By: Bryan Mann-Entzel
Managing Partner at >Greater Thought Design+Marketing
The past year or so has been a bit of a mixed bag for many businesses. We’ve seen the tech industry trimming headcount as they come out of the pandemic and as financing has grown more challenging for them. The changes in interest rates have affected the fluidity of the housing market, and the cost of goods has caused many consumers to tighten their belts compared to just a few years earlier. On top of that, we are in an election year which can stir up its own unease. What that means for many businesses is that it isn’t just business as usual.All of this may have you weighing your options for how to keep things on course and workable for your own business. Having worked in the marketing, advertising, and consulting space for 25+ years, my team and I have a few pointers:
1. Don’t pull back on your marketing
Your marketing is one of your key sources for generating leads. From traditional marketing such as print, relationship marketing, or direct mail, these tactics serve to remind your customers to continue to patronize your business and provide a way for you to reach new customers. Pulling back or idling your marketing may further slow things down for your business. From a professional standpoint, restarting your marketing and regaining your momentum after a full stop is incredibly challenging, and we have seen this play out firsthand after the events of 9/11 and the Great Recession.
2. Examine where you are marketing
In a constantly evolving marketplace, doing the same things year-after-year may leave you in a bit of rut. Consider the following tips to help explore new possibilities:
- Take a step back and evaluate where you are seeing results
- Deprioritize what is underserving you, or costing you more than it is yielding
- Look for new ways to reach people.
Email marketing to your most loyal customers is a great place to start and can be done with minimal cost or effort. Offer special buying events like a Summer Sale, or an Open House. Temporary signage is another way to gain the attention of passersby. Be punchy and even a little provocative. For example:
- “Free smells” for a bakery or coffee shop
- “Curious about what we create?… Step in and see.” for a t-shirt shop
- “Come treasure hunting” for a gift shop
3. Talk directly to your target users
One of the easiest but most overlooked ways of appealing to your potential customers is talking to the reader directly. Appeal to their practical side, and speak as though you already understand what they need. Use less “we”, “our” and “us” and find ways to say “you” and “your” in your message to speak actively and confidently.“You will have success with this approach.” See how powerful that is? Keep it simple and inviting.
4. Focus on what you’re best at and broadcast it
A lot of businesses and their owners have a hard time being bold. You may be afraid of going out on a limb. But if you aren’t going to boast a little bit about what you have to offer people… who will?Take us for example. If we tell you, “At >Greater Thought, we create websites and ads,” that doesn’t explain why or how we do our work; it just states what we do… and that falls flat. Instead, we tell you, “At >Greater Thought, your work with us is a partnership, and we work hard together to find solutions to the problems you are working to untangle. We work together to find what will work.” This is far more dynamic and leaves a lasting impression for those seeking out services like ours.“Sometimes you just have to toot your own horn. Otherwise, nobody will know you’re a-comin’.”–Dolly Parton
5. Refine your message and keep it simple
Try different ways of saying things. For example, a moving company might try:
- Let’s get you moving
- We move you, so you don’t have to
- Turn-key moving services
- Moving made EZ
- Moving you to tears…of joy
- The Moving Service you need
- Moving made simple
- Getting you moving
The message does not have to be clever. It also doesn’t have to answer every question someone may have about your business. The goal is to get them to reach out– to call, send an email, fill out a form on your website, or send a message on social media. Your team can handle it from there, but marketing is all about connecting people with the things you do or offer. Try something new and see what happens!
And, if you would like our help, reach out. We are darn good at helping businesses just like yours.
