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7 low-cost ways to get your
message across
(I'm using one of them right now)
These days, the cost of advertising
space and time is the biggest item in most marketing budgets, in
many cases bigger than all other marketing activity and salary costs
combined.
And because it's often such
a massive item, it's easy to concentrate entirely on advertising
and ignore other low-cost strategies, many of which make advertising
more effective.
Here's seven ways (actually
a few more than that) through which businesses and not-for-profit
organisations can get their message across without paying for advertising
space. I'm not saying you should stop advertising, just that your
marketing can be more effective if you spend some of your budget
on lower cost techniques.
Of course there are more than
just seven ways. In researching this article I identified at least
69. I've chosen these because they can be used in the marketing
of almost any size business or not-for-profit organisation.
I apply these techniques for
clients and use them as part of my own marketing:
1. Write articles
Research shows articles achieve
more readership, acceptance of their content, and behavioural change
than advertisements. That's because they have more credibility.
But before you cancel your advertising
and sit down at a keyboard, consider for a moment how the two approaches
differ.
You shouldn't try to place advertising
messages in an article. That would destroy its credibility. If an
editor published such a piece, as a reader you would see through
it immediately.
The objective of writing an
article for publication is not to sell. You may generate some inquiry,
but the real purpose is to build awareness and credibility as a
basis for other marketing.
You do that by providing useful
information and insights in a way that's relevant and interesting
to the audience.
2. Exploit
speaking opportunities
Speaking engagements are an
opportunity for you to get your message across to potential customers,
and people who influence them, in greater numbers than individual
face-to-face contact allows.
Like writing articles, speaking
is not a "sell job". Rather, the audience expects to be informed
and entertained, even maybe challenged.
It's important you're able to
do that. If you're not totally confident of your ability to "stand
and deliver", you should consider using a specialist coach.
From personal experience, I
can recommend Eugene Moreau, of the Moreau Group Ltd. He'll work
with you to improve both your speech content and your presentation
skills.
Eugene obviously uses speaking
opportunities. He'd be mad not to. He's very good at it.
He also writes articles. He's written a very good one on "How to
overcome the fear of public speaking", which you can download from
his website http://www.moreau.co.nz
Contact Eugene by email
or on 0272-974 749.
3. Network
and encourage referrals
This is the process of meeting
with other people on a regular basis to make use of their "who knows
who" knowledge (and for them to make use of your's).
It works best when the people
in the group have contacts among your target market.
It also works best if you first
"make things happen" for others. You'll then have people ready and
willing to help you, perhaps in answer to a request for a specific
introduction at a later date.
You can encourage referrals
from such groups and from existing customers if you're consistent
in your approach and you have a system in place.
4. Publish
a newsletter
A newsletter is essentially
a means of keeping in touch with customers, potential customers,
referrers and other important audiences.
It's effectiveness in achieving
that depends on how relevant and useful it is to the audience, and
how often it is distributed.
Certainly, newsletters can be
distributed too frequently. But if a newsletter is your sole keep-in-touch
strategy, do you want people to only be thinking about your business
every two months? Some businesses distribute newsletters at that
interval, or even less frequently, and wonder why they achieve very
little through them.
Maybe you already receive some
newsletters which are relevant and useful for you. Perhaps you also
get others which you see in a less favourable light.
How much does your opinion about
the content of newsletters affect how you regard the companies which
send them?
If you're planning a newsletter
or already have one, here's a suggestion to help make it more effective:
Research readers' preferences for content and distribution frequency
and modify if necessary.
5.
Achieve media coverage
Wouldn't we all love that! A
positive story about our business in news media which serves our
target market. Fantastic!
Almost anyone who can write
can tell you how to draft a press release and send it to all the
papers, magazines, radio stations and TV channels.
Media outlets receive hundreds
every day. I know — I spent more than two decades as a working journalist
on the receiving end of reams of press releases.
They each got a few moments
consideration, then most went in the bin.
If you want to be among the
small proportion of businesses which successfully achieve media
coverage, you need to recognise that it isn't just a matter of writing
and distributing press releases (in fact, in some situations, sending
a press release is counter-productive).
The key to success in this area
is the same as for most items on this list — providing information
and insights in a way that's relevant and interesting to the audience.
In this case the audience are
editors and journalists who want to preserve their audience share
(and their integrity) by publishing and broadcasting material which
people will read, watch or listen to.
You need an understanding of
what makes compelling news or feature content, and how that differs
between each media outlet.
You need to find something about
your business that fits that definition, identify a compelling "angle",
and pitch it to the best choice of media.
Using an experienced professional
to do this specialist work (or to train you in some basic skills,
depending on your needs) makes a big difference.
6. Create an
event
Events are a great way to focus
attention on an issue, a product, or a new development in a market.
From grand openings, to open
days, to product demonstrations and special presentations, events
enable you to create an audience-to-order to get your message across.
This can involve lots of preparation
and expense, but the pay-off is in the "buzz" you create and its
impact on your audience. This technique works best if it's integrated
with other tactics (more about that at the end of this list).
7. Target key
influencers
When you're seeking new customers
or clients, it's easy to focus on them as if they make decisions
on their own. They don't of course.
We ask others for their views
— bosses, colleagues, external advisers, friends, family. Sometimes
we don't ask, but we're still influenced by the views of others,
even if we don't care to admit it.
Including "key influencers"
as a target for marketing communications makes a lot of sense, especially
if your product or service is of high-value and/or purchased infrequently.
Endorsement by this group, or in some situations just awareness
and lack of criticism, can play a vital part in influencing a decision
in your favour.
Influencing the influencers
requires care and sensitivity to their integrity (and your own)
— that's what you're depending on, after all.
Bonus #1: Recycle
each option
If you're spending time planning
and writing a newsletter, why not also use some of the material
in an article? If the article is going to be published in a magazine,
what about placement of a version on a website (yours and someone
else's)?
What about the speaking opportunities?
How about a short seminar, or an in-depth workshop series? I'm doing
all those things. You can too.
Bonus #2: Bring
it all together with a plan
While each of these seven ways
to get your message across without paying for advertising space
are effective individually, on their own they are merely tactics.
They are the end of the process.
You need a strategy. That way,
the techniques you choose will be better matched to your situation
and will achieve better results. Development of a strategy should
start with research.
You will almost certainly need help with research,
and it can also pay to include an outside perspective in development
of strategy.
Sound like a good idea, but not sure where to start?
I can help in one of two ways (or a mix of the two,
if you wish):
A. If you have the budget
and want to concentrate on running your business, I can do the work
for you as a consultant. Click
here to set up a discussion on how we can work together.
B. If you want to achieve
additional leverage by learning how to do this yourself, the services
of The Marketing Coach (yes, that's me!) are ideal for you. Individual
Coaching is available for less than the cost of a part-time junior
office assistant (click
here for details).
Here are links to other material which you may find
usefu:
The PR Starter Pack -
this is a free two-stage process. When you register, you'll receive
the thought-provoking Part 1, plus a questionnaire. Your answers
will enable us to provide you with a Part 2 which is more focussed
on your issues. Click
here to order the Pack.
A special Marketing Coach report "Pull
Marketing - What it is and How it works", which contains
more details on the principles outlined in this article, including
what to do and what to avoid. The report is free on request (click
here).
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