Every time I speak to groups of small business owners I tell them that, when it comes to marketing, I would just as soon see them do something ordinary, day in and day out, than something that seems spectacularly great every once in a blue moon.
I believe one of the absolute truths about marketing is those who stick with it get results, even if they could do every thing they are doing better. Now, don’t immediately interpret this as an invitation to do crappy marketing. Obviously, the best combo is spectacularly great marketing done day in and day out, but, short of that, I lean towards showing up and staying top of mind in ways that you can do routinely.
The main thrust of this post is to suggest that if the need for perfection or even clear direction is causing you to hold back on any marketing then I would like to urge you to find what you can do, will do, and do it.
Maybe you remember the Peter Sellers role as Chance the gardner in the fabulous movie Being There. The movie is actually a very deep portrayal of how, even when simply being authentic, people can interpret what you do and say in ways that they need to meet their wants and desires (there’s certainly a marketing message in that), but from a story standpoint Chance, later Chauncey, falls into much of his elevated status by just showing up, or Being There, when someone had a need.
I think marketing of a small business can be a little like that. One of the tasks of your marketing is to devise ways that your messages can be the one that is there when a prospect decides to finally scratch an itch. In this vein systematic consistency usually trumps the every so often wow.
Build your being there machine with
- a monthly newsletter featuring great finds from around the web
- a monthly planned customer and network contact of varied type – article one month, customer success story one month, holiday theme one month, etc.
- drip marketing via autoresponder offering advanced product application tips
- a monthly press release announcement – offer organizational news via a press release format and send to network
- quarterly survey data sharing sessions
- quarterly trend topic webinars
- annual success summits and user conferences
By planning and executing an ongoing number of annual contacts you will find that not only will you be first in line when your customers have a need, you’ll also be first in line when they stumble upon a referral.
Image credit: PUBLISYST Communicaciones
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at Jul 15, 09 | 12:13 pm and is filed under Marketing Strategy, Referral Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Being there is great advice. You want to be on your customers minds as often as possible while not being pushy. Just simple interactions and helpful tips get it done. Twitter is great for this as you can refer things to people all the time very easily.
I agree – it's better to do what you can do than to keep striving to hit a home run with every effort. Sure, we all want to do the greatest marketing piece ever… but how many of those “one shot wonders” that blew their whole budget on Super Bowl ads are still here to talk about it?
Business development is a game of singles, not home runs.
Of course, if you DO get a home run… that's good too.
With marketing, all you have to make and embed a brand image into the minds so ultimately when there comes a time to make a decision, yours is the one considered primarily
Brands are not built overnight. Consistency and Sustainability is pretty important to most people. I also think we have a tendency to forget the Need stage. It is not all about discovery.
Nice post John!
You make some great points here. I also think going back to the basics, like attending trade shows, is a great way to build a brand and meet scores of potential customers in a short amount of time.
Nice post again John. Couldn't agree more. A few thoughts that came to mind as I was reading.
It's OK to have a mindset of continuous improvement. But, you have to get it out there to start improving on it. Too many small business marketing ideas never get off the drawing board because they're still being tweeked to perfection (which never happens).
I'm reminded of advice I got years ago. Two things you don't want to hear from customers and prospects. Number 1 is, “I didn't know you guys did that.” And, number 2 is, “Oh, I wish we'd have thought of you when we bought that last month.” You're less likely to hear those things if you're being there and marketing consistently.
Last thing I'd say is to pay attention to what's working and what's not working. When you notice somthing that's starting to produce, do more of that. In other words, be there even more.
Thanks for sharing John.
All my Best!
Kevin
Great title – just being there.
Permission marketing by Godin really helped me understand this. If I can be present, easy to find – then when my customer is looking for me, they'll find me.
That's good advice. I've also found that constant contact is more effective than one offs.
Agreed. Consistency and reliability have significant benefits in the marketing of products and services – customers always know what to expect and when to expect it (although it's nice to pleasantly surprise your customers when you can).
Reminders to clients stimulates their minds to think of you and the services you offer. They may not be needeing those services at the moment but may have just ran into someone looking for your needs.
Reminders to clients stimulates their minds to think of you and the services you offer. They may not be needeing those services at the moment but may have just ran into someone looking for your needs.
Sometimes the Secret to Marketing is Just Being There http://tinyurl.com/lqcq2z