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Small Business Marketing from 20,000 feet

First of all, Sales and Marketing – what is the difference?  For small businesses, they are often treated like they are one and the same.  But there is a difference.

Marketing creates the attention and generates the leads.  Sales closes the deal.  They work hand in hand, but they are distinctly different.

I am not going to attempt to cover all aspects of small business marketing today.  First of all, I don’t have all the answers.  I believe that small business marketing, like a lot of small biz support applications, is specific to the business and the industry.  If someone comes in with a default plan, but doesn’t know your business and your target market, what are the odds it will be on point for you without some serious tweaks?  Round peg, square hole!

This is the traditional sales process model.  The key is translating your business and what you do to the process.  Any industry can be broken down to this process; I did a blog series on restaurants about this recently.  (People often think restaurants are different, partially because food is more of an emotional decision.  I would argue that any purchase can be an emotional decision on some level.  If you don’t believe me, you should experience The Wife’s particular brand of buyers’ remorse!)  Marketing’s job is to fill these buckets and keep a steady flow of new prospects coming in.

Social Media Marketing – the big buzzword

Everywhere you look there are social media experts coming out of the woodwork.  Look at me!    Here’s what you need to realize: Social media and web marketing are tools. It’s not a new sales process, it’s not a new world – it’s new tools for the same consumers.  The big difference is you can reach a lot of people for not a lot of money using these tools.  That is both good and bad… if your message is solid, your call to action is compelling and your product is good – hey, great!  However, if your message is weak, your website is broken or unfindable… this is a problem.  Either way, the impact is magnified by the prevalence of the media.  It’s important to understand how each media works – social media has great impact, but if you beat someone over the head with sales post after sales post, they will block you.  On the other hand, that’s what TV and radio advertising are built on.

How do people find out about your business?

Most of the time, there are multiple ways.  Personal referrals, search engines, Yellow Pages, traditional media advertising like radio and TV.  Think about yourself – where did you have lunch yesterday?  Why did you choose that place?  Have you eaten there before?  How did that influence your decision?

Where do you buy your groceries and why?  I use the Hy-Vee at 119^th and Ridgeview in Olathe.  I drive past at least 4 grocery stores, including another Hy-Vee, to get to that store.  Why?  I feel like I get better cuts of meat for a better overall price at that Hy-Vee.  Also, I grew up in Iowa, so Hy-Vee feels like home to me; my family always shopped there.

As you can see, most of the time, the answers to questions like these aren’t simple – we do business with people for a variety of reasons.  These are all aspects of marketing.  Marketing works on emotional levels and logical levels to inspire you to take a specific action.

So before you make your next marketing decision, you need to get the answers to a couple of questions:

1. Who is my target market and where can they be reached?
2. Why do my current customers do business with me?

As a restaurant, more immediate resources like Twitter, SMS (text) and radio may be the answer.  Someone is driving around working or running errands, they hear the radio spot or get your text and they react to it.

Each of these 3 is different also.

• Twitter and SMS will only reach them if they follow you or it gets forwarded to them.
• Radio may catch a previous user and remind them of your business, but it’s more aimed at new customers.

That’s not to say personal referrals don’t matter; if I’m hungry and driving by Joe’s Bar and Grill, but I know my friend got lousy food and service there, I’m not stopping.

On the other hand, as, say, a commercial HVAC retailer, you have a whole different target.  Personal referrals, search engines, yellow pages – these are gold to you.

• If you don’t know the answer to these questions, you can’t make an informed marketing decision.

• If you have a couple of target markets, prioritize them and develop a plan for each one.

After answering question 1, you break down those results and attack them by referring to answer #2.  Using the restaurant example, this leads you to Twitter, SMS and radio.  You should then develop a program that is consistent but distinct.  Keep a consistent message, but use each media’s particular voice.  (You wouldn’t use the same ad on radio and TV – by the same token, don’t use the same copy on Facebook and Twitter.)

Then tie them all together.  Traditional media should point to your website or Facebook page.  Your blog should link there as well.  Your messages tie together, but the content is targeted to the media.  The goal is to get people from a lot of different starting points back to one base location (your website, for example), which then funnels them to your sales floor.

Don’t let some slick salesman come in and tell you she has the answers for you, or that it’s a no-brainer.  You need to know the answers to these questions then ask her how she’s going to help you reach them.  This will help you make better small business marketing decisions.  McDonalds can throw $1 million down the drain on a failed plan.  You are a small business person – you don’t have the same luxury!

-Karl
@karlkoelle

With 10+ years in restaurants and 12 years in communications, I have learned a lot about how to successfully market a restaurant - yet I still learn something new every day and whenever I talk to a client.  Looking for help with your restaurant or small business, whether marketing or management?  Let me know, I am always happy to help.