7 Small Business Marketing Tips to Grow Business: This originally appeared on Stockhouse.com a few days ago, and we thought it might be useful for local businesses in Portland, Oregon. We edited it for length and readability.
1. Develop a unique selling point (USP) that gives prospects a compelling reason to buy from you now. Your USP must provide a powerful reason to do business with you. It motivates your clients to send referrals in droves to buy your product or service. (I.e., the little pizza company that guaranteed fresh hot pizza in 30 minutes or less – or the pizza was free.) Outrageous, exciting claims can show that you are better than anybody else and the best thing for a prospect can do is buy from you.
2. Learn selling and customer service skills. Service and sales go tightly together. When you cross-sell, you provide a tremendous service: you save clients the time and aggravation of having to search elsewhere to complete a purchase. Your clients and prospects need and value your recommendations and will follow them so make a habit of providing them.
3. Capture client and prospect information and create a database. Take a moment to ask yourself the last time a retailer or restaurant asked your name or asked you to return. Think of how far ahead of your competition you can be by capturing this information to build a relationship with your clients.
4. Use your database to keep in touch. Send thank you notes, special offers, discount gift cards, birthday cards and invitations to special client days. You must thank clients for their loyalty and past purchases from you. Remember to include a special offer that has a deadline to get them to purchase from you again.
5. Start a newsletter. This is the most powerful small business marketing tip to build a fence around your clients. The added advantage is that you are marketing to those most likely to buy: current and past clients.
6. Create a referral and reward program. Unfortunately, most people are afraid to ask for referrals even though clients are happy to give them. The easiest strategy is to simply ask for them and reward people who send you new clients. It can be as simple as giving coded coupons to a client in your store. For each one that is redeemed, the referring client gets a gift. It can also be as involved as asking a good client to lunch or dinner for the sole purpose of asking for referrals. If you are living up to your USP, clients will gladly refer others. Don’t be shy about asking for them.
7. Identify non-competing businesses that serve a client base similar to yours. Approach the owner and propose a joint venture or strategic alliance in which you are going to endorse their business to your list and vise-versa. As mentioned earlier, consumers are constantly asking ‘Who should I buy this product or service from?’ This powerful small business marketing tool leverages the trust you and your alliance partner(s) have built with their clients and, when properly structured between two good companies with quality products and services, is as close to a guaranteed success as you will ever get.