If you are marketing and advertising the same way you learned how to do it in college or even the same way as you were just a couple of years ago, you are probably wasting a lot of money! The world has changed dramatically in the last few years and a wise small business owner must change with the times to get the most from their marketing and advertising budgets. Add to this fact, the present economic climate, and the issue becomes of paramount importance.

For retailers it used to be that the most basic and important form of advertising was the Yellow Pages. However, today more people are using the internet and fewer people are using Yellow Pages than ever before. Therefore you might feel that it might make more sense to move some of your advertising budget to internet banner ads. Yet, the results from banner ads have also declined. So what is a small business owner to do? Many small business owners have moved much of their budget to newspaper advertising and have achieved lackluster success. Why? Newspaper subscriptions are also declining with many newspapers filing bankruptcy or going out of business. Again, these days, people are getting their news in other ways than the local newspaper.

Below are the top ten low cost advertising techniques. Small business owners should find these tips very useful:

 1. Create partnerships and cross promotions. Find other companies that hit your same target audience and are complementary to what you offer. Come up with a win-win barter proposal of how to steer clients to each other. Or, offer bundled promotions using the products/services of each to boost interest in both of your companies. Or, pool your marketing dollars together and create a campaign you could not afford on your own. It can be as small as one or two partners you barter with individually or a group, similar to the wedding industry where florists, hairstylists, veil makers, dress makers, bakers, and printers work together to help each other out.

2. Find place-based advertising opportunities that are creative and free. Example: an author coming out with a book about parenting had post-it notes printed about it and they were posted above diaper changing tables in the area. A financial consultant had bookmarks created promoting his business and put them in financial books at local bookstores (very creative, however it may not have gone over well with the bookstore!). Think of how you could use your partnerships as mentioned in #1 for more place-based opportunities.

3. Have an effective website. An old study says 70% of people will research online before walking into a store to purchase. That percentage is probably much higher now. A website is a must. There are free services you can use like joomla.org, etc. Or, you can use a blog format like WordPress.com. Having a custom made website with your domain and email is not cost prohibitive as some might imagine. Be sure to use search engine optimization (SEO) to bring people to your site, write articles and place them in free ezines to push people to your site; and use social networking to push people to your site (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). Of course, it may require that you invest a little time in learning new technology that you may not be familiar with, but the reward is well worth the time invested.

4. Teleseminars and webinars (webex.com) are cheaper than doing in-person seminars. This is good for businesses that have a long purchase process or a complicated product that is best sold as a demonstration, etc. You can also film a demonstration/presentation and place it on YouTube.com and your website.

5. Leverage your workforce to spread the word. This can be accomplished through inexpensive flyers or coupons and/or magnetic signs on their automobiles. This can also be accomplished through word of mouth but it is far more difficult to control the message.

6. Create a lead generation system and contact them frequently. A form can be added to your website to collect names, telephone numbers and email addresses. You can provide an incentive to your prospective customers to provide this information. Examples might include “Join our mail list and receive advance notice of sales and specials…” or “Join our mail list and receive XX% discount on your next visit…” The more compelling your offer, the more prospective customers will sign-up. Using email to stay in contact with prospective customers is an inexpensive way to go. Use an email distribution service to stay CAN SPAM compliant.

7. Targeted TV advertising. If you feel your business requires television advertising, consider using cable TV. Like conventional TV, you can probably get the cable company to create your ad at little or no cost. Then, unlike conventional TV, you can select only the zip codes in which you wish to advertise (those close to your location) thereby paying only for your geographic target market rather than a huge area like conventional TV where most of those viewing your ads are not in your geographic target market. Furthermore, the cable company should have demographic information about viewers of their many channels. This will assist you in matching your products/services to the correct demographic target market.

8. Create publicity and press releases. You can use local “groups” within professional social networks (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) to create free publicity and drive prospects to your website as well as your “bricks & mortar” location. Creative press releases can get you on local TV, in the paper and across the web. You can do this yourself if you have the talent or there are services that will do it for you.

9. Track results properly so you can save yourself more time and money later on. This is the only way you can fine-tune your results to secure the biggest bang for your advertising dollar.

10. Start and maintain a database of prospective customers. This is your goldmine for future success. It can be as simple as an Excel spreadsheet or as elaborate as a MySQL or Microsoft SQL housed on a web server. You may only have one use for it today but as time goes by, you will think of many other uses and wish you had this data available to you.

Mostly though…it’s SO important to anchor any tactic to a solid strategic direction. For example, after you thoroughly define who your target audience is, develop key selling messages that resonate with that audience and set realistic goals.

Remember: The best tactics can fail if this is not done well.

This was a line I heard many times while cutting my teeth in this business with Tampa advertising icon Bob Denton at Denton Advertising.  All we did was shelter advertising for large developers, like US Home, ITT Palm Coast, Westinghouse (now WCI), Ryland Homes, Seven Oaks, Cheval, and Tampa Palms to name a few.  Inevitably, there would be a sales manager who wasn’t making their numbers and we as the ad agency must be to blame, right?

Wrong.  Here’s how Bob would handle that.  Instead of asking clients how much revenue they were making, he would ask how often they had to replace the carpeting in their sales centers.  The baffled client would say, four, five or however many times they’d replaced worn carpeting. Then Bob would go on to explain that they obviously don’t have a traffic problem, what they have is a sales problem.  And advertising agencies don’t have much control over sales.  

Ad agencies are masters of understanding psychographics, building trust in a brand, and motivating prospects if clients give them a realistic budget to work and the freedom to roll out a compelling campaign.  In the case of large developments, we threw every tool we had in our kit at them – from TV to outdoor, newspaper inserts to direct mail.  Because it was our job to deliver qualified bodies to the sales center.  Once there, it was up to the sale team to close them.

On the digital side, I work with a proven studio in Philadelphia called Push 10 Design Studios. They recently had a client question poor sales on an e-commerce store they designed.  Even though the Pay-Per-Click campaigns were generating a lot of qualified traffic, conversions were not happening at the rate the client wanted.  Push 10 gave their “replace your carpeting” pep talk to the client, and pointed out the many factors required to close a sale, of which Push 10 had control over only a few.

For instance, it was Push 10’s job to generate traffic via PPC campaigns, design the site professionally to build legitimacy and trust, make it easy to use, and provide a simple, error-free checkout process.  The client on the other hand was responsible for providing the right Google Adwords budgets to work with, offering compelling products, providing professional photography that makes the products appealing, competitive pricing, and special incentives like free shipping.

Point being…no matter how stunning the website, how easy it is to use, or how able to generate traffic, if the products, imagery, pricing, return policies, and purchasing experience is not up to par with the look and functionality of the site, sales will suffer.

So if you’re thinking that your advertising or marketing isn’t working because your sales aren’t where you want them to be, ask yourself, ‘when’s the last time I replaced my carpeting?’  Whether it’s a Berber on the floor of a retail space or a virtual storefront on the World Wide Web, if you’re getting traffic but not reaching your sales goals, then perhaps you’re focusing on the wrong targets, your team might benefit from some training, there’s brand confusion, or you’re trying to be too many things to too many people.

But the good news is that ample traffic is a good thing.  You’re then 9/10ths of the way to making the sale.

Blog written/created by Jennifer Frazier.
To view more – visit my partner Jennifer @ www.thecreativestable.com

…so why treat it like it is?
When it comes to brand integration or brand development, many businesses think as long as they have a great logo and tagline they’re set. You can create a campaign and slap a logo on it and you’re done. But that doesn’t always work. Your logo is like make-up. It may make you look pretty, but it’s what’s underneath that counts. All the make-up in the world won’t hide a dysfunctional personality. A logo is not your brand. If your brand is struggling take some time to date it.  Be truthful and honest. You just might get lucky!

Here are three brand development steps for businesses:

1) Get a personality 

Discover what your brand stands for. Be honest with yourself. Like any relationship, if you don’t know what you stand for, then how can you be honest with your relationships? Likewise, if you don’t know what you want your brand to be about, then how will anyone else know? You have to discover your voice.

Take the time to truly look at your business. Be brutally honest. Try and define at least five characteristics you want your business to embody. Make sure they aren’t characteristics that make you say “duh”. For example a bank may want to say they are “secure”. But isn’t that the definition of a bank? I put my money in one because it is secure. Don’t tell me you’re secure if that is an expectation. Look more for personality traits that will create an emotion in people. So instead of a bank being safe, secure, and honest – it might be convenient, flexible, and helpful. Define your unique personality traits. Begin to build a picture of what you believe your brand is all about.

2) Define your dream date

All right, you know what your business stands for now, but what type of consumer wants to use your business?  Who are you trying to attract? You’re all dressed up and sitting at a table just waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Right to sit down. You need to define the type of personalities you expect your buyers to have. Now is the time for you to look at who is actually using your products or services. Profile their demographics. Learn about their spending habits. Are they younger? Older? Do they have families? This is important. You need to understand your consumers so you can offer them the products and services they want or need.

3) Fish the pond

So here we are. You know what you stand for. You know who you want to attract. But do you know what they are thinking? It’s time to get out and find out what people are actually thinking. It’s time for a relationship. That takes understanding and communication. You need to talk to your customers and find out what they think about your brand.  This is one area you don’t want to skimp on. This is how you find the real, meaningful data. This is how you develop a strong bond with your customer. This is where true branding happens and lives happily ever after.

So there you have it. Three easy steps you can do now for brand development. Discover your values, understand your customer’s values, and research their opinions about your brand. Arm yourself with this information and you’re sure to get lucky.

Kurt Sepf
Director of Creative Services/Fusionfarm

Branding requires a full-time commitment.

You cannot start a branding effort, then stop, and expect to be successful.

Protect your brand while continuously molding and shaping it.

5 things to consider:

1) You can run, but you cannot hide. In a world where social media hold everyone accountable for their actions, you need to accept the fact that if you upset your customers, or your fans, you will likely hear about it on one of the social-media platforms. Many companies are scared that social media will ruin their brands’ reputations, so they hide from it. Confront the problem or questions head-on, and go to bat for your brand.

2) The lens is everywhere. In a world where citizens have become journalists with their mobile devices, assume that you, and those using your products and services, are being photographed or videotaped. Watch what you say or do in the public eye.

3) Be transparent. Candor is at a premium when managing your online reputation. If you’ve inadvertently angered someone, come clean. If your customer service didn’t live up to expectations, or your brand did not perform as advertised, be straight as to why, and how you plan to rectify it. If you don’t, you will inflame the situation, which can quickly get out of control in the social world.

4) Educate those who use the tools. Little has been said or written about the importance of educating the next generation about reputation management. The more intelligently people use social tools, the more they will use them in a productive way.

5) Get out ahead of the noise. You never want to have to be reactive when managing a reputation, though there are times when you need to respond to a situation. The best way to enhance a reputation, whether for an individual or a company, is to have a plan. Develop your message. Identify your most important social platforms. Build and engage an audience with thoughtful content.

In an era that has seen reputations rise and fall in spectacular ways online — and very quickly — it is prudent to take the most thoughtful approach possible to managing one’s brand.

By Jennifer Frazier/The Creative Stable

Back when I was a budding young reporter at the University of Missouri’s Journalism School, the highest honor you could get was a front page story placed “above the fold.”  Even though that was, dare I say, over 30 years ago, the term stuck in design circles and even attached itself to websites in the late 1990s.  I can remember looking at a website that “scrolled to China” and think how clunky it looked to my trained eye.

But the times, they are a’changing.  Above the fold is irrelevant in web design today.  Why?  Because of social media and the explosion of tablet and smartphone use.  It has changed the way people consume information on their computer screens and mobile devices.  “Scrolling to China” is not only expected, but anticipated, as each swipe of the finger leads us to more and more engaging and welcome content on our Facebook pages, Pinterest boards and Twitter feeds.  Sixty percent of us, according to The Pew Research Foundation, would rather read our news via a tablet or smart phone app than on our computer screens.  Time was, the PC market dictated the need for a website that contained itself on the screen.  Today, confining a website in a box is a missed opportunity.

Consider this – for the first time since 2001, PC sales are projected to be lower than they were in the previous year.  Instead, tablet sales area expected to exceed 100 million in 2013.  According to Nielsen, the majority of U.S. mobile phone subscribers now own smart phones instead of feature phones.  The shift to mobile is happening at light speed, leaving many companies scrambling to create websites that can be viewed in any environment.

The solution to this new challenge is responsive web design.  A million new screens have bloomed over the past few years, making it essential to design websites that are equally impressive on any of the more than 2,500 different devices available today.  It’s called responsive because the website automatically resizes itself for optimum viewing on the device it’s been accessed on.

Here’s how it works.  A responsive web design uses media queries to figure out what the device’s resolution is that it’s being served on.  Flexible images and fluid grids then size correctly to fit the screen.  The benefit are obvious – build a website once, and it works seamlessly across thousands of different screens.

As Ethan Marcotte, the author of Responsive Web Design, explains “Now more than ever, we’re designing work meant to be viewed along a gradient of different experiences. Responsive web design offers us a way forward, finally allowing us to ‘design for the ebb and flow of things.'”

The largest responsive web design project to date can be found at The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com.  Try this, log onto this site, and then adjust your browser window’s size.  Notice how the site automatically reconfigures itself to the new size without sacrificing any visual quality.   Despite your politics, Barack Obama’s campaign was on the leading edge of responsive web design technology; an advantage some feel had a big hand in his re-election because his messages were consistent and digestible on any platform.

So here’s my advice.  Stop thinking in terms of pages, and start thinking in terms of systems – sites that are developed with functionality in mind first and page layout second.   Responsive Web Design is modular in nature and scalable overall.

While Above The Fold was nice while it lasted, long live responsive web design.  It will soon be the way companies are judged for their ability to communicate well in any environment.