The renaissance of small business marketing

How users engage with you through digital channels will ultimately define your brand.

Try not to interrupt what people are interested in. BE what people are interested in.

Social media + text releases = PitchEngine

I’m a big believer in, and student of, the techniques of “inbound marketing”. The basic premise behind inbound marketing is to do everything you can to get found by people already searching for the products and services that you offer. For most small businesses, that means setting up your website like a “hub” for your industry that attracts visitors organically through the search engines, the blogosphere, and social media sites. That’s why I LOVE PitchEngine.

PitchEngine makes it possible for PR pros, brands, and agencies to build and share digital, social media releases with their contacts for FREE. I’ve used other free online news release products before, but they did not have the social media component I needed to maximize search engine results for my website.

PitchEngine is PR for the Social Web. Huh? Don’t think of PitchEngine as a distribution service. Think of it as a way to package all of your news assets (like a press kit) in one concise, easy to share, digital package - the social media release (SMR) - that you can edit and make changes to any time.

You build it. You share it.
As a bonus (if we needed one), PitchEngine shares your SMR with Google News, PitchFeed and other social sites and shows you how many views it gets. Again, all for FREE. With PitchEngine, you can create social media releases yourself with nothing more than some copy and multimedia content like images and video.

One of the absolute best features of PitchEngine is that you can then share your release via email and social sites like Facebook, Twitter and more.

Each release is hosted free for 30 days. at which time it will expire.

Small business marketing takeaway:

Not only is it media-worthy, but PitchEngine makes PR more social, meaning your content can be suitable for consumers and “friends” alike. The more content and insight into your brand you provide, the more authentic and transparent you will be to potential readers.

Love it!

P2P still important in small business

There’s no doubt that the Internet and social media has changed the dynamics of small business. But, I’m here to tell you that small business, any size business for that matter, is also still about P2P, people-to-people. Meeting someone face-to-face, shaking their hand, looking them in the eye and developing a trusting relationship.

In honor of Make a Referral Week, I thought I would tell you about an experience I had the other day with the members of the Toledo Business Group; a BNI-like organization, who meet in person every week to share, learn, network and provide referrals or other assistance. The meetings are run by OSU sweater vest t-shirt creator, John Amato.

The mission of the Toledo Business Group is to develop relationships among Toledo-area professionals. Our goal is to create referrals and make introductions to promote business to those we trust and know will provide the highest level of service.

Our meetings consist of a short segment on the business of each member, how we can help their business succeed, and, each week, a longer, more in-depth synopsis from a different member, business and networking tips, motivational stories and an example of a well-known figure that has exemplified the qualities of a leader.

They’re a great, diverse group of entrepreneurs, small business owners and professionals interested in referrals, yes, but also looking to make P2P connections among this increasingly digital world.

Make a referral - jump start the economy

We’re pledging to make a referral to a business we want to help as part of a national campaign to make 1000 referrals March 9-13. What a great small business stimulus plan – won’t you join us.

Check out http://www.makeareferralweek.com/pledge.

Make a Referral Week is an entrepreneurial approach to stimulating the small business economy one referred business at a time. The goal for the week is to generate 1000 referred leads to 1000 deserving small businesses in an effort to highlight the impact of a simple action that could blossom into millions of dollars in new business. Small business is the lifeblood and job-creating engine of the economy and merits the positive attention so often saved for corporate bailout stories.

The week long event also features a killer list of referral experts providing valuable marketing advice.

Hot off the presses! Check out my column in Abec’s Small Business Review

Over the past few week, I’ve touched on the importance of differentiation to small businesses.

Now, check out my full article in the February/March issue of Abec’s Small Business Review.

Branding fourth among five small business marketing pillars

Adapted from: “Five Pillars of Wisdom” by Suzanne Lowe, CMO Magazine, 2004

It’s no secret. These are challenging economic times for small businesses. We’re all searching for the answer to the question: “What can we do to win our share of business and escape the struggle?”

This time around branding seems to be the latest marketing trend small businesses are looking to for relief and to help ease their pain.

For small businesses, branding can be a savvy marketing initiative, but only if several important questions are answered first. Questions like:

• What is your company’s business goals or “end-game”?
• What is your point of differentiation and core message?
• Who is your Ideal Client?
• What is your current position in the marketplace?

Branding is something you do after you’ve figured out what it is you’re trying to brand and should be fourth among five linked small business marketing pillars: strategy, differentiation, positioning, branding and marketing communications.

1. Strategy - This is where branding should begin. All the goals of the branding program should align as closely as possible to the overall business strategy. This is also where critical marketplace questions need to be answered. Questions like: What business are we in? What service(s) do we provide? Do we provide significant benefits to our clients? What is our end-game or strategic goals?
2. Differentiation - I talk a lot about differentiation because I believe that a clear differentiation strategy is the foundation of real competitive advantage. Prior to developing a branding strategy, small businesses must understand the ways in which they are uniquely valuable to their customers.
3. Positioning - Don’t confuse positioning with branding and differentiation. Positioning is a separate principle that relates to a firm’s placement on a client’s mental map. Before creating a branding program, a firm should know what “spot” it holds in the marketplace today and whether or not their strategic objectives anticipate their customer’s future perspectives.
4. Branding - I’ve said it before… branding is more about fulfilling an intangible emotional promise than about a logo or color scheme. Everything a firm does and says will be conformed to build a customer’s expectation.
5. Marketing Communications - Perhaps the most familiar pillar. Many small businesses haven’t fully aligned resources to effectively communicate branding promises through carefully crafted messages and images.

Small business marketing takeaway:

Branding is crucial to the success of small businesses, but be careful not to let branding initiatives drive strategy. The reason most some small business branding efforts fail is because firms don’t first understand where branding fits along the continuum of other marketing initiatives. You don’t need millions of dollars to address the five marketing pillars above. Many small businesses are able to do the most relevant strategic work first and develop sophisticated branding strategies on a modest budget.