Tips for marketing your small business

There are several highly effective marketing tips, that work especially well, for small businesses. Here are few tips for marketing your small business-

• Add to your outgoing mail-It is fairly simple to put in one of your catalogs, your latest ad, or just a flyer, in any mail that you send out. Best of all this should cost you anything additional (besides the cost of the add-in) and you best of all you may be able to reach a whole new part of your market that you were unaware of.
• Have a special event-To many small businesses think that they cannot afford a special event. However, this has been shown to a highly effective way to market your business. You can use your own facility, open your doors and invite your potential customers in for an open house, informative seminar, or special by invitation only sale. However, marketing experts advice that if you are hosting a seminar, that you should charge a small fee, or require RSVP since many people think that this shows more value.
• Follow-up with customers, immediately after they have made a purchase-Its not secret that your customers will be most happy right after they have a bought something from you, in addition, they will also be more likely to return to make a purchase as well. You can help promote this return behavior by sending a thank you note, for their business and including a coupon. You should include an expiration date in order to create a sense of urgency.
• Consider using cooperative marketing-Small businesses can often work together to make their marketing dollars stretch further. For example-You could include the brochure or business card of another business, (who will do the same for you), in their marketing. This gives you a chance to reach another part of the market. Keep in mind that this often works best, when used by businesses that have compatible products or services.
• Mail out postcards-Postcards often work very well in marketing, for the following reasons: those who receive postcards, will often take the time to read the message, while companies who send them can do so in a cost effective way that often gets a big return. Studies have shown that a small ad that is printed on a postcard, if it is done correctly can have the effect of driving a large volume of business to your web site or store, for very little money being spent.
• Use a social media site-The new frontier of marketing, for businesses of every size is on the internet. However, social media sites can provide several benefits to smaller businesses, since it cost the same (little or nothing), for a business or any size to market on these sites. Just make sure that you are using a social media site where your target market is most likely to be.

As a final note, it is important to realize that no one marketing strategy works all the time, for every company. Because of this is it crucial to make sure that you are keeping your marketing plan, fresh and interesting, by moving around marketing strategies and mixing up your marketing approach. Remember that your customers will quickly tire of you, if you simply trot out the same old marketing approach, year after year. Remember that you need to keep your marketing fresh and interesting, for both your company and your customers. There really is not limit to the creativity you can apply to your marketing. Just make sure that you have a clear and concise plan, for how you will effectively reach your target market. You should also make sure that you incorporate any feedback or comments that you get from your customers, about your marketing. Your customers can often be your biggest resource when it comes to marketing your small business.