how much different types of mediums can I utilise so as a marketer I can have a really awesome resume because I have done everything! It’s about being able to show results and measure how effective each campaign was. If you can’t measure your campaign and you are just marketing for the ‘sake’ of marketing, then you may as well go stand on top of a building and throw the businesses money off it.
Small businesses have the capability to leave a positive experience with customers, compared to big businesses. How? Well, small businesses can add a personal touch to every client they serve, even on a small budget, effectively nurturing your clients can enhance your client base without any budget spent! Now, big businesses have trouble with the personal touch and following up. This is due to how many levels feedback has to go through before there is an answer and how many procedures people must undertake before getting an answer for a customer.
Small businesses should indulge in the fact that they have so many advantages compared to big businesses. A case study I read earlier about Honda is an excellent example of how a big company can tune down its marketing and even still get a great result! Basically, Honda created a social media campaign that sent buzz around; this campaign generated much more interest than using traditional media!
When I talk traditional media I mean magazine advertising, billboards, radio and TV. Don’t get me wrong, if used correctly these mediums will work! However, large companies use these mediums purely because it’s tradition or because they want to be seen everywhere and anywhere. Online is the future and the future of TV advertisements is almost out the door with the capability to pause, fast forward and rewind TV!
Big businesses need to stop thinking BIG. Customers like to be noticed and taken care of properly. You have probably heard so many people complain about Telstra and how poor their service is etc. etc. etc. But what if they just stopped, and treated themselves as a small business. Yeah yeah, we have heard the whole thing about Telstra trying to improve their service; the fact is they have already left a black mark on many customers and it is very hard to regain a customer’s trust and loyalty.
Basically, I just wanted to let small businesses know that you do still need to be proactive and keep up with trends within your industry, but your customers are number 1 and you are so good at keeping them and trying to please them, that is why you are still standing!
My advice for the next 12 months is to really get your online presence going. Setup your website, get a shopping cart on it, get onto social media and connect with your customers and prospects. Really just focus on going online as the economy is going to be hit hard and as small businesses you will suffer. Being online will give you another outlet to sell your service and products and will help once this so called ‘recession’ hit, if it does!
If you need any help, we are dedicated to small businesses and we believe in your success so please don’t hesitate to contact us for any queries!