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7/31/2010 9:25:34 AM
FEATURED ARTICLE
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Small Businesses: Cut the Cord
January 14, 2005
Many small businesses believe there's safety and wisdom in mimicking sales and marketing strategies of big businesses. After all, the big guys must be doing something right...right? Small businesses are learning, however, that this philosophy is neither safe nor all that wise. As it turns out, marketing channels and results follow a very different game plan when scaled for small- to medium-sized businesses. Large companies have the luxury of getting it wrong, meaning they could easily spend a hefty sum of money on small-return marketing campaigns with little or no isolated results. For example, it is difficult to get a sense of how an expensive and elaborate "ribbon cutting ceremony" actually affects their bottom line. Even those campaigns that are profitable for large companies are based on factors not applicable to smaller businesses: Long-running distribution channels, bulk media discounts, reputable sponsorships and endorsements, etc.
Example: A $100 million company spends $10 million on infomercials, billboards, and cable ads. This does NOT mean that a $10 million company allocating $1 million for the same media will see the same relative results.
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Consider what small- and medium-sized businesses are better at than their top-heavy, slow-moving counterparts. The agility of a small- to medium-sized business means the ability to try some innovative marketing approaches as well as the ability to isolate measurements for success. This equates to more manageable budgets and resources. Remember, your company needs marketing strategies that are truly scaleable, and this means direct (or relationship-driven) marketing programs.
SUGGESTIONS:
- Customers agree to a customized satisfaction survey as part of an expanded return/exchange/upgrade policy.
- Free education seminars designed for specific industries, with a leads exchange program.
- Customized rewards programs that truly reward the customer for new business referrals.
- Customers get convenient access to frequent forms or files on the Web (digital paper trailing)
Guess what, big businesses are quite slow to adapt to maturing economies. The marketing paradox is that the advertising strategies that got big companies where they are today can no longer sustain them or drive them forward. They have exhausted the same channels that give many of us that allure of "getting through" to our customers. Mass media channels such as TV, radio, and publication advertising all too often add to the clutter rather than cut through it. And you don't need metrics to understand this. Is mass media getting through to you? Give your customers 1-on-1 attention, and you'll find yourself getting ahead of the game. That will be a tough act for big business to follow.
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