Talk to me about marketing

[RobFrost]

There's nothing I can teach you about marketing.

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[Zeke]

Originally Posted by RobFrost

There's nothing I want to teach you about marketing.

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Fify

[rcooled]

Getting back to the original question...sponsoring a local athletic team (Little League, youth soccer, etc.) might get you some additional exposure. You might also find out about having a banner or sign placed at the local HS field or public stadium if that's done in your area.

[creaturecat]

Marketing strategy?
the 4 P's - product, place, promotion and price.

[Zeke]

^^^Very good idea there that can be extended to many areas. I've been told, though, that if you do, you need to attend the games to get max results.

Originally Posted by creaturecat

Marketing strategy?
the 4 P's - product, place, promotion and price.

That is rather generalized, but true. Sounds like a good opening for a seminar.

[RobFrost]

Originally Posted by Zeke

^^^Very good idea there that can be extended to many areas. I've been told, though, that if you do, you need to attend the games to get max results.

That is rather generalized, but true. Sounds like a good opening for a seminar.

Dang, what are the chances? Turns out you were already more expert in optimal strategies for little league marketing than the person suggesting it.

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[Jeff Hail]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Seems like everything is digital yet I still get a ton of print advertising. Sure, in 100% it mentions a website and social media. But almost print all is about services and food. Places that you have to physically connect with like stores and restaurants as well as home improvement or things like pet services. Gyms, other 'destination' businesses. I'll leave medical out for now as that is different.

I come from a line of ad men. If I had followed my father and grandfather, I would be retired now as the 3rd gen ad man. No children so the business wasn't going to continue with me. It closed when I was about 30 anyway. My dad went on to work in L.A. for one of the big names in the biz. He was Don Draper from Mad Men to the core, so he died on the job so to speak. You can't live like that and live long.

Obviously it is a different world today just as it was for my granddad seeing television come to the household. They were print guys anyway from 1927 to 1975. Lots of newspaper and magazine campaigns, some radio, very little TV. Mostly local businesses until my dad went uptown and had American Airlines and Peugeot, to name a couple. They did TV, but it wasn't his deal. Actually by then he was involved with huge blocks of purchased TV time that was divvied up amongst advertisers (not resold as that is illegal). But they did have clout negotiating with the Networks and local stations.

Back to the beginning, almost all print is directed at the web, and most have a coupon which is the hook to not toss the whole bit in the can. I recently ate at a fledgling restaurant that didn't have much traffic. They are in restaurant row and next door to a going enterprise. Family affair with good intentions but not much marketing experience. I know it's a shoestring operation but I told them they had to reach out — reach out with coupons. People eat them up. Some are more realistic rather than "10 % off for seniors." I hate that; it's pure BS and my dad wouldn't have done it. My grandfather was too clever for that anyway. He also ran a mail order business on the side. If it wasn't for my grandfather, my dad would have sold cars or something.

Talk to me about marketing. What some or many businesses need is to drive customers to the door. The necessary social media aside, what motivates you to get out and go through that door?

Some answers I expect will hit on

• Word of mouth (that can be manipulated)
• Coupons, of course
• Displays and Event presence
• Call us, we're there for you
• Foot traffic (location)
• Local promotions (including charity)
  

I friend of mine has been in marketing for 40 years. First he marketed products for sale then services. When people ask what exactly is marketing and what does a marketing person do? He responds a shill for strippers with a laugh. Oddly its true since he markets the automobile industry. He carries a brass Cross pen in his pocket. Honest truth.

You are correct that a small operation needs help or a clever idea to get people in the door and bring them back. Who is the customer? People who eat first. What area do they serve and cater to? Focus on the local surroundings and neighborhood. Coupons, flyers are inexpensive and can be done at home on a shoestring expense. What to offer? Free soft drinks. Cost is low markup is high when they are for sale. Cost is still low to give away with a meal purchase. How about a flier or coupon sheet handed out on site towards the next visit or 10 coupon punches gets you something in return? What is the advertising budget? Can they afford to? Banners or signs at local gatherings, sporting events etc.

How about Google Reviews? Talk about free adverstising.

The business needs to be consistent in quality and service. This is at the expense of good employee's or serious family members working the business, means everything and customers remember how they are treated as well as the experience.

Business hours: This is a form of marketing also. A local Thai food place and is very small near me is open weird hours. I mean really weird hours. 11am to 1:30pm, closes and then reopens at 4:30pm to 8:30pm. I asked the owner why? First it is the peak hours people eat and about 12 actual hours of business is focused down to 6.5 hours. Costs are reduced. Employees happiness is important to the owner. Employees work 2 hours during the time the business is closed to the public prepping vegetables and cleaning up at final closing. (The place is really clean). The business runs very lean and is very profitable. The owner told me they do not sit around waiting for the phone to ring, it rings constantly for pickup and delivery and they have about 8 tables that will seat 4. The owner also told me his sales are about double in 7.5 total door hours than when he was formerly open 12 hours straight. Those odd hours created a focused productivity zone for both the business and customer base. The customers know they have to get in by the window or they miss out. I usually order to go but if I dine in the flow of customers is non-stop.

The question is the business open the appropriate hours to be profitable or a deficit? Food for thought.

You mentioned marketing for Peugeot? My friend has the red 505 that flew and landed on the bed in the commercial. Drives it regularly as a daily driver. In fact he has two red 505's. That bedroom scene sticks in my mind and that was a long time ago. All due to marketing advertising genius. It worked.

[p911dad]

Direct mailing of coupons in a highly local area. We have a pizza place near us, take out only. Jets Pizza offers a Detroit-style pizza and they periodically mail these little snap-off coupons into the neighborhood. It's good pizza of course but the little plastic snap-offs get me nearly every time.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by RobFrost

Dang, what are the chances? Turns out you were already more expert in optimal strategies for little league marketing than the person suggesting it.

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How is it that if I was 'told' (otherwise informed) that following up sponsorship with direct involvement makes me more expert than you?

Maybe you are the consummate marketing genius with disdain for others with lesser knowledge. Maybe you are just insecure. Whatever, your message is clear. That's good AFA marketing goes.

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Restaurants seem to be the subject of many comments. A study of only restaurants and their marketing techniques compared to other service businesses might be enlightening.

I have often wondered about the limited hours of operation concept. The business location incurring overhead expenses 24/7 and not being productive for some 15 hours out of the day makes me wonder if a secondary use might be a good idea.

That's outside of the subject, though.

[LWJ]

I was in Hanoi in the Spring. A couple of Americans. Hungry. Didn't want to eat dog or get sick. We gravitate to Google. Find a great place (Many, actually) and have lunch.

After the meal, a slick, English speaking local asks us to give a review and has a QR code that goes straight to his reviews. He had 29K 5 star reviews and was making BANK.

Traffic and a machine. That guy had it figured out.

[LWJ]

I was in Hanoi in the Spring. A couple of Americans. Hungry. Didn't want to eat dog or get sick. We gravitate to Google. Find a great place (Many, actually) and have lunch.

After the meal, a slick, English speaking local asks us to give a review and has a QR code that goes straight to his reviews. He had 29K 5 star reviews and was making BANK.

Traffic and a machine. That guy had it figured out.

[stealthn]

It depends on the product/services

I have a tech services company and have done it all: direct mailers, Google, trade shows, print ads, all resulted in nothing. Best results have always been word of mouth for the past 29 years. CIO’s and CEO’s move around and talk to each other, but again it depends on the product/services.

[freddy67]

If we’re talking non-social, non-digital in look but not in function, direct mail and print ads still work, but only when they point somewhere useful. I’ve seen campaigns perform well when the print is just the bait and the real conversion happens online. This breakdown of SEO trends for orthopedic surgeons hits that idea, using physical touchpoints to drive search traffic and boost local rankings. Different industry, same mechanics.

[masraum]

^^ FARGIN' SPAMbot! ^^

[Por_sha911]

The original post was in July 2023

[MrBossWind]

This hit home—grew up around small business and watched print slowly shift to digital, but never disappear. Worked with a local bakery once that barely had walk-ins. They started with simple print flyers and coupons, but the game changer was tying it all back to their website and tracking results through tools like searchseo.io. Seeing which promos drove traffic gave them the confidence to try more.

[Pitchersaki]

I see it’s been a while since this was posted, but I wanted to ask—have any of you tried running small test campaigns on different platforms just to see what sticks? I’ve been playing around with short, cheap ad runs on Facebook and Reddit to gauge which messages get attention before sinking more time or money into anything. Curious if anyone else here is experimenting like that or has different ideas?

[Believetwit]

I’ve been messing around with different ways to get eyes on a small biz, and organic traffic has been way more helpful than I expected. I learned a lot from the startup seo guide—it breaks things down into plain English and helped me figure out where my site was weak. SEO still feels like a slow game, but the guide gave me some quick wins I could use right away.