How much should you spend for your marketing campaign? I say, it depends on the marketing campaign you’re going to use.
Most businesses have been in operation for many years that they know the right marketing tool that will work for them. For those that are just starting, choosing the right marketing campaign can give you the boost you need and eventually, the return of investment you want.
Your marketing tool depends on the needs and purpose of your business. If you want to get a lot of things off your chest and you would want a lengthy discussion of what you can offer, then a hefty catalog or brochure will do wonders for you. If you want it to be short and grab the attention of your target clients in split seconds, a color flyer is the most popular choice. What about something different? Something that your potential clients can use? Door hangers perhaps? Many companies can help you with your door hanger printing needs should you opt to use them.
Most businesses would advise that you allocate 20% of your resources to your marketing efforts. And then another 20% on a regular basis. And when we say resources, we mean not only your funds, but also your time, effort- the whole business. When you maintain a routine and you get to achieve some of your goals, only then can you reduce either your budget or your time.
That’s not the only requirement. Your marketing efforts do not stop even if you have a substantial number of loyal customers. You still need to market to attract new ones, as well as maintain the old clients. To stay in business for a long time, you need to market continuously. This then would really put a big dent to your limited resources.
Whatever your choice, the bottom line is to choose the marketing campaign that caters to your business needs, and most importantly, to your budget. Working on a budget can be a challenge, but having limited resources is a major problem indeed.
One marketing strategy that can maximize what you have is to network your way to a referral.
Networking is the most popular and widely used strategy of marketing for most businesses, especially small ones. Nevertheless, this strategy is poorly implemented. In many functions, you can see a lot of business cards change hands; and many innovative promotional materials such as door hangers given away in trade shows. The purpose is to meet and exchange information with as many potential clients as possible. But with the thousands and millions of promotional materials going around, how come there are still many businesses that fail to reach their mark? It is because networking is incomplete if you don’t build a relationship that lets you have referrals.
Networking is your door to building a relationship with a client, which eventually gets you referrals. You give your promotional material to somebody so they could pass it on to someone else who might also need your service. This is a more active strategy in developing your clientele.
This is something that small businesses should know by heart. It’s all about building relationships with your clients. In order for you to be successful, you have to not only network your way to your customers, but most importantly, they should be able to hand out your promotional material to others that might need the service you are offering.
