Success Strategies for Business Owners Effective Use of Traditional Promotion Tools

Success Strategies for Business Owners 2 2 About SCORE Douglas S. Cavanaugh Successful and experienced business owners and executives acting as volunteers Free ongoing mentoring: One-on-one Signup on our website – Mentoring Tab Seminars, workshops and Meetup Group Resources for small business: manasota.score.org manasota.score.org

Success Strategies for Business Owners 3 3 Introductions... Your Expectations? Introduce yourself What business are you in? What are your expectations for the meeting today? Record... End of the meeting feedback: Expectation Outcome Gaps

Success Strategies for Business Owners 4 Traditional Marketing Methods & Tools Advertising: radio, TV, newspaper, magazine, direct mail, yellow pages Public Relations: print, radio, TV Collateral: business cards, tri-folds, stationery, flyers Product samples, special offers Customer surveys Presentation material, signage 4

Success Strategies for Business Owners 5 5 Marketing Materials Do your marketing materials need a makeover? Do they still reflect your brand? They all need to be consistent! Logo Signage Business cards Brochures Promotion merchandise Website(s) and other electronic media presence

Success Strategies for Business Owners 6 6 Customer Retention Matters ! As your business grows, retaining existing customers is key to success It costs 5 times more to find a new customer than it does to keep one* Loyal customers can refer other customers to your business *Source: Gallup

Success Strategies for Business Owners 7 7 Customer Service Customer service is key to repeat business and is an important part of your Marketing plan. Are the following aspects of your business meeting customers’ expectations? Physical location Phone Your staff Questions, problems, answers Customer feedback Post-sale follow up Customer Service is a key “face” of your business Katrina Markoff

Success Strategies for Business Owners 8 8 Advertising What are the desired outcomes of advertising? Builds awareness Product / Service information Helps customers find you Builds credibility Drives sales

Success Strategies for Business Owners 9 9 Understanding Public Relations Public relations is a means of generating attention from the media or another third party that can be as effective as advertising in building awareness of your business Customers trust what they read in publications or online far more than they trust your ads Jennifer Behar

Success Strategies for Business Owners 10 Writing a Press Release Standard Format Headline Date Summary Body About/Boilerplate Contact Target to Each News/Media Outlet Relevant Topics Timely Interesting Resource Newswire’s PR Toolkit toolkit.prnewswire.com

Success Strategies for Business Owners 11 Press Release Distribution Target publications, reporters and bloggers: release Link to your website Follow up Free press release distribution services: FreePressRelease.com PR.com PRLog.org Chambers of Commerce (for members)

Success Strategies for Business Owners 12 Customer Loyalty Programs Keep customers coming back with loyalty programs that can include: Loyalty cards Geolocation websites Discounts and special offers Events Giveaways What has worked for you? (5 minutes) Atul Patel

Success Strategies for Business Owners 13 Event Marketing Sponsoring an Event Keep your target customer(s) in mind Good promotional tool for businesses with local customers Find of events that match with your business’s offerings and your goals. Options include sports teams, charity events, schools, races, fairs Investigate event organizer To consider: What will you give - how much will it cost? What will you get – make a $$ estimate of future sales

Success Strategies for Business Owners 14 Cause Marketing Cause Marketing (or Relationship Marketing) Using positive publicity, enhancing your brand by affiliating your business with a “cause.” Many customers are conscious of social responsibility Products associated with a good cause see up to a 74 percent boost in sales compared to non-cause- associated products* Women and millennials are especially cause-conscious Key causes: Green, education, disaster relief, disease research

Success Strategies for Business Owners 15 Return on Investment Always assess your ROI (Return on Investment) for your marketing budget Set measurable goals Measure results Marketing effort that generated the sale Survey customers Adjust marketing plan accordingly

Success Strategies for Business Owners 16 Exercise 1 Appropriate promotions for your business? Using the Worksheet in your folder, fill in your Appropriate Promotions for your business. Think about what new promotion strategies may be able to help grow your business? Fill-in your thoughts about the reasons for your selections. Think about: How will this help achieve my goals? How will this reach my target customer/s? Does this fit my budget? Do I have the necessary staff? 10 minutes to work and 10 minutes to discuss 16

Success Strategies for Business Owners 17 Exercise 1 Appropriate promotions for your business? YesPossibleNoWhy? Direct Personal Contacts and Networking Internet Website Handbills and Flyers Ads in Newspapers & Periodicals Handout Brochures and Business Cards Direct Mailing Telephone Solicitation Social Media - Internet Others....

Success Strategies for Business Owners 18 Assessing Your Business The SCORE Business Needs Assessment, it is in your packet. Download at: It will help you assess the current state of your business in 5 key areas: 1. Management 2. Marketing 3. Sales 4. Finance 5. Operations Decide what additional sessions to attend Develop a customized business improvement plan

Success Strategies for Business Owners 19 Business Needs Assessment - Marketing

Success Strategies for Business Owners 20 Help Us, Help You Please fill out the session evaluation form Your feedback is important to help us improve our programs!

Success Strategies for Business Owners 21

Success Strategies for Business Owners 22 Marketing Material Resources Low-Cost Resources: 99Designs.com CrowdSPRING.com Elance.com Freelancer.com Guru.com Inkzoo.com Logoworks.com Marketsplash.com VistaPrint.com

Success Strategies for Business Owners 23 Marketing Resources American Advertising Federation ( American Express OPEN Forum ( American Marketing Association ( Direct Marketing Association ( Larry Chase’s Web Digest for Marketers ( Marketing Hub ( Marketing Plan Pro ( Marketing Profs ( Marketing Research Association ( Marketing Sherpa ( Mobile Marketing Association ( Radio Advertising Bureau ( SCORE (