When the economy turns bad, many established companies will not be able to react as quickly as leaner, smaller operations. Which means a recession could actually be good news if you’re prepared to dive in and engage with the competition.
With this in mind, here are ten suggested new marketing activities for your small business. As with all marketing activities, you should always test and measure – if something costs £100 and delivers 5 leads, it will probably deliver 50 leads if you spend £1,000.
1) Revamp your website
Unlike a brochure, a website should be treated as an ongoing project. It is never really finished. Even when you have got the site looking great with the content you want, there is always more to do!
Focus your efforts on adding new pages with fresh content rather than revamping what’s already there. The major search engines lean towards sites that are growing consistently with relevant content, so never delete pages. Focus on writing articles and news items about things your audience will find interesting.
2) Do an email or direct mail campaign
Most businesses make a sale by being in front of people at exactly the point they need to buy something. Communicating commercial messages directly to people is a handy way to do this.
Direct mail and email campaigns both have low return rates, but if you can reach enough people they can still be profitable enough ways to bring in sales. Direct mail is more expensive but more likely to be read and kept. Emails are much cheaper and easier to track people’s actions, but you are fighting against the 100 other sales emails someone may have received that day.
3) Start or revamp a newsletter
Your newsletter should be about keeping in touch with customers, not as a way of sending commercial messages. They are particularly effective if you operate in a niche, as you can send news and information about what’s happening in your industry. This helps your business get a reputation for expertise in an area, and ensures that when people are ready to buy they think of you.
4) Set up a formal referral scheme
Who are the best people to ask for referrals? Existing customers. Ask at the point they are most happy with your service and ensure there is a reward in it for them. You should make the reward as generous as you can – if the sale of your product generates a profit of £1,000, you can afford to offer £100 for a guaranteed sale, right?
5) Network online
Find out where your customers hang out online and do the same. Is there a forum dedicated to your industry, or related forums where potential buyers lurk?
Register using your business name as your nickname and start to offer helpful advice and information where you can (you’re the expert, remember). Don’t try to shove commercial messages down their throats, stick to building your reputation so your business becomes the place serious buyers must go.
6) Network offline
Networking offline is kind of similar, but more time consuming. If you sell business to business there are plenty of formal networking opportunities – ask your local Chamber or Business Link.
There are also commercially run networking group such as BNI. If you need to meet consumers, where do your target audience hang out? Shopping centres? Football clubs? Find a way you can talk to these people, as always without an “in your face” sales message.
7) Do some speaking or other PR
There are plenty of speaking opportunities in the UK, you just need to look for them. Business groups are often after interesting speakers, as are volunteer groups.
Be prepared to have a long wait to speak as many groups plan their activities months in advanced. Also be ready to speak at weekends or evenings. And remember you will rarely be given the chance to shout about how great your product or service is… but if you can give a good enough talk about your specialist subject, people will just assume it’s great.
8) Try some new advertising
If you’ve never tried pay per click, do it now (it can cost as low as £1 a day). Or what about that village magazine you keep seeing in the doctor’s surgery? The relatively low cost of publishing small scale magazine and websites has seen a proliferation of them in the last few years. And often they are very cheap to advertise in – admittedly, sometimes because they don’t work. Try a few adverts and use a special offer or advert tracking code to see which ones give the best response.
9) Put on an event
This doesn’t have to cost a fortune but could require a bit of time and effort to make it work. Free seminars for businesses are great ways to get prospective (if slightly suspicious) customers in front of you. Giving free stuff away to consumers can also work well. Consider teaming up with strategic partners to share the cost of the event; for example if you sell olives, do a joint tasting event with a wine company.
10) Contact 10 people from your past
When times were great and the leads were plenty, what business did you just lose out on, or perhaps you pitched for half-heartedly? Now is a great time to revisit these old contacts. Send them an early Christmas card (the first of the season), subscribe them to your new newsletter or best of all pick up the phone and say hello. If you contact 10, surely one has to have a new opportunity for you?
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