Thursday, February 12, 2015

Creative Marketing Ideas For Small Businesses

Creative marketing ideas can increase small-business profits.


Small business does not mean small ideas or visions, but it usually does indicate a small budget for marketing expenses. Successful businesses are able to target new customers and increase business from existing customers through a mixture of creative marketing ideas and routine communications. Maximize your marketing budget through inexpensive marketing ideas that can increase sales, establish new customer connections and encourage repeat business.


Greeting Card


Send a greeting card to your best customers for their birthdays, anniversaries or on holidays. It makes your business memorable. Customers are likely to open greeting cards as they do not appear to be advertising or marketing messages. Personalize the greetings and offer purchase discounts. Send the cards in sufficient time to allow them to use the discount. Tie the greeting card distribution to a relevant holiday for maximum benefit. For example, a restaurant could send a card for St. Patrick's Day and offer diners a holiday dining coupon. A financial services company could send a card for Tax Freedom Day and encourage clients to schedule early meetings on tax strategies.


Extend Employee Discounts


Contact local businesses with a significant number of employees. Offer to provide your employee discount rate to the company's employees. Request that the company add a note about your offer in its in-house newsletter, via an all-staff email or on its intranet. The company can offer a free benefit to its employees while your small business receives an inexpensive, targeted advertising campaign. Whenever possible, offer to deliver products to employees at their office or provide special service hours that work with the company's calendar.


Newspaper Promotions


Obtain local media coverage in the local newspaper. Most business sections offer a local focus that highlights recent promotions and hiring appointments and profiles businesses for special events or creative solutions. Send these blurbs to the newspaper and contact the business section editor to suggest your business as a good candidate for a profile. Pitch your company's tie to a local charity, locally sourced products, green initiatives or any other twist to get the story out there.


Sponsor an Organization


Offer to sponsor a local school's band, a local fair or a community service organization. Create a shopping day or period where part of the profits with be donated to the organization. This marketing strategy can help increase the profile of your business in the community and entice new customers to your store or location. Request to advertise your promotion in the school newspaper, on the organization's website or other appropriate advertising media.

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