You’re small but mighty. You run a unique business with a specialized market and just because your small in company size doesn’t mean your promotional efforts need to reflect so. Your niche character – if already determined through careful thought – should naturally appeal to the inner core of your audience, but to capture the attention of your wider audience base, you need to up your promo game to make sure you truly shine. But the catch is ensuring your marketing efforts are memorable while staying budget-conscious. Sound impossible? Not so fast, follow the three “C’s” below, and have your customers reacting to your product or services in a huge way without breaking the bank.
Content
Despite countless memes, innumerable GIFs and the myriad cat videos out there, people do in fact still read. If you’re savvy about it, your content will be among the material people don’t just scroll over while perusing the saturated World Wide Web. Approach your marketing content with your reader and potential consumer in mind, giving them useful articles and blogs relevant to their everyday life that organically tie back to what your company provides.
- Optimize content and reuse it in eBooks or webinars — content that can be flushed out in multiple mediums is the best kind
- Experiment with content marketing and publish quality guest posts on high-readership third-party blogs that in turn link back to your company website
- Publish in trade or local magazines
- Build email campaigns to align with timely sales, seasonal specials, or to support otherwise engaging content; be careful though, don’t spam your customers and potential leads.
Creativity
Marketing is one big race to stand out. When you’re a smaller business, marketing success can either pose a huge challenge or present a really cool space for ideation and boundless possibilities. But you have to be innovative. There’s personalized USB drives, tea bags with your logo on it, canvas tote bags (eco-friendly for the win) or even coffee cereal? OK, maybe coffee cereal doesn’t really apply, but an interesting concept nonetheless! You can also try these:
- Custom wine labeling with your company’s brains behind the design
- Translate your website to multiple languages. If you have any international targeting goals you need to translate the pages on your website, and even start creating blog content to rank for international keywords.
- Be where your competition is not! Expand beyond your website and branch out to YouTube, iTunes or have a podcast. The more channels you’re on, the better.
- If your business has more of a local target, hit the streets and commission a mural, or experiment with something as simple as messages written out on the sidewalk with chalk.
Contests
Practically everyone loves a good, healthy competition, so why not incorporate your business into the fun? You get exposure and people get rewarded; it’s a win-win. If one doesn’t exist in your industry, create your own business award for an even more original and grabbing promotional feat. Is no one else in your line of business hosting a sketch comedy showdown? Your company can put one on with gift cards or free trials for your business as the reward, and you could have the competition scrambling to keep up. Or try the following:
- Photo and video contests that incorporate your product or service that are sure to go over well in the social media spectrum, with share upon share in the race for the win.
- Caption contests are another great way to optimize social media by posting a photo and asking participants for their most creative captions.
- Take advantage of deal sites such as Slickdeals and their sweepstakes/contest section for perhaps a more ‘quality over quantity’ approach when it comes to leads.
Whether it’s giving away whatever’s going to replace the koozie (insulated beer mittens perhaps?) or placing quirky, logo-bearing stickers in unexpected but advantageous place like gas pumps (or electrical car ports) – when you’re a smaller operation your reach must remain innovative while thrifty.
The more you stand out in promotional efforts, the better chance you have of leaving a lasting impression, and proving your scale of overhead or workspace square footage is no cap for unique, savvy approaches or capabilities. After all, what you are able to produce in marketing items and strategy directly correlates with your image, your brand and ultimately what you can do for your clients once the contests are over and customized wine bottles have run dry.