Out of the Box Marketing
Mar 15, 2007 business, small business marketing
Yesterday I had the opportunity to do some consulting for a local landscaping company. Their business is growing but they felt they could do more. They’re a relatively small operation and don’t have a lot of money to spend so we needed to work on ideas that cost very little if anything at all. I worked with them to come up with some simple, inexpensive ways to generate quality leads. These are specific to the landscaping industry but can be tweaked for all sorts of companies. Here’s what we came up with.
6 Cheap ‘n Easy Steps to Grow Your Clientbase
- Start weaning themselves of phone book advertising. Phone book ads can cost several thousand dollars every month and aren’t as targeted as they could be. (You’re thinking, “But people the landscaping ad when they look up landscapers so it’s targeted.” But consider that you’re paying for your ad to appear in the books of thousands of people who will never look up “landscaping”.) Instead, they’ll start investing their marketing dollars into online advertising (Google ads, Yahoo ads, etc.). The benefits are twofold.
- That their ad will only appear for people who are explicitly looking for their services.
- They still only pay when someone actually clicks on their ad, showing real interest in their service.
- Add a photo gallery to their website. Now that they’ll be sending people to their website, they want to make sure the site is ready for visitors. Imagine hearing about a huge furniture sale only to arrive at the showroom and find out they don’t have anything for you to see. Who’s going to pay for a handiwork type service before they know if you’re any good?
- Publish a periodic communication. This could be in the form of an email, a newsfeed, a (news)letter, it really doesn’t matter what medium it’s in (right now) – just do something to get your name if front of your target audience’s faces.
- Post a small, modest sign in the yards of current clients that says something to the effect of, “Another Landscape Masterpiece by (Your Company) – 555.1212.” Ok, some of your customers may not want you to put a sign in their yard, and that’s understandable. Entice them by telling them they’ll get a free month of service for every person they refer who becomes a customer.
- Advertise to people who’ve actually seen your work. Instead of trying to convince people that you do quality work, just find the people who have already seen what you do and remind them that it was you. For example: every time you finish a job, leave door-knob hangars on the nearest 40 houses (10 in each direction, both sides of the street). Something like, “You may have noticed how great you’re neighbor’s yard looks these days…” ought to do the trick.
- Partner with a similar company. Typically, the kinds of people who buy landscaping services, also buy: satellite tv, security systems, etc. Partner with these kinds of companies for mutual growth. If they don’t want to share customer lists with you, give them a coupon that they can give to their new subscribers. This adds value to their offering, (“We’ll give you free installation AND one free month of landscaping service,”) and gets you in front of just the right kind of customer. Offer to do the same for their company and soon you’ll be raking in the leads.
Try these out. Tell me what you think. What works? Doesn’t work? What other ideas do you have?
Tags: growth, landscaping, prospecting
Google It!
Aug 24, 2006 business, marketing, small business marketing
It seems like everywhere you go these days, everyone’s talking about Google. From “Hey did you hear about Google’s latest toy?” to “Let me Google it and get back to you.” And whether you’re a business person, a mom, a student, or a puppy (ok, maybe not a puppy)…you’ve probably used their service to find a website, an address, a product, a stock quote, the latest news, or even to check your email.
“Great, but how does that apply to my business?”
Well, if you’ve ever done a search on Google, you’ve probably noticed those links at the top and along the right side of your search results. These are the “Sponsored Links”. Basically Google charges advertisers to have their ads appear in those spaces. Now the reason you’ll want your ads to appear there, is because…people click on them. And not just anyone clicks on them, qualified, interested people click on them.
It’s like having a billboard on the highway – but the sign is free, and you only pay when someone sees it and contacts you!
As a business owner, you know the value of being in the right place at the right time and it’s no different with marketing. When your potential customers are searching for your product, they’re expressing a direct interest in it. Whether they’re ready to buy it now or just want information, you can put yourself right in their path instead of hoping they’ll stumble across you some other way.
There’s another benefit to this too…if someone is searching for a product or service you don’t provide, you’re ad won’t appear. Why would you want this? Because you’ll save money by not advertising to people that aren’t ready for you. Its a benefit that newspaper, radio, TV, and magazines can’t match!
“But don’t people just ignore the ads?”
Normally, yes. See, with other forms of advertising, over 90% of ads are of no interest to the viewer. For that reason, we’ve become accustomed to ignoring them…but the nature of targeted ads makes them more interesting to the customer. They know that the ad is a solution to the exact problem facing them.
“But I don’t use Google.”
Here’s the most beautiful part…it doesn’t matter. According to comScore Media Metrix, over 80% of internet users are still exposed to Google ads on a regular basis. That’s because these ads appear not only in regular search results but also on map pages, blogs, news pages, shopping pages, email pages, and much more throughout the internet. Some of the internet’s most popular sites display Google ads relevant to the individual page’s content. These companies include AOL, Netscape, EarthLink, NYTimes.com, About.com, Business.com, Ask.com, and many more!
Of course, advertising can be set up through other search engines as well, including Yahoo!, and MSN. Though these networks don’t have the reach that Google does, they’re not to be ignored. Each has it’s own advantages and is working hard to compete for your business.
“I’ll bet it’s expensive.”
Not really. Google uses a bidding system similar to EBay’s to determine how much to charge for each slot. They also analyze and rate the ads that are submitted. They then calculate an ad’s quality against the bid and determine where the ad will appear and how often. This helps ensure that the ad-space goes to the most relevant ads and not necessarily to the highest bidder.
In the end, clicks can cost as little as $.05 each (depending on keywords selected). Sound like a lot? When you compare that to the cost of advertising in traditional media, such as newspaper, radio, magazines, and TV, (often several hundred dollars per occurrence to reach a whole lot of people who aren’t interested anyway) it’s easy to see the advantages.
“How do I get started?”
Admittedly, getting everything up and running can be a bit complex; especially when you have work you need to get done. I recommend contacting a reliable online marketing company that can take care of the whole process for you. It may cost a little more upfront, but their experience will help you to get the most clicks for your budget.
They’ll set up your account, develop a customized ad-campaign, and then maintain the campaign for you so you don’t need to spend time every day, adjusting bids, etc. Plus, if they really understand your website, they’ll be able to suggest changes to improve the overall visitor experience.
If you’re interesting in giving it a shot on your own, visit http://adwords.google.com. It takes a few minutes to create an account and then you can begin building your campaign.
Consider the advantages:
- Reach only those who are interested in what you offer, at the exact moment they’re looking for it
- Set your own monthly budget
- Target customers in your particular city or state
- Pay only when your ads are clicked
- No long-term commitment
- (Get a 100% satisfaction guarantee when you sign up with StarPointe)
Learn more about StarPointe‘s search marketing services.
Tags: growth, prospecting
