Cheap Tricks
Feb 1, 2004 12:00 PM,
By Sabrina Mehra
Many small-business owners believe that marketing efforts must be accompanied by a hefty price tag in order to be a success. In truth the only people who truly benefit from those price tags are the advertising people who make a tidy commission. With newspaper ads and TV and radio commercials often priced in the thousands of dollars, many small-business owners would be better served tossing this money into a garbage can for all the difference it makes to their bottom lines. “There is no traditional advertising campaign that will have you stand out and command attention in today’s market,” says Jan Austin, a marketing expert and branding consultant based in Rochester, New York.
However, marketing doesn’t have to cost a bundle of money to be effective. That doesn’t mean successful marketing campaigns can be launched and sustained at absolutely no cost to the integrator; it does mean that the costs of a triumphant campaign can take the form of effort, commitment, sincerity, consistency, passion, and a dollar amount at which most advertising reps would scoff. Before you spend any more money on your own marketing efforts, consider the following low-cost, and highly effective, marketing strategies.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
When you set out to save money on marketing efforts while striving to reach as many people as you would taking out a full-color ad in the paper, you’ve entered into the territory of guerrilla marketing. “Guerrilla marketing is a marketing approach that focuses on low-cost strategies to bring maximum profits,” says Dr. Rachna Jain, a Maryland-based guerrilla-marketing coach. While guerrilla marketers often make use of standard marketing tools like business cards or ads in the yellow pages, Jain says their efforts go beyond what the buying public expects, offering a distinct twist within those traditional channels.
That often means creating the impression that you’re giving away something of value for no cost at all. Jain gives the example of an A/V integrator who uses his or her yellow pages ad to offer a free e-mail report on six mistakes to avoid when installing a high-end video system to anyone who calls and requests it. “It activates the law of reciprocity so that when you as an integrator have given somebody something for free, with the perceived intention that it is only to help them, whenever they decide to move ahead, they are going to think of you more favorably,” says Jain.
As the name itself implies, guerrilla marketing requires a great deal of military-like plotting, the first step of which is to hit upon the marketing message that you want to communicate to your customers. The second step is to integrate that message into everything you do. “I tell my clients to look at guerrilla marketing as increasing the number of times that people have an opportunity to know you,” she says. The more ways you can do it, the easier it is to grow your business.
THE POWER OF THE PRESS
Few guerrilla-marketing efforts provide as great a bang for the buck as commanding media attention. “A lot of marketing, especially advertising, sets bells ringing and lights flashing as far as skepticism goes, but what appears in the news gets believed,” says Jay Levinson, a California-based author and marketing consultant who has written more than 30 books about guerrilla marketing. “It breaks through that barrier, and it is almost automatically believed. I think that adds a lot to a company’s credibility.”
But of all the inexpensive marketing ploys, getting your business noticed by the media is perhaps the most challenging effort to pull off. “The media is hungry for real news, and their challenge is to find things that are real news,” says Levinson. A press-hungry integrator must strive to find something about his or her business that has a news angle. That’s less daunting than it sounds, but it’s a challenge nonetheless. “You have to find something about your company, or do something in creating your company, that will have a news angle to it,” says Levinson, who suggests pitching a story that describes a new offering from a distributor. “Anybody running a business these days has to be on the lookout for the newsiness in what they’re doing.”
But even once you have your story, you have to find someone who’ll listen, and knowing someone in the media on a first-name basis is even more important than having a story idea in mind. “The media is just bombarded with public-relations stories, and it’s hard for them to tell the difference from one to another, even though some may have good news,” says Levinson, who suggests integrators join press clubs or seek out bars and restaurants frequented by members of the media. “That’s why I think it’s important for you to position yourself as a source for the media and then let them know that you’re going to be a source for further information as time goes on.” The latter is perhaps the best position of all: instead of chasing them with press releases and phone calls, media members can start contacting you for news items.
HELPING OTHERS TO HELP YOURSELF
People would much rather do business with friends than with strangers, and getting involved in charitable work is an inexpensive way to assert yourself as a friend. “Once people get working with their community, for their community, they separate themselves from the ranks of strangers,” says Levinson. Getting involved in your community doesn’t simply mean signing up for committees or paying for your name to appear on a jersey, according to Levinson; it means being so devoted in what you’re doing for the community that you’re proving your conscientiousness with your deeds much more than you ever could with any marketing.
David Katz is certainly passionate about his community work. Each year the owner of A/V Davey Audio Visuals in Bridgeport, Connecticut, selects a nonprofit to which he provides rental and staging services at no charge. Katz considers this relationship to be mutually beneficial; to be considered for pro bono services, nonprofits must prove to Katz how a relationship of this magnitude will benefit A/V Davey. “We make those decisions based on the promotional considerations that are offered to us,” says Katz. “Who is running the event? Is it a celebrity? What advertising vehicles will you use to advertise our company? Will our name appear on a T-shirt? Will there be events previous to the event where we can promote ourselves?”
New business usually springs from these annual efforts; many of his pro bono clients go on to become regular customers the following year, because A/V Davey offers a 40 to 60 percent discount to nonprofits not selected for the annual giving. “When you pull a thorn out of a nonprofit’s paw, they never forget it,” says Katz. “You’ve got a lifelong friend, and a friend will talk about you to other friends and say, ‘You should give this guy a call because he’s helped us out.’”
BRAND BUILDING
While brand names are more easily associated with the rich and famous, systems integrators are just as capable of developing brand identities as celebrities, says Austin, author of the book Harnessing Personal Brand Power. Brand identities are among the most powerful marketing tools: if an integrator can build a reputation for a talent — a brand promise — then his or her name will come to mind when those services are required. Developing a brand name may seem to be a rather lofty exercise for a small business, but its success depends not on money but on ambition and attitude.
Integrators must consider the needs of the target audience and always keep those requirements in mind. Because their target audience comprises generally sophisticated buyers (individuals who research products, are not easily swayed by advertising campaigns, and value peace of mind and customization when purchasing home theaters), integrators should aim to build brand identities with their customers’ needs in mind. “What really will make you stand out is your ability to take your expertise and combine that with an active imagination of what’s possible for your clients,” says Austin.
Brand identities require brand messengers to support them; brand messengers can include everything from the font on your business card to the way in which you deliver information. A/V Davey’s brand identity has been built on an aviation concept that Katz hopes makes his customers excited to do business with him. “I wanted something that’s really going to make it fun for my customers to really be involved with my company,” says Katz. “We have aviation collectibles in our demonstration area, our phone message system has an aviation theme, and I’m planning to move the company to an airport.”
Although it’s the responsibility of the integrator to behave with brand identity in mind, just how the brand develops is out of his or her hands. “While everything you say and everything you do is vitally important to your brand, you don’t brand yourself,” says Austin. “Your audience brands you, for better or for worse. So it isn’t an overnight phenomenon, but the neat thing about it is if you’re conscious and intentional, it’s always working for you.”
Because brand building begins with a promise, you must be prepared to keep that promise. “A brand is nothing if it’s not its promises,” says Austin. “If it’s not delivered consistently on its promises, that brand is gone, and we can point to things that have occurred in the news about brands whose promises have been broken, whose customers have wavered in their belief, and whose staying power has been damaged because of bad publicity.”
SMART PARTNERING
Want to multiply the number of times and ways you credibly reach your market while reducing your overhead? If you’re willing to work side by side with a noncompeting business in a cross-promotional relationship, you’ll undoubtedly accomplish just that.
“Cross-promoting means you’re joining forces with other businesses, nonprofits, or even government entities that also reach and serve the same market as you, so it’s going after the same market better, together,” says Kare Anderson, author of Walk the Talk: Grow Your Business Faster Through Successful Cross-Promotional Relationships. “It’s smart partnering.”
These smart partnerships can take the form of mutually produced handbills and counter displays, gift certificate exchange programs, jointly hosted educational seminars, and discounts to customers referred through the cross-promotional partner. You can execute cross-promotions on a tiny budget, but don’t expect small results. Cross-promotions are known to work largely because referred clients are more than willing to take the advice of businesses they regard as friends.
Like all relationships, communication and commitment are essential to making cross-promotional relationships work. “We need to be able to bring out the best in each other,” says Anderson. “In other words, it’s when I get specific and say to you, ‘Here are some ideas that will help us both.’ That’s going to help you, and that’s what it’s about.”
When working with a cross-promotional partner for the first time, it’s wise to start with a small promotion; if it doesn’t work out, little has been lost. It’s also not a good idea to enter into a relationship with businesses that have a reputation that isn’t as good as yours.
LITTLE MONEY, BIG IMPACT
Although it’s true that promotion is key in turning potential clients into paying customers, integrators need not spend much more than their own time and energy to successfully market their systems integration services.
Sabrina Mehrais president of InkSpill Media Services, an editorial firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mehra is a writer, columnist, and marketing consultant, and she can be reached at[email protected].
More Cheap Tricks
If you operate out of a car or truck, paint a message on the side that offers a small discount to anyone who calls in and says they saw your vehicle. Potential clients will be motivated by the offer, and you’ve offered it to them at little cost to yourself.
Use your promotional literature to suggest any kinds of bonuses you offer and include free advice about things like potential configurations and everyday equipment maintenance. That gives the sense of added value to the potential client and builds credibility. Also, printed materials don’t have to cost thousands of dollars to produce. These days a sturdy desktop printer can churn out quality brochures, flyers, and leaflets.
In addition, don’t keep your work private. Make sure your friends, neighbors, and families — even people you run into time and again at the gym, grocery store, or car wash — know about the work you do.
Stop the Presses
Want to grab, sustain, and milk media attention? Try these tips.
- Offer to provide the perspective of a local integrator for articles about the economy or how a new piece of legislation will affect small-business owners.
- Write your press release as you’d like the story to appear; that means writing in the third person and making sure to include the who, what, where, when, and why. Don’t forget to provide detailed contact information, including your evening phone number — many newsrooms are 24-hour operations.
- If your article appears, make numerous copies and include them as part of your brochure and other marketing efforts. “Many people glow the day a story appears, but then the glow fades because nothing is as dead as yesterday’s newspaper,” says Levinson. “Serious guerrilla marketers make copies of their stories, and these stories have a long, long life.”
Get Involved
By helping your community, you can reap tremendous benefits.
- Avoid politically charged causes.
- Can’t think of a cause that grabs your attention? Contact your local chamber of commerce or city council to find out about the specific needs in your community.
- If you’re sponsoring, organizing, or participating in a community event, send out a press release a couple weeks in advance that, in addition to the event information, includes an explanation of why you became involved. Also, send out a press release once the event is over.
- Develop a giving policy, which could include an outline of what form of help you intend to offer to nonprofits and how much you’re prepared to give.
