Small Business Marketing Kit For Dummies

Barbara Findlay Schenck has been a marketing consultant for more than 20 years, with clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. In addition to her experience as a small business strategist, she's also a bestselling author and nationally syndicated columnist. Visit her website at www.bizstrong.com.

• Introduction 1About This Book 2What You’re Not to Read 2Foolish Assumptions 3How This Book Is Organized 3Part I: Getting Your Marketing Bearings 3Part II: Laying the Foundation for Marketing Success 4Part III: Marketing in a Screen-Connected World 4Part IV: Getting the Word Out with Ads,Mailers, Promotions, and Publicity 4Part V: Winning and Keeping Customers 5Part VI: The Part of Tens 5Icons Used in This Book 5Where to Go from Here 6Part I: Getting Your Marketing Bearings 7Chapter 1: Framing the Marketing Process 9Seeing the Big Picture 10Following the marketing wheel of fortune 10Understanding the relationship between marketing and sales 12Jump-Starting Your Marketing Program 13Marketing a start-up business 13Growing your business 14Scaling your marketing to meet your goal 14How Small Business Marketing Is Different 15Dollar differences 15Staffing differences 15Creative differences 16Strategic differences 16The small business marketing advantage 16Making Marketing Your Key to Success 17Chapter 2: All about Customers 19Anatomy of a Customer 20Collecting customer information 20Geographics: Locating your market areas 24Demographics: Collecting customer data 25Psychographics: Customer buying behaviors 27Determining Which Customers Buy What 29Viewing your sales by market segment 29Matching customers with distribution channels 31Catering to screen-connected customers 33Forms 34Chapter 3: Seeing Your Product through Your Customers’ Eyes 35Getting to Know Your Product 35When service is your product 36Your product is what Google says it is 38Illogical, Irrational, and Real Reasons People Buy What You Sell 38Buying Decisions: Rarely about Price, Always about Value 39Calculating the value formula 40Riding the price/value teeter-totter 41Evaluating your pricing 42Raising prices 43Presenting prices 43The Care and Feeding of a Product Line 44Enhancing the appeal of existing products 45Raising a healthy product 46Developing new products 47Managing your product offerings 49Forms 51Chapter 4: Sizing Up Competitors and Staking Out Market Share 53Playing the Competitive Field 53Speaking the language of competition 54Knowing what you’re up against 55Understanding how to compete 56Winning Your Share of the Market 56Defining your direct competition 56Moving up the competitive ladder 58Calculating Your Market Share 59Sizing up your target market 59Doing the math 59Increasing Your Market Share 61Forms 62Chapter 5: Setting Your Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Budgets 63Where Are You Going, Anyway? 64The “vision” thing 64Your statement of purpose 65Success stories 65Defining Goals and Objectives Simply 66Setting goals and objectives 67Planning strategies 68Putting goals, objectives, and strategies into action 68Following the fail-safe planning sequence 70Budgeting to Reach Your Goals 70Realistic talk about small business marketing budgets 71How much should you be spending? 71Forms 74Part II: Laying the Foundation for Marketing Success 75Chapter 6: Taking Stock of Your Business Image 77Making First Impressions 77Encountering your business through online searches 79Arriving at your website 80Managing e-mail impressions 81Arriving by telephone 82Approaching your business in person 84Auditing the Impressions Your Business Makes 87Surveying your marketing materials and communications 88Creating an impression inventory 89Improving the impressions you’re making 90Forms 90Chapter 7: Forging Your Brand 91What Brands Are and Do 91Unlocking the power and value of a brand 92Tipping the balance online 93Building a Powerful Brand 93Being consistent to power your brand 95Taking six brand-management steps 95Your Market Position: The Birthplace of Your Brand 97Seeing how positioning happens 97Determining your positioning strategy 98Conveying Your Position and Brand through Taglines 99Balancing Personal and Business Brands 101Maintaining and Protecting Your Brand 102Staying consistent with your brand message and creative strategy 102Controlling your brand presentation 104Forms 106Chapter 8: Creating Marketing Communications That Work 107Starting with Good Objectives 108Defining what you want to accomplish 108Putting creative directions in writing 109Developing Effective Marketing Communications 114Steering the creative process toward a “big idea” 115Brainstorming 116Following simple advertising rules 117Making Media Selections 118Selecting from the media menu 118Deciding which media vehicles to use and when 119The Making of a Mass Media Schedule 121Balancing reach and frequency 121Timing your ads 123Evaluating Your Efforts 123Forms 124Chapter 9: Hiring Help When You Need It 125Reaching Out to Marketing Pros 125When to bring in marketing experts 126Who to call for help 126What kind of expertise to hire 127Choosing and Working with an Agency 128Requesting agency proposals 129Interviewing agencies 130Preparing the client-agency agreement 131Understanding agency fees 132Working with your agency 133Hiring Help for Website Creation 134Looking for help 134Getting clear about your needs 135Interviewing website designers 136Finalizing your choice 137Handing off the content 138Forms 138Part III: Marketing in a Screen-Connected World 139Chapter 10: Establishing an Online Presence 141Pulling People to Your Business Online 141Setting Your Goals for Online Visibility 143Claiming Your Online Identity 143Registering for a domain name 144Reserving your social media user name 145Establishing Your Online Home Base 146Website basics 147Contact sites 147Brochure sites 148Support sites 148Lead-generating sites 148Mobile websites 148E-commerce sites 150Building Your Site 151Cracking the site-building code 151Incorporating attributes of a good site 152Optimizing your site for search engines 154Evaluating the strength of your site 155Promoting your site 156Advertising Online 157Banner ads 157Pay per click (PPC) ads 157Forms 158Chapter 11: Getting Interactive with Social Media 159Benefiting from Social Media Activity 160Getting Started in Four Necessary Steps 1601. Define your objectives 1602. Choose the name you’ll use across all social media networks 1613. Develop your social media introduction 1624. Set up an online home base 163Diving into Social Media 163Facebook 164Twitter 166LinkedIn 168Google+ 169Pinterest 169Location-based and check-in sites 170Rating and review sites 171Announcing Your Social Media Debut 173Keeping Your Social Media Efforts Active and Engaging 174Sharing content 174Becoming a content conduit 175Getting conversational 176Keeping an Eye on How You’re Doing 176Monitoring your social media mentions 176Measuring your social media effectiveness 177Forms 178Chapter 12: Packaging Your Message forBlogs and Other Online Channels 179Joining the 200-Million Blog Contingent 180Who blogs? 180Why blog? 180Launching a Blog 181Getting started 182Committing to a blog 183Crafting your blog-post approach 185Using blog posts as the backbone of your online content-distribution strategy 187Adding video to blog posts 188Cross-Promoting Off-line and Online Content 189Turning news into content 190Giving long life to presentations 190Forms 191Part IV: Getting the Word Out with Ads, Mailers, Promotions, and Publicity 193Chapter 13: Creating and Placing Print and Outdoor Ads 195Writing and Designing Your Ads 196Packing power into headlines 196Writing convincing copy 198Making design decisions 199Translating ad production terminology 201Making Sense of Print Media Rates 202Placing Newspaper Ads 203Scheduling your placements 204Using small-budget, small-size ads 204Requesting your ad placement 205Finding value in the classified section 206Placing Magazine Ads 206Selecting magazines 207Scheduling placements 207Considering Yellow Pages, Directories, and Their Digital Alternatives 209Creating and placing print directory ads 210Getting found in online directories 211Using Billboards and Out-of-Home Ads 211Chapter 14: Broadcasting Your Message on Radio, TV, and Online 213A Guide to Buying Airtime 214Knowing some station and ad-buying terminology 214Achieving broadcast reach, frequency, and rating points 216Bartering for airtime 218Broadcast Ad Guidelines 219Establishing your own broadcast identity 219Writing your ad 219Turning your script over to the producers 220Producing Radio Ads 221Producing TV Ads 222Hiring professionals 223Airing preproduced manufacturer ads 223Considering Infomercials 224Logging In to Webinars 225Forms 226Chapter 15: Snail-Mailing and E-Mailing Your Customers Directly 227Using One-to-One Marketing 228Direct Sales: Do-It-Yourself Distribution 228Marketing with Direct Mailers 230Setting up for success with direct mail 230Deciding between e-mail and “going postal” 231Making your offer 232Personalizing your mailer 233Putting Surface Direct Mail to Work 234Developing a great list 234Creating your mailer 237Sending your mailers 237Following up 239Keeping your list current 240Knowing the difference between direct mail and junk mail 241E-mail Marketing 241Keeping your e-mail legal and welcome 242Rating your e-mail marketing 242Sending e-mail that gets read and gets results 243Forms 244Chapter 16: Brochures, Promotions, Trade Shows, and More 245Publishing Brochures 245Differentiating types of brochures 246Copywriting 248Designing and printing brochures 249Getting brochures into the marketplace 251Making the Most of Newsletters 252Planning your newsletters 252Packing newsletters with useful content 253Producing and circulating e-newsletters 254Finding Marketing Opportunities throughout Your Business 257Turning your packages into ad vehicles 257Building business with gift certificates 257Getting good use out of business cards 258Making the most of advertising specialties 259Choosing and Using Trade Shows 260Building Sales through Promotions 261Forms 263Chapter 17: Public Relations and Publicity 265The Relationship between Public Relations and Publicity 265Taking a wide-angle view of public relations 266Focusing on publicity 267Becoming a News Source 267Creating a media kit and online media center 267Establishing and maintaining an all-important list of media contacts 268Getting real with publicity expectations 270Spreading Your News 271Preparing news releases 272Managing media interviews 278Staging news conferences — or not 279Crisis Communications: Dealing with Bad News 280Forms 280Part V: Winning and Keeping Customers 281Chapter 18: Making Impressions through Networking and Presentations 283Building a Far-Reaching Network 283Making Introductions 285Introducing yourself 285Introducing your business 286Polishing Your Presentation 288Stepping up to the microphone 288Presenting your proposal or product 289Forms 293Chapter 19: Making the Sale 295Turning Prospects into Customers 295Navigating the Sale Process 298Selling redefined 299Getting off to a good start 300Negotiating mutually agreeable solutions 302Watching for buying signals 304Asking for the order 305Making buying easy 305Chapter 20: Enhancing CustomerService and Developing Loyalty 307What Customers Want 307The Fundamentals of Customer Service 308Mastering the service cycle 308Evaluating and improving service levels 309Cultivating “best customers” 310Creating a customer service environment 312Dealing with Concerns and Complaints 313Understanding why customers don’t complain 313Encouraging complaints 313Reading customer clues to dissatisfaction 314Turning complaints into loyalty springboards 314Making Loyal Customers for Life 315Valuing your customers 316Benchmarking satisfaction levels and cultivating loyalty 317Closing the quality gap 320Building loyalty through service 320Launching loyalty programs 321Forms 322Part VI: The Part of Tens 323Chapter 21: Ten Questions to Answer before Choosing a Business Name 325What Kind of Name Do You Want? 325Is the Name You Want Available? 326Is It Easy to Spell? 326Is It Easy to Say? 327Is It Original in Your Market Area? 327Is It Unconventional? 327Does It Work in Markets Far and Wide? 327Is It Memorable? 328Can You Live and Grow with This Name? 328Are You Ready to Commit to the Name? 328Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Attract People to Your Business Online 329Commit to Becoming Findable Online 329Set a Goal for Your Online Activity 330Decide on Your Online Identity 330Establish Your Online Introduction 331Stake an Online Home Base 331Build an Online Media Center 332Get Active Across Social Media 332Develop a Content-Sharing Program 333Monitor Your Online Reputation 333Get and Stay Active Online 334Chapter 23: Ten Steps to a Great Marketing Plan 335Step 1: State Your Business Purpose 336Step 2: Analyze Your Market Situation 336Step 3: Set Goals and Objectives 336Step 4: Define Your Market 337Step 5: Advance Your Position, Brand, and Creative Strategy 337Step 6: Set Your Marketing Strategies 338Step 7: Outline Your Tactics 338Step 8: Establish Your Budget 339Step 9: Blueprint Your Action Plan 340Step 10: Think Long Term 340One Final Step: Use Your Plan 340Appendix: About the Downloadable Content 341Index 347