Market Your Small Business While Having Fun
Marketing doesn’t sound fun–nope, not at all! But, as a small business you do have control over how you market your small business and your marketing plan. In this post, I will share some fun marketing strategies that are applicable for all small businesses. I hope the suggestions will spur you to develop your own marketing plan. These strategies are a “think out of the box” approach.
Most marketing posts nowadays from marketing influencers promote tips for using social media, blogging, Facebook, Instagram, well, the list goes on. Implementing these tips mandate putting time in promoting your business online. After working in your small business all day, whether your business is a brick-and-mortar or online, you are tired. Who wants to spend endless hours after hours posting online? It takes a lot of time to post on so many social media platforms. Besides all the time required, due to algorithms, you don’t even know if what you are posting is reaching the right people–namely, your ideal customers/clients.
History of Marketing Avenues
Back in the day, what did people do to market their small business? There was no Facebook, Instagram, online marketing–the closest thing to any of these was a newspaper ad and a billboard! Yes, that’s right–a billboard. You either placed a business ad in your local newspaper and/or you purchased space on a billboard for all the small world in your area to see. Did this work, absolutely, for years and years. Customers in the surrounding areas were alerted through these ads and billboards that the business was conducting a sale, offering new services, etc.
Along came the world-wide web and we entered the “surfing” age! Marketing strategies changed as did advice regarding how to market your small business. Marketing companies promoted online advertising, as did people who blogged about “how to” market online small businesses. This has worked for years and, in part, continues to work. Now, this type of marketing strategy advice, online marketing of marketing blogs and consulting, is oversaturated. Mostly, today, blogs only address marketing your business online targeting social media avenues.
“Old School” Marketing
Instead, I am sharing strategies that target the “old school” ways to market your small business. I know, you feel skeptical about “old school” ways of marketing or maybe you don’t even know what “old school” ways of marketing are about! What exactly is “old school” marketing anyway?
Yes, this type of marketing can still include newspaper ads and billboards, but these have become outdated and costly for today’s small business, so let’s move forward. These are not the marketing strategies I am sharing today. Some of the strategies I am sharing can be applicable whether your small business is a brick-and-mortar or online. Again, these are strategies that will stand alone for your brick-and-mortar or online shop. But, you can align them with your online presence for a double marketing whammy. You can also use the actionable marketing strategies in other innovative ways for your online business.
#1–Marketing Your Small Business
Using Special Events
Waa, waa, waa, here we go! Yep, I hear the whines. But, think “event” on a small actionable scale. This is one of the “old school” marketing strategies that bloggers took to a whole new level to set the bar high in the area of online marketing development. Some of the suggestions are to hold Facebook live sales, summits, podcasts/workshops, the list continues. There is potential to burn yourself out by holding so many types of events.
Even if you are a brick-and-mortar business–you may still want to try one of the above, just on a smaller more manageable scale. Events can be held for an online or a brick-and-mortar business, a service industry, retail, or coaching business and still think out of the box, small scale, and think in-person. If you need some help planning your special event, I have a planning form for you when you join my newsletter.
Offer your clients or customers an in-person old school special event such as a retreat just as I offered my customers for my online fabric business. Retreats can be held in another location over the course of days or can be held right in your storefront over the course of a few hours. One of the definitions of “retreat” is a period of group withdrawal for study or instruction under a director. Nowhere in any of the definitions does it say that a retreat must be held for a specific amount of time or delivered to a specific number of people in a specific type of location. If your audience or customer base is low, you can still hold a retreat to encourage an increase in business. What better way to encourage participation than to share new techniques or skills, whether during a short-term retreat or a longer getaway?
Online Business Model Retreats
If you are an online small business, don’t count out holding a retreat. Tap into your most valued people and set up a small scale “retreat” you could hold in a coffee shop, meeting room, etc. You can read about a retreat I attended that was offered by a brick-and-mortar store here. Choose a central location and a topic that would interest your tribe and go for it! If you are an online coaching business, financial advising business, any type of blogger, you might bring your folks together around a topic they have expressed interest about and elaborate on that topic–but elaborate in person.
Brick-and-mortar Business Model Retreats
Brick-and-mortar small business owners, you can hold your “retreat” right in your shop. What better way to build community and trust than to place yourself as an expert in whatever arena your business targets? You will even build your customer-base during the event promotion time frame and add renewed enthusiasm for shopping. The sky is the limit for determining a topic of study depending on what you sell. Some suggestions for different types of businesses are:
- clothing boutique–offer a fashion show or teach on upcoming seasonal styling trend
- stationary shop–hold a retreat to teach writing skills or calligraphy skills
- arts and crafts shop–teach a new crafting skill
Well, you see what I am aiming for in the examples above. A retreat can be used to target any audience and any topic of study.
#2–Market Your Business Through a Sale
No, not just any sale! You conduct a series of sales based on a theme that is compatible with your type of business. These types of sales must be consistent, timely, and be offered in a “catchy” type of way. In the fabric business, we would call this a “build your stash” sale. I have one going most of the time in my online store Material Thingz Fabrics. You help your customer build his/her stash over time. The sale should be repeatable and consistent. It should be a sale you offer each week or month that targets a different product. But, the sale item(s) will build your customer’s “stash”. Some brick-and-mortar shop series sales are:
- Arts and crafts shop: Offer a different set/theme of crafting supply
- Fashion Boutique: Offer different seasonal accessories each month
- Spa Services: Offer different bath products based on moods
- Online Coaching Business: Offer different forms that pertain to your specific topic of coaching
- Online Budgeting, Homestyle blogs: Offer monthly guides and how-tos
“Stash” building sales will establish return customers since they look forward each month to visiting your shop/site to see what is offered for that month. I do caution you though, you must be consistent in offering a new set of items each month!
#3–Market Your Business Through Services
I know what you are thinking, services take a lot of time and who wants to go to a client’s house these days. You can offer a business connected service right in your shop or online through one of your favorite portals. People love individual attention and love telling other people about the individual attention they receive. What better way to build your business than through word-of-mouth?
Offer a consulting service on a very limited scale that pertains to the type of business you conduct. One such example for a fashion boutique might be to offer personal styling services right in your shop and up sell with add-ons. An example for a bake shop might be a tasting session if your client is looking to have a cake or dessert made for a special occasion–tastings are always fun and why not offer them for more than just wedding cakes. It is the personal service that matters, not the amount of time or the number of products you offer during your personalized service.
#4–Referrals
The type of referral service I am suggesting is different from referring someone to another business. This type of referral service simply entails maintaining a list of current customers who have items for sale or trade that fit into your niche. They may list a product they purchased from you in the past and no longer need. This builds your customer base since word will get around that you offer this service. When potential customers come in, you have a chance to offer, aka, upsell, other products to purchase in the same line/category.
Upsells
Once the person on the list sells his/her unwanted item, you also have an opportunity to sell him/her new items. Win/win! If you run an online business, this type of service would be difficult for you to use to market your business. But, depending on the type of business/niche you run, think outside the box and try it in your unique way.
#5–Ongoing Classes as a Way to Market Your Business
What better way to build your business whether you are a brick-and-mortar business or an online business. Classes are a way to offer what customers/clients perceive as personal interactions, but you are able to accommodate more people at one time. It is also a good way to add to your business and upsell associated products during your classes.
#6–Kits
Yes, kits are a bit trickier for different types of businesses. But, if you will remember, the theme in this blog post is to think outside the box! Kits do work better for craft type businesses, but doable for other types of businesses.
If you are run an online budgeting business, offer a kit/subscription each month that will help clients build to be ready for tax season or simply to organize their finances. If you run a bake shop, you could offer a kit to help customers create a homemade bakery item. Kits in no way keep your customers from coming back into your shop, on the contrary, your customers will want more of what you offer.
Summing it Up
The key to increasing sales and your return customer rate is to market your small business. I have presented 6 “old school” ways. I emphasize again, consistency is a major factor. All the above ways will help you build customer loyalty, build community, and most of all build return customer visits. Please keep in mind if you make the promotion too complicated, you won’t have the time or energy to “keep it up”. Planning is the important factor before implementing any promotion. Spend some time on each component of the promotion and explore all the tasks required to make sure you have the time and energy needed to carry it through. Join my email list above and receive a free event and budget planner that will help you streamline the process.
