Small Business Marketing for Dummies 2nd Edition

374 Pages·2008·2.84 MB·English

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Small Business
Marketing
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
2
ND EDITION
by Barbara Findlay Schenck
Marketing Consultant
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Small Business Marketing For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
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About the Author
Barbara Findlay Schenckbuilt her career matching products to markets,
which is what marketing — and what this book — is all about.
Her involvement in the field began in the University of Oregon public relations
office, where she developed an interest in marketing that she has followed lit-
erally around the world. She graduated with a degree in English from Oregon
State University and immediately moved to Hawaii, where she became direc-
tor of admissions and instructor of writing at a small private college on Oahu
before joining the staff of Honolulu’s largest public relations firm.
In 1978 she and her husband, Peter, left Hawaii for a village on the South China
Sea, where for two years they managed a development program for the Peace
Corps in Malaysia.
In 1980, they returned to their home state of Oregon and founded an advertis-
ing agency, attracting a clientele that included ski and golf resorts, banks,
apparel and equipment manufacturers, the state’s tourism, lottery, and job
training divisions, and a good number of small and larger-sized businesses
that provided the wealth of hands-on experience reflected in this book.
In 1995, they sold the agency and moved with their son to Italy, where Barbara
began work on several book projects. In 2000, she co-wrote Portraits of Guilt,
the Edgar Award-nominated memoir of internationally recognized criminal
investigative artist Jeanne Boylan. In 2001, she authored the first edition of
Small Business Marketing For Dummies, which Business Weekpraised for pre-
senting “marketing issues as real-world problems with real-world solutions.”
Today, she’s still forming her thoughts into headlines, news releases, and
marketing plans, but on a more relaxed schedule. In addition to writing, she
offers marketing presentations and workshops. Contact her by writing
[email protected].
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Author’s Acknowledgments
As I finish this second, updated edition of Small Business Marketing For
Dummies, my gratitudereaches back to all those who helped bring the book
into existence the first time round, and it spins forward to the current long
list of those who helped me overhaul the contents to incorporate the rapid-
fire changes that affect today’s business world.
As in the first edition, my greatest thanks goes to Peter, my husband, collabo-
rator, and best friend, and to our son Matthew, who bails me out with com-
puter advice and, increasingly, with marketing wisdom gleaned from his own
ascent in the business world.
My longtime and treasured business associates and friends Kathy DeGree and
Meaghan Ryan Houska win heaps of appreciation for the resources, perspec-
tive, and enthusiasm they’ve shared throughout this and every other project
we’ve undertaken together.
Revising this book to address the technical realities of today’s world required
current, hands-on expertise, and I am deeply indebted to our hometown
newspaper, The Bulletin, for providing help without limit as I prepared the
chapters on media buying and public relations. Likewise, I’m grateful to the
team at Alpine Internet Solutions who shared hours reviewing the online mar-
keting advice included in Chapter 16.
Brad Hill, author of Building Your Business with Google For Dummiesdidn’t
think twice before responding to my call for help. The same is doubly true for
Jim Schell, author of Small Business For Dummies,with whom I’m fortunate to
work on an ongoing basis.
In the first edition I wrote that my book’s editorial team, led by editor Norm
Crampton, “would make any author wish for an encore performance.” This
edition is proof that wishes come true. This time, thanks goes to Acquisitions
Editor Kathy Cox (a champion), Project Editor Corbin Collins (I still can’t
believe my luck that someone with his talent edited this book), and Technical
Reviewer Kimberly McCall, the Marketing Angel referred to us by the wonder-
ful editors at Entrepreneur magazine.
Finally and most sincerely, my gratitude in life begins and ends with my par-
ents, Walt and Julie Findlay, and the best three sisters ever put on this earth.
Thank you all.
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Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration
form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition
Media Development
Project Coordinator: Adrienne Martinez
Project Editor: Corbin Collins
Layout and Graphics: Lauren Goddard,
(Previous Edition: Norm Crampton) BarryOffringa, Lynsey Osborn,
MelaneePrendergast, Jacque Roth,
Acquisitions Editor: Kathy Cox
Julie Trippetti, MaryGillot Virgin
Copy Editor: Corbin Collins
Proofreaders: Leeann Harney,
Assistant Editor: Holly Gastineau-Grimes Jessica Kramer, Carl William Pierce,
Technical Editor: Kimberly L. McCall TECHBOOKS Production Services
Editorial Manager: Carmen Krikorian Indexer: TECHBOOKS Production Services
Editorial Assistants: Courtney Allen,
NadineBell
Cartoons: Rich Tennant, www.the5thwave.com
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies
Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel
Brice Gosnell, Associate Publisher, Travel
Kelly Regan,Editorial Director, Travel
Publishing for Technology Dummies
Andy Cummings,Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey,Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey,Director of Composition Services
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction.................................................................1
Part I: Getting Started in Marketing .............................5
Chapter 1: A Helicopter View of the Marketing Process ..............................................7
Chapter 2: All About Customers.....................................................................................17
Chapter 3: Seeing Your Product through Your Customers’ Eyes ..............................33
Chapter 4: Sizing Up Competitors and Staking Out Market Share ............................49
Chapter 5: Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Budgets ...............................................61
Part II: Sharpening Your Marketing Focus ...................73
Chapter 6: Projecting the Right Image ..........................................................................75
Chapter 7: Establishing Your Position and Brand .......................................................89
Chapter 8: Getting Strategic before Getting Creative ...............................................103
Chapter 9: Hiring Help for Your Marketing Program ................................................113
Part III: Creating and Placing Ads ............................133
Chapter 10: Mastering Advertising Basics and Media Planning ..............................135
Chapter 11: Creating Print Ads ....................................................................................155
Chapter 12: Broadcasting Ads on Radio and TV .......................................................173
Part IV: Getting the Word Out without Advertising .....189
Chapter 13: Mailing Direct to Your Market .................................................................191
Chapter 14: Brochures, Promotions, Trade Shows, and More ................................211
Chapter 15: Public Relations and Publicity ................................................................231
Chapter 16: Tapping the Internet’s Marketing Power ...............................................247
Part V: Winning and Keeping Customers ....................273
Chapter 17: Making the Sale .........................................................................................275
Chapter 18: Enhancing Customer Service .................................................................289
Chapter 19: Fortifying Customer Relationships ........................................................303
Part VI: The Part of Tens ..........................................317
Chapter 20: Ten Questions to Ask Before You Choose a Name ...............................319
Chapter 21: Ten Ideas to Embrace and Ten to Avoid ................................................325
Chapter 22: Ten Steps to a Great Marketing Plan ......................................................331
Appendix: Where to Find More Information ................337
Index.......................................................................341
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Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................1
How to Know That This Book Is for You ......................................................1
How to Use This Book ....................................................................................2
How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................2
Part I: Getting Started in Marketing ....................................................2
Part II: Sharpening Your Marketing Focus ..........................................3
Part III: Creating and Placing Ads ........................................................3
Part IV: Getting the Word Out without Advertising ..........................3
Part V: Winning and Keeping Customers ...........................................3
Part VI: The Part of Tens ......................................................................4
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................4
Ready, Set, Go! .................................................................................................4
Part I: Getting Started in Marketing ..............................5
Chapter 1: A Helicopter View of the Marketing Process . . . . . . . . . . .7
Seeing the Big Picture .....................................................................................8
The marketing wheel of fortune .........................................................8
Marketing and sales are not synonymous .........................................9
Jumpstarting Your Marketing Program ......................................................10
Marketing a start-up business ..........................................................11
Marketing to grow your business ......................................................12
Scaling your program to meet your goal ..........................................12
How Small Business Marketing Is Different ...............................................13
Dollar differences ................................................................................13
Staffing differences ..............................................................................13
Creative differences ............................................................................13
Strategic differences ...........................................................................14
The small business marketing advantage ........................................14
Making Marketing Your Key to Success .....................................................15
Chapter 2: All About Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Anatomy of a Customer ................................................................................18
Collecting information about your customer ..................................18
Geographics: Locating your market areas .......................................22
Demographics: Collecting data to define your market ...................23
Psychographics: Customer buying behaviors .................................24
Using customer profiles to guide marketing decisions ..................26
Determining Which Customers Buy What .................................................26
Viewing your sales by market segment ............................................27
Tracing your distribution channels ..................................................29
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Chapter 3: Seeing Your Product through Your Customers’ Eyes . . . .33
In a Service Business, Service Is the Product ............................................34
Telling “Just the Facts” about What You Sell .............................................34
Tallying your sales by product line ...................................................35
Using the cash register to steer your business ...............................36
Illogical, Irrational, and Real Reasons People Buy What You Sell ...........37
Buying Decisions Are Rarely about Price, Always about Value ..............38
The value formula ...............................................................................38
Riding the price/value teeter-totter ..................................................40
Pricing considerations ........................................................................41
Presenting prices .................................................................................41
The Care and Feeding of Your Product Line ..............................................43
Enhancing the appeal of existing products ......................................44
Even products have life cycles ..........................................................45
Raising a healthy product ..................................................................45
Developing new products ...................................................................46
Chapter 4: Sizing Up Competitors and Staking Out Market Share . . .49
Playing the Competitive Field ......................................................................50
The terminology of competition ........................................................50
Knowing what you’re up against .......................................................52
How businesses compete ...................................................................53
Winning Your Share of the Market ..............................................................53
Defining your direct competition ......................................................54
Moving up the competitive ladder ....................................................55
Calculating Your Market Share ....................................................................56
Sizing up your target market ..............................................................56
Doing the math ....................................................................................57
Increasing Your Market Share ......................................................................59
Chapter 5: Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Budgets . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Where Are You Going, Anyway? ..................................................................62
The “vision” thing ................................................................................62
Developing your statement of purpose ............................................63
Success stories ....................................................................................63
Goals and Objectives Defined Simply .........................................................64
Setting goals and objectives ..............................................................65
Setting strategies .................................................................................66
Goals, objectives, and strategies in action ......................................66
The failsafe planning sequence .........................................................68
Budgeting to Reach Your Goals ...................................................................68
Realistic talk about small business marketing budgets .................68
How much should you be spending? ................................................69
Budgeting considerations ..................................................................70
Why a static budget is headed downhill ..........................................71
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Table of Contents
Part II: Sharpening Your Marketing Focus ....................73
Chapter 6: Projecting the Right Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Making First Impressions .............................................................................75
Arriving by telephone .........................................................................76
Approaching your business in person ..............................................78
Online encounters ...............................................................................82
Creating an Impression Inventory ..............................................................85
Rating Your Marketing Communications ...................................................87
Chapter 7: Establishing Your Position and Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Brands Live in the Minds of Customers .....................................................90
You can have a powerful brand without having a power brand ...90
Consistency builds brands .................................................................91
Branding makes selling easier ...........................................................91
An essential online ingredient ...........................................................92
Six steps to brand management ........................................................92
Filling a Meaningful Market Position ..........................................................94
How positioning happens ...................................................................94
Determining your positioning strategy ............................................95
Conveying Your Position and Brand through Tag Lines ..........................96
Advancing Your Brand through a Creative Strategy .................................98
Writing your creative strategy ...........................................................98
Using your creative strategy ..............................................................99
Writing Your Image Style Guide ...................................................................99
Controlling your logo presentation .................................................100
Deciding on your type style .............................................................100
Copy guidelines .................................................................................101
Chapter 8: Getting Strategic before Getting Creative . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Good Communications Start with Good Objectives ...............................103
Putting an end to shot-in-the-dark marketing instructions ..........104
Dodging the creative landmines ......................................................104
Deciding on a Goal for Every Single Marketing Communication ..........105
Writing a Creative Brief ..............................................................................105
Targeting your market ......................................................................106
Dealing with prospect perceptions .................................................107
Stating your desired outcome .........................................................107
Conveying benefits versus features ................................................109
Naming your “have-to-haves” ..........................................................110
Deciding how you’ll measure success ............................................110
Specifying your specifications .........................................................111
Chapter 9: Hiring Help for Your Marketing Program . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Can You Afford to Hire Professional Help? ..............................................114
Knowing When It’s Time to Get Help ........................................................115
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Where to Turn for Help ..............................................................................116
Tapping in-house talent ....................................................................116
Using free or almost-free resources ................................................117
Hiring marketing professionals .......................................................118
Choosing and Working with an Advertising Agency ...............................120
Defining your selection criteria .......................................................120
Creating your agency short list .......................................................121
Requesting proposals .......................................................................122
Agency presentations and interviews ............................................123
Putting the client-agency agreement in writing .............................124
Understanding how agency fees are calculated ............................126
Working with your agency ................................................................127
Hiring Help for Web Site Design ................................................................128
Creating a request for proposal .......................................................128
Seeking responses from design companies ...................................129
Evaluating proposals .........................................................................130
Signing a contract ..............................................................................130
Handing off the content ....................................................................131
Part III: Creating and Placing Ads .............................133
Chapter 10: Mastering Advertising Basics and Media Planning . . . .135
Moving the Market through Advertising ..................................................135
Image versus product advertising ...................................................136
Image-plus-product advertising — the have-it-all approach .......136
Talking to the right people ...............................................................137
Creating Ads That Work .............................................................................137
Bringing in the pros ..........................................................................138
Starting the creative process ...........................................................138
Landing on the big idea ....................................................................139
Brainstorming ....................................................................................140
Golden rules .......................................................................................140
Capturing Prospects with a Media Plan ...................................................141
The media menu ................................................................................142
Mass media pros and cons ...............................................................142
The Making of a Media Schedule ...............................................................149
Balancing reach and frequency .......................................................150
Timing your placements ...................................................................151
Evaluating Your Advertising Efforts .........................................................152
Generating ad responses ..................................................................153
Keying responses ..............................................................................153
Chapter 11: Creating Print Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
Writing and Designing Your Ads ................................................................155
Packing power into headlines ..........................................................156
Writing convincing copy ...................................................................158