With thousands of companies emerging, the sale of products and services has become more competitive. Business owners and advertisers, more than ever before, continue to develop strategies and tactics to bring their offerings to mind and eventually into the pockets of existing and potential customers or clients.
Large companies allocate a large annual budget to their marketing campaigns; while small businesses tend to have a hard time making themselves known in the marketplace.
However, this trend has forced thousands of small businesses to close their stores, while others have opted for cheap or free advertising and promotion to keep costs at an all-time low. You’ll find them in online forums, blogs, pay-per-click, classified ads, banner exchanges, social media websites, online directories, and even small business meetings.
I have thoroughly researched and compiled 101 marketing strategies that large companies use to publicize and promote their businesses. Surprisingly, as small business owners, we can put these tools to good use.
1. Use a direct mail campaign to sell your offers.
2. Send personalized bulk SMS to your target audience.
3. Create a blog and start writing.
4. Advertise in newspapers and magazines
5. Print and distribute quality business cards.
6. Distribute corporate souvenirs.
7. Write professional articles about your products and services.
8. Issue press releases in both print and electronic media.
9. Advertise on billboards and banners in the streets.
10. Sponsor or co-sponsor special events
11. Join social media websites, for example, Facebook.com
12. Design a beautiful website for your business.
13. Join and participate in online forums, for example Nairaland.com
14. Establish mutual community relationships
15. Address your audience well
16. Attend fairs / exhibitions
17. Organize road shows
18. Distribute quality flyers
19. Paste quality posters
20. Have an efficient customer / customer contact center
21. Offer discounts on your products / services.
22. Make a documentary about your business.
23. Distribute annual reports to your stakeholders
24. Be open to criticism
25. Promote a dress code for your employees
26. Use a consistent brand identity on all promotional materials.
27. Include contact information in all outgoing communications.
28. Share your statements of purpose and core values with all stakeholders.
29. Treat your employees with respect and admiration.
30. Initiate corporate social responsibility programs
31. Hold annual general meetings
32. Advertise on television and radio
33. Organize site visits for your stakeholders.
34. Always provide the opportunity to receive customer feedback.
35. Publish a newspaper / newsletter from home regularly.
36. Create events around new products and services.
37. Use display stands in the store / open market
38. Brand your vehicles
39. Use fold-out / drop-down banners within your company premises and at important events.
40. Beautify your business premises
41. Partner with other companies to sell your products / services.
42. Recognize and appreciate loyal customers.
43. Always use word of mouth
44. Always offer quality products / services
45. Greed and win prizes for your company
46. Use a good brand / business name
47. Advertise on the Internet
48. Rebrand your products / services if necessary
49. Meet and discuss with other entrepreneurs at events.
50. Ask your current clients for references.
51. Third party written endorsement request for your products or services.
52. Maintain an open communication policy with journalists.
53. Partner with your state and local governments on development issues / projects.
54. Publish a book or magazine
55. Establish branches in strategic areas
56. Drive a fancy car (only for Nigerians!)
57. Maintain a high sense of dress.
58. Use state-of-the-art office equipment
59. Have only smart employees on your payroll.
60. Only employees with good communication skills should answer phone calls and deliver corporate speeches.
61. Post and abide by all warranty statements for your products and services.
62. Use beautiful packaging for your products.
63. Offer the best product / service at a reasonable price.
64. Initiate market research for a new or existing product / service.
65. Use email marketing
66. Adopt new technologies
67. always smile
68. Organize a press conference when necessary
69. Tailor your product / service offerings to the different segments of your market.
70. Schedule a visit with potential clients / clients
71. Use a strong slogan to carry your message home
72. Pay a courtesy visit to traditional rulers, regulatory agencies, the media, and other important audiences.
73. Avoid lawsuits and respect the rule of law.
74. Put your customers first when formulating policies
75. Have an in-house public relations expert or consultant on your payroll.
76. Focus on offering superior products / services
77. Empathy with your clients / clients
78. Set new and challenging marketing goals regularly.
79. Hire ad-hoc sales staff for sales promotion
80. Maintain a non-discriminatory hiring policy
81. Handle your internal and external crisis well
82. Never badmouth your target audience
83. Submit your website to search engines and directories.
84. Submit your articles to article submission websites.
85. Position and reposition your products / services against your competitors.
86. Relevant but controversial issues in the media
87. Always insist on quality print jobs.
88. Build an excellent relationship with your target audience
89. Offer free delivery service when applicable
90. Give customers the opportunity to buy and pay for your products online.
91. Pay your creative department / agency well to do a quality advertisement in newspapers, television and radio.
92. Say “thank you” every time a customer visits you.
93. Display your statements of purpose, beliefs and awards within your business premises.
94. Maintain and update a mailing list of your target audience
95. Offer free services as often as you can.
96. Provide a toll-free number to receive customer feedback.
97. Have customer relations officers respond to inquiries on time.
98. Pay your taxes regularly.
99. Maintain a creditworthiness policy with your banks and other lenders.
100. Include a “signature” (business information) on all your outgoing email messages.
101. Invite me to speak to your employees or the seminar audience about how they can use each of these strategies to effectively advertise / promote their products / services.