Marketing Techniques for a Bad Economy
Posted: January 27th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Articles, Business | No Comments »Adjusting your marketing techniques in a bad economy to sustain your creative business is not just smart, it’s a necessity. Big companies cut expenses in a recession, and you should too. That doesn’t mean that you stop marketing. You need to consistently market your business to prospective and existing customers. Instead of stopping your marketing tasks, do them on a shoestring with these “cheap” marketing techniques.
Telemarketing
Don’t neglect or fear your telephone. It’s great for taking incoming calls, working on projects or for personal use. What about for telemarketing? When was the last time you picked up the phone to initiate a relationship with a prospect? Here are some ways to do that:
- Call prospects and ask them to set up an appointment with you to discuss how you can help them boost sales or be more successful.
- Conduct interviews on the phone where you ask prospects about their needs to determine whether they make a good fit for you.
- Hire someone else to make your calls if you lack the time, energy or confidence.
Each state has its own laws governing telemarketing, so you’ll want to check those out before you start calling. The laws may vary for calling business owners versus consumers. If anyone asks you not to call again, simply take them off your list.
Press Releases
These may seem old-fashioned in an age of tweets, YouTube videos and blogs, but press releases still work. There are online and offline media outlets that could pick up your news, including Google News. For example, you can write a press release about a new tool and how you’ve used it successfully as a designer. You can submit it to news syndicators so that it gets distributed around the web. Individuals searching for that tool online may come across your press release since the name is used as a keyword. Radio show hosts, television reporters, bloggers and others might contact you for an interview or link back to your website as part of a story. One press release can raise awareness about your products and services much faster than organic searches in Bing or Yahoo!
Direct Mail
Very few creative professionals are willing to send letters to past customers or leads. It’s much easier to send out a newsletter or email updates. You can stand out from the competition if you send a well written sales letter and personalize it with a handwritten envelope. Everyone you send a letter to will more than likely take the bait, because fewer marketers are using personalized mail these days. Hire a copywriter to help you write your sales copy and maximize results. Offer something of value in your letter, such as a free report, to entice them to contact you.
The key to low cost marketing is to be consistent. Schedule your marketing tasks on a daily basis and hold yourself and your team accountable to completing them. You will have to invest a little money, whether on postage, business cards or long distance calls, but these cost much less than expensive advertising and marketing campaigns.