Top Ten Recession-Busting Marketing Tips

Cross-Promote: Link with a complimentary company and cross-promote your products and services. Examples: a fashion boutique and a make-up artist; a delicatessen and a home wares shop. Think outside the square. A commercial cleaner and a chocolate factory? Think 'free samples' and being memorable.

Add-Value: Instead of discounting an expensive dress, make a gift of a scarf, bracelet or pair of earrings. Instead of reducing the price of your service, offer an extra service for the original price. The gifted item or service will likely cost a business much less than providing a discount, and be valued more.

Permission Marketing: Your business will benefit from having a more credible profile and audience who invite you to talk to them about your products and services. Develop a simple online newsletter (e-news) or direct mail newsletter that provides interested parties with new, relevant and useful information that will benefit them.

Create News: Work effectively with the media and provide journalists with credible, newsworthy and interesting information suitable for their audience. Don't provide advertising masquerading as news; understand their audience and their needs. Provide an angle that informs, educates or warns.

Hold an Event: Invite customers and potential customers to your office or factory for a tour followed by a light lunch or after work drinks. If you can't host people in this way, use a local hotel to host clients to a light lunch, or drinks & nibbles, provide information about your business and also get to know their needs better.

Speak in Public: Offer to be a guest speaker on your topic of expertise at a conference or business lunch. Service clubs often are looking for people to speak on interesting topics. Contact your local Business Enterprise Centre or Industry Association and investigate opportunities to speak to their members.

Call to Action: Whether it's an advertisement, brochure, flier, website text or direct mail letter, always include a call to action. Tell the recipient what you want then to do. Examples: "Visit our website" or "Call us now" or "First 10 Callers Only" or "Order Now" or "Come and see us now". This simple addition will make a big difference.

Use the Internet: People will not flock to your website for no reason. Develop your online presence by having interesting content on your website that is up-dated regularly, an active blog, a relevant e-newsletter or media resource area, and submit material to online article directories. Join social networking sites, such as Twitter, Ecademy and MySpace but use them wisely. Get good advice from a credible internet expert, not just a graphic designer.

Ask Questions: Don't make statements about your products or service, instead ask questions. Examples:

• DON’T SAY “Our containers hold 500 and can expand to 750’
  
  ASK “How much capacity are you looking for?”
  
  


• DON’T SAY “We have blue, green yellow, red, orange and purple”
  
  ASK “What color did you want?” or “What is your color scheme?”
  
  


• DON’T SAY “Our widgets are $100”
  
  ASK “How much did you want to spend?”


• DON’T SAY “This car is the best medium-sized car on the market today”
  
  ASK “How many people in your family?” and “What will you be using the vehicle for?” and “Do you drive mostly in the city?”

Extend Your Reach: Many businesses market only to their customers, yet there are other groups that can help promote you. Keep your suppliers informed of your business activities. Develop a list of people who can refer business to you and people who can influence favourably what customers think of you. Don't forget your staff; they can be your best Ambassadors.

Material taken from the book 'Underdog Marketing' by Dr Alex Davidovic and Penelope Herbert. 'Underdog Marketing' is crammed with step-by-step guides, killer tips, proven formulas and fresh marketing solutions. Available now at: UnderdogMarketingChallenge.com