NFIB

Marketing Strategies for Quick Sales
03/ 14/ 2002

These days small businesses need to maximize every advertising dollar they spend--and they usually need to see quick results from the advertising. With fears that the slowing economy may disrupt future cash flows, the owners of many small companies are considering reducing their ad budgets. This, however, is usually not an option for growing companies. Instead, they need to focus on types of advertising that are the most likely to immediately increase sales volume. Jeffrey Moses explains how in today's Workshop.

Advertising that targets potential customers based on their demographics generally brings the quickest results. It's easy to spend thousands of dollars a month on general TV ads, but they reach a wide variety of people, only some of who may be potential customers. The same amount of money put into more targeted advertising could generate much higher sales volumes.

Here are three simple ways to target customers and produce results:

1. Market to previous customers.

People always tend to gravitate to the familiar. If customers were satisfied with their shopping experience, they are likely to buy from you again. Therefore, former customers are your most highly targeted market segment.

In order to market to previous customers, you need to have information on them. Keep notes on customers that include things such as items/services purchased, additional products or services you discussed with them, items that they would like to see in your inventory and notable preferences or hobbies that pertain to your business.

The most effective way to contact previous customers is by mail. Give the customers an incentive to come to your store like a special sale, information about products of interest to them or coupons.

2. Send direct mail to potential customers.

Direct mail offers the opportunity to carefully target potential customers. Lists can be purchased from mailing-list vendors based on extremely narrow, targeted interest groups. You can also use the Yellow Pages to create your own highly targeted list of businesses that are potential customers.

When mailing to residences, it's probably not appropriate to follow up with a phone call. But when mailing to businesses, a follow-up call by your sales staff should always be made. A call is usually most effective about two to three days after the mailing has been received.

When considering the actual cost per person contacted, a direct mail campaign is the most expensive type of advertising. But the highly targeted nature of the advertising may make it the most cost-effective, based on dollar volume of sales generated per dollar spent on the campaign.

3. Advertise geographically.

In certain instances, geographic advertising can be highly effective and extremely cost effective. For instance, a new bagel shop could spread the message of its arrival by hiring people to place flyers on cars in nearby parking lots announcing the shop's Grand Opening and offering discounts for breakfast specials. Geographic ads can be successfully placed in local newspapers that circulate within certain defined areas of a city, or in Marketplace sections of newspapers that feature shops of certain areas. Since people in a specific geographic area will be most likely to frequent a nearby shop, such advertising can be highly targeted and may result in an immediate increase in business. If you live in a larger city, this type of advertising is more cost effective than buying ads in the city's major newspaper.

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