Small Business Marketing Strategies

Today we embark upon the process of exploring with keywords or keyword phrases, the supply of your pre-defined niche market, which is equivalent to your competition.

A recap of the last segment, we discussed the process of Finding Demand of Niche Markets via the following steps :

• Collate the Functional list of your niche using Google Adwords Keyword Tools
• Measure the Profitability of your Niche Market via a 2-step process of firstly measuring the volume of your Niche Market via Google Adwords Kywords Tool. Thereafter, evaluating the number of ads in SpyFu for profitability analysis
• Search for Profitable Affiliate Programs related to your Niche Market to sell

Notice a simple natural reaction whenever you need to run a quick research on a topic. You would remind yourself to “Google” the topic. When evaluating supply/competition, we do exactly that. Let’s run through the process.

Evaluating Supply = Competition

• “Google” your selected niche by inputting the keyword or keyword phrase.
• On the top right corner of the bar separating your search bar and search returns, you will find the total number of search returns and this number becomes the Supply or your competition. Do this in “Quotes”.

Note that the total number of search returns ie. the supply/competition will give you an idea of how much information or providers are out there competing to win over the potential niche customers.

However, that is not to say that when Supply runs into the millions the niche is too competitive. We must evaluate the supply against the demand before we derive our conclusion. Go for any number less than 20,000 to 50,000 competing pages.

No one has ever definitively set a benchmark figure for this formula, and neither will I here. The reason being that different niche markets behave and yield different results. There have been instances, albeit rare, when I entered more than usual competitive niches, thinking that the survival rate would be akin to nil, but surprisingly, I managed to pull through with interesting results. And the vice versa is true.

And more importantly, do share the results with all our readers out here. I would really appreciate it.

Next Stop brings us to to investigating Key SEO ideas at 6 Steps to Effective SEO for Online Niche Marketing Domination.

And for a recap of Part 1 of this series, check out Finding Demand of Niche Markets.

Based on the BusinessFast4ward Marketing Plan, or any other business plan for that matter, the first step is to set SMART goals, goals which are measurable.

Measurable goals help to guide you along the right track, allowing you tweak your campaigns and marketing plan along the way as you phase your campaigns. Measurable goals not only help you to track your spending, profit and loss but also operational efficiencies such as lead generation rates, leads-to-sales conversion rates etc.

The ROI or Return on Investment is the measurement of your business’ success or failure. There is need to benchmark your direct marketing campaign with your respective industry standards and then set internal benchmarks as measurements.

A general rule of thumb is that for traditional mode of postal direct mailer to new potential databases, a 3% – 5% response rate & 30% leads-to-sales conversion rate is considered above average achievements. That said, it is not uncommon to find conversion rates of as high as 10% in very successful new campaigns. And of course, direct mailers to existing databases could yield greater conversion, with the assumption that you have loyal customers and products that continuously meet their needs.

The BusinessFast4ward Direct Marketing Campaign ROI Guide & Checklist

We have put together a simple guide to help you measure your ROI specific to your physical Direct Mailing campaigns. Let us explore the list of guiding questions below:

How many Postal Direct Mailers/ emails/ text ad messages (sms) have you sent out?

How much is the per unit cost and hence the total cost of your direct mailer?

Note that for emails you should still factor in your production cost, and manpower cost if applicable.

How much business revenue is generated from this campaign?

This is assuming that you have set a monitoring system for incoming revenues. Note that it is critical to set up an easy to manage revenue monitoring system which enables you to have timely and real=time information on specific campaigns as this gives you’re the nimbleness to make changes to your marketing strategies and tactics during the campaign period.

What is my ROI of this campaign?

The ROI of any campaign or marketing activity is calculated as [Total Revenue to date – Total Cost to date]/Total Cost to Date.

Note that the ROI is represented in a decimal form of which you may convert to percentages for easier reference.

How does my ROI compare to my Industry ROI? Or my greatest competitor’s ROI?

Now that you have your ROI on hand, you should first compare that to the industry ROI. If you are above it, do not let off and keep up the push for better improvements.

How does my ROI compare to my competitor’s ROI?

More importantly, should you be privy to your greatest competitor’s ROI, compare and make adjustments to exceed that of your competitor. This should serve as a continuous activity whenever you are doing your marketing campaigns. That said, when comparing your competitor’s campaign ROI, take note of the similarities and differences in their direct marketing mix and channels adopted. You should compare “apples to apples”. Too many diverging factors would make your competitor comparison meaningless.

What variable components in my ROI can I tweak to improve my returns?

This is the million dollar question. Timing is of essence, and having access to real time campaign results gives you the edge to start making adjustments to your direct marketing mix.

The key components you can tweak are your promotional mix in terms of the push factors. These are namely creating additional personal selling or telemarketing in support of your direct mailers, distribution of flyers at critical locations applicable to your business.

If you are strapped of funds, you could consider free press write ups, or subtly market your business via social networking sites. You might also forge alliance with other renown internet marketers in joint ventures to market your product over the internet, provided of course that your product offerings are suitable for the internet in terms of target audiences as well as delivery channels. And should you have excess funds, you may consider leveraging on TV ads or sponsor a radio talk show.

Check out the BusinessFast4ward Marketing Plan Template here for more details.

Leads are a key component to the Small Business Marketing Strategy. Today we share actual work experiences of the approach on how to capture the leads generated from traditional as well as internet advertising & promotions activities. These are proven approaches in both small businesses as well as large corporations.

After all the hard work you have put into road-mapping your marketing plan, now is the time to implement and test the authenticity of your marketing skills.

So, you launch your marketing campaign as planned. You start to get responses from various marketing tactics or tools. These are essentially responses or leads, which eventually if you do the right things, are converted into sales. Every single touch point or contact that you receive is a potential sale.

Obviously as you read this, you would realize the importance of leads and more significantly, leads management. Hence, learning how to manage leads is critical to your marketing activities.

Many entrepreneurs make the common mistakes of running incessant marketing campaigns but do not have the resources to follow up with their responses or leads. Eventually, the leads become “cold” and useless after a period of time. Experience has it that newly generated responses or leads must be attended to within a month from the point they are generated. Efficient marketers attend to the leads the moment they are generated, so as to keep the touch point warm. If first attempt to convert fails, they revisit the lead may within one month or a given time period, based on the type of business they are in.

Another major myth is that there is no way to track ad responses or leads. Many marketers are hesitant to advertise in TV, radio, newspapers and magazines by the sheer myth that such advertisements cannot be effectively tracked for response. In truth, it can be achieved very easily using simple routing approaches effectively for leads and sales tracking.

The Illustration for lead tracking system below:

You have a need to run marketing campaigns and advertise the business in order generate more leads with the objective of converting them into sales. Advertising channels broadly encompass television commercials (TVCs), press advertisements, email & website marketing & marketing collaterals. You will need to train one telemarketer (depending on scale) to run this process.

Tracking Your Traditional Advertising Channels – TVCs, Press Advertisements, Writeups as well as Marketing Collaterals

What you need to do:

• Design Ad copies and emails with Hotline (Loop-Back) feature & website address prominently placed.
• Prepare a Lead Tracking Schedule which will be tabulated at the end of each day.
• Prepare a telemarketing script to lead generate effectively

Managing the Process

• Ensure that the Hotline and email responses are attended to immediately.
• At inception, the telemarketer will check the source of ad channel, ie. From where did the caller find out about the campaign.
• Your email campaign system must be able to track how many of your emails are opened or read.
• It should also track how many email readers visit your website via the links in your email. (this could be tracked from your website) At best, allow half a day turn around time. The longer you wait on the lead, the colder the lead gets. Route the lead to sales person.
• Sales person to revert on status of leads after attending the lead via email or call update. If your email system has the capabilities, configure the consolidated reports will be routed to your system on a daily basis

Tracking Your Website

• Capture your prospects’ details by installing an auto-responder.
• Ensure that there is a response or “shy yes” page which allows your website visitors to leave their details or enquiries.
• Use analytics tracking systems to track your website traffic flow.
• If you have installed Google Adsense or affiliate marketing on your website, analyze your leads and sales analytics from respective programs.
• Analyze from comprehensive analytic reports where & who your visitors are as well as whether they are repeat visitors. You can also track the backlinks from where your traffic is generated. This will help you to further hone your channel marketing tactics.

The above lead tracking model works well for traditional & internet marketing mix, from advertising to sponsorship, to event management and of course the ever-green marketing campaigns.

To reiterate, Leads are the essence of your Small Business Marketing Strategy, hence, you need to grow the process over time and track accordingly.

For more information, check out Small Business Marketing Strategie here.

Linking the Compensation component with Talent Management is a major challenge in today’s business environment. Global economic conditions have taken a dive and according to a new WorldatWork survey predicts employee pay raises will more or less stay put in 2008, a departure from the nearly 4 percent average increase in 2007.

The immediate issue businesses need to contend with is achieving business results and targeted growth given the lack of sufficient budget. Amidst a budget crunch in employee compensation programs and an impending need to spend on salaries and incentives, one solution would be to look to creative talent management strategies.

With the economy taking a breather, management should start leveraging on other platforms to motivate and compensate staff. One such method is to explore the concept of Total Rewards, an all inclusive package which encompasses income, health benefits, development as well as work-life balance. This presents a holistic value-add to the meaning of compensation, be it specifically for talent or staff alike.

Human Resource managers could position Total Rewards as a comprehensive compensation package applicable for Talent Management by offering varying levels development and health benefits as well as different quantum of incentives at different corporate echelon. Total Rewards should be sculptured to encompass both monetary and non-monetary employee benefits. There is equal appeal for new entrants of the workforce or to the company. It serves as an attraction for those in search of balance in compensation, lifestyle as well as provides a sense of stability. However, having said that, these are the criteria which Talents also value at the workplace.

Compensation and performance must be aligned for parity. The leveraging platform here is learning and development which is a process which Learning ROI is evaluated with KPIs or key performance indicators to measure work achievements.

Communication is of utmost importance to the successful acceptance of any Human Resource or Talent Management strategy and tying in the expectations of business outlook going forward, in tandem with the Total Rewards package is critical. Understand that the best rewards system will fail if they are not communicated appropriately to employees.

Leverage on internal communication via actively organizing relevant activities, staff benefit tie-ups and benefit offerings thereby creating positive talking point amongst staff. Get Top management involved in the change activities as well.

For more on this topic, check out Talent Management – How To Measure Performance of Your Staff here.

Tools of performance measurements abound the Talent Management arena. KPIs or Key Performance Indicators are the most realistic performance indicators linked to talent management and your business bottom line. KPIs are linked to business activities for accountability and periodically reviewed.

An additional value-add would probably for to build in a Business Ethics Barometer which tracks the business ethics compliance of the talent. We suggest that the Business Ethics Barometer be measured by generating response from the 360 degree performance review, hence providing a more holistic picture of the talent. If the company is not utilizing the 360 degree performance review, one alternative is to incorporate into the performance evaluation views of other peers and colleagues. This helps you set a more comprehensive perspective and benchmark for the talent.

Talent Management – Enhancing Performance with Learning & Knowledge Management Tools

With Globalization and technology advancement in the recent 10 years, the approaches of learning and knowledge management in terms of systems and processes have changed greatly. From the traditional classroom and one-on-one learning approaches, the learning process has morphed into online learning or e-learning and collaborative in nature. This has impacted how knowledge information is managed as well.

Learning Management System or LMS is software for delivering, tracking and managing training. Knowledge Management or KM comprises a range of practices used by organizations to identify, create, represent, distribute and enable adoption of what it knows, and how it knows it. Hence, if an organization uses an e-learning or online learning platform, the knowledge management uses online access of shareware for the transference of expertise. Often than not, e-learning or online learning platforms are better leveraged in areas where learning technical knowledge is critical.

One drawback for e-learning or online learning is that it lacks human interaction in the transference of knowledge which is critical in the transference of a wholesome learning experience in the social and emotional intelligence context of it.

A recommended approach to holistic learning is blended learning concept have become very well accepted in today’s high tech high touch learning environment. Essentially, blended learning concepts evolve around both components of online learning as well as instructor-led learning, effectively enhancing the learning experience with the “human touch”.

Online learning or E-learning is most effective for access of static information which the learner previews the background and foundation of the topic in discussion. Having learnt the “basics”, it greatly expedites the instructor-led segment of the learning process whereby the instructor or facilitator transfers the intrinsic value of the topics to the learner.

Soft skills such as business knowledge and business skills require more physical transference. Physical transference tends to elevate the learning experience to a different level.

Some companies which adopt cohesive and centralized organizational structures tend to leverage on this strength via mentoring, coaching or buddy system . This too could form part of the high touch segment of the learning process whereby the mentor, buddy or coach transfers knowledge and skills to the talent.

And remember that all learning activities must translate into contribution in your business growth, either in monetary forms or otherwise.

Interested to learn more, check out Talent Management here

Talent management is increasingly becoming a critical part of the business management strategy for most organizations, not only for the corporations, but also serve as a significant part of your small business marketing strategies. Hire the wrong guy and you will see your bottom line plummet over time. It is no longer a nice sounding buzzword that describes human resource management. It is a more profound terminology, with far-reaching effects in an entity’s long term future. In fact, it has evolved to become a critical part in strategic business management, living and breathing your business.

Talent Management is a never-ending process, that manages the start point of a new employee to the end point when termination (of either party) occurs, namely attracting, developing, and retaining talent. Embedded within the process therein lies the essence of critical factors which could spell its success or failures. An expanded definition of talent management is a more comprehensive approach of trying to build those competencies.

There are 4 anchor pillars which governs talent management, namely recruiting, performance management, learning management, and compensation management. Hence, talent management is the end-to-end process of planning, recruiting, developing, managing, and compensating employees. Still this is however, an overtly simplistic and inward looking definition.

Talent Management strategies must begin with the end in perspective. It must blend into the broad perspective of your Strategic Business Plan, supported by the long term growth of your organization, human resource management as well as Business Succession Planning. In essence, it provides the right people to drive the organization and is the bloodline of its growth. Talent Management speaks of and breathes life into your organization.

Talent Management is managing the long term expectations of employees by immersing them into the corporate culture, designing and delivering programs and initiatives to support the personal and professional development of employees which blends into the growth paths of your business plan. It is not difficult to see that there is an element of soft-indoctrination induced into this process.

Hence, in order that the organizations develops and deploys people who can articulate the passion and vision of the organization and make teams with the energy to perform at much higher levels, the organization itself must first create such employees.

Stay tuned for this series of post and articles on Talent Management, exploring the talent management gaps and how to’s in management talent for long term top organizational performance.

Never Forget Your Repeats

In this looming economic downturn, you would think that there is little you could do with your existing client base. Well think again. It is all about understanding your clients’ needs and meeting them exceeding their expectations. You have been in business for a while now with a list of existing, potential and dormant clients. What can you do to further the potential revenue from the list? Yes, you merge, purge and keep selling to your repeats.

Customer Retention vs Customer Acquisition

The cost of customer acquisition versus customer retention could reach as high as 700%, according to a report by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company as below:

• Acquiring a new customer can cost 6 to 7 times more than retaining an existing customer
• Over a 5 year period customer attrition rates could reach as high as 50% if databases are left dormant
• Businesses which boosted customer retention rates by as little as 5% saw increases in their profits ranging from 5% to a whopping 95%.

Regardless of whether your business nature is B2C or B2B, there are critical steps which you must execute whenever you run your direct marketing campaigns. This applies for both online and offline direct marketing campaigns. I shall skip the basics and we shall proceed to delve deeper into your databases.

Repeat Buyers – Make Them Sticky for Life

What at Repeat Buyers? They are your loyal customers who continue to use your services by virtue of the fact that you provide a specific product or service which they need, they are used to and that which is not available elsewhere. You may have exceed their expectations by a superior product or service, over delivered on your product value proposition or provided additional value add to them in a special way. You might also have given them privilege pricing which is unmatched elsewhere. Or your delievery channels are good match for their needs. In all aspects, you must have impressed your repeat clients well to keep them coming back for more. And there are ways you could further capitalize on them.

These repeat customers are what you might deem as Cash Cows as in the BCG Matrix, which require little maintenance cost, and consistently repeat revenue over time. You need to analyze the greatest “hook” your product or service have on them, which could be anything from the above stated.

Milk The Cash Cows, Build Relationships, Help Them To Help You

“Milk” them well by continuing to delivering your services over and above expectations. You may launch a special marketing campaign specific for loyal customers and package your most popular offerings using bundled pricing.

For B2C businesses, consider organizing “Loyalty Rewards Nights” and have them invite their friends and families, or have a quarterly “Bring a Buddy” Special Seminar. For B2B businesses, organize Business Partner’s Nite where business partners bring along their extended business associates for networking purposes or Golf Charity Outing for fostering relationships.

How ever your approach, you need to keep building relationships with this segment and provide them with genuine help in support of furthering Their business objectives. Essentially, you need to help them to help you grow your business. This way, good word-of-mouth & “testimonial” will bring you much more sustaining revenue over time.

Why Did You Stop Buying? – Reviving Your Dormant Customers

As for the Dormant Customers who have been one time buyers, run a “Survey Gift Pack” and ask them why they have not bought from you again. This is the customer segment which could well turn into your Cash Cows if you only listened to them. You might be surprised to find what they have to say about your product or service. Keep an open mind and take criticism constructively. Past experience is that further product development and refinement arise from customer feedback giving rise to new lease of life to the product life cycle.

Check out more good reads, visit Product Life Cycle Rejuvenation

This is a discussion exploring the process on how to dominate online niche marketing. The process will cover defining niche market, conducting keyword research for the optimal list of keywords or keyword phrases, exploring the volume of Demand and CPC for Google Adsense profitability, affiliate and CPA programs.

We will adopt market accessible free software tools whenever possible but there will be suggestions to explore paid versions should the need arise. But I will share with you a very efficient tool which will cut your keyword research time by 90% at the end of this series.

I am a strong advocator for starting things right at the start. So First Things First, let us go through the following step by step

Define “Niche Market”

Firstly, I would provide you with a simple description of a “Niche Market” as follows:

A niche market defines a small group of people with similar and very focused demand for a certain product or service. This demand is currently met with little or ignored amounts of supply .

This reason I qualify niche market with “demand is currently unmet with little or ignored amounts of supply” is to ensure that as we proceed, you will find that your supply will meet the demand profitably, with little competition.

Find “Demand” – Look for Search Count

We proceed to find the niche segment keywords. You would probably have a niche in mind.

Step 1

Find out the functional list of keywords by going to Google Adwords Keyword Tools , a free software by Google. Note that you should start with a niche with a exact term or phrase and narrow down. If you are comfortable with the amounts of keywords sufficient as writing topics, proceed to the next step.

For building Micro Niche Sites, 1,000 < Search Count < 2,000.

Step 1 Part 2

Purpose of this is to explore the CPC from Google advertisers’ perspective. This is especially important if you are searching for niches words for Google Adsense. The higher the average cpc the better because this would imply that the higher your adsense reward.

Alternatively you could go to Google Adwords Keywords Tool which gives you the average searches of your niche on a monthly basis. Check the drop down list as exact search count. Click to include Est CPC, and Search Trends.

The real objective of part 1 and part 2 is to Derive the Demand via Search Count and hence the potential profitability of your niche from the keywords derived so as to make things worthwhile for you when you finally decide to embark on the chosen niche.

Monetising Your Online Niche Marketing Site with Affiliate Programs and Adsense

As a niche market product or service marketer, the onus is on you to seek out the most effective affiliate program, evaluated from the perspective of a potential user. Hence, exploring the spread of affiliate programs offerings in the market is essential.

The following listing would give you good coverage although not exhaustive – ClickBank, Commission Junction, Associate Programs and popular CPA networks are PepperJam, Affiliate.com, Revenueloop, just to name a few. Note that there are other successful “undercover” affiliate programs not in the mentioned list, yet to be fully leveraged, if only you look hard enough.

A Parting Note… for this Segment

Check out the the next session where we approach the topic of exploring supply, or rather, evaluating your competition for online niche marketing.

For more in depth understanding to identify which online niche marketing approach is most appropriate for you, check out Keyword Driven vs Emotive Online Niche Marketing

Often times, some internet marketers approach online niche marketing too much like a business, forgetting that there is an ultimate entity at the end of the food chain – Your Target Customers. Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with the fact that niche or no niche, internet marketing ultimately is all about driving traffic for Business.

What I noticed lately of online niche marketing is how it is driven by the approach adopted to target and drive traffic to generate income. Many may feel that my approach is more idealistic than money-making, but I am inclined to stick to my guns because I strongly believe that whatever niche your choose to generate traffic and income must reflect your interest in that topic and more importantly, for the long term.

Then and only then can you fully immerse yourself in thoroughly researching, writing with inspiration and marketing the niche whole-heartedly for a long time to come. Remember, Personal web branding is important, and branding is a direct by-product of your web creations.

There are 2 approaches online niche marketers adopt. The first is what I would term as Keyword Driven Niche Marketing. It is the fast forward approach whereby you simply go to your niche finding software, click on the niche for today to generate a random choice of keyword or related keywords. You check the supply and demand of the niche. You then go through the process of producing keyword rich niche good content and populate with adsense or affiliate links.

The alternative approach is more of Emotive Niche Marketing. It is one whereby you pre-define your desired niche, run preliminary checks on the demand and supply of the niche. The difference kicks in here. You research and drill down to explore the type of forums & clubs your niche target participates in, the kind of lifestyle behavioral traits they possess, the kind of passionate hobbies and interests they have. Join their activities, Understand their mindset and what drives them, Live & experience their lifestyles, Find out their needs and provide the appropriate offerings. Essentially, generate strong bonding via active social networking with your niche target segments. This is also good web branding.

Do you see the difference between the 2 types of approaches? Yes, the first is aimed at methodically building traffic and ranking, the second is truly bond-building to last over time.

However, let me clarify that we are not here to judge the effectiveness of either approach. The effectiveness depends on the creator’s expectations and purpose. And real life tests have been conducted by online niche marketers that both approaches do work.

Next stop, we shall start exploring the Keyword Research approach to exploring Market Demand of your intended Niche.

For more information on Online Niche Marketing, check out How To Dominate Your Niche Markets For Small Businesses.

The Product Life Cycle describes the life path of a product. All products go through four stages, namely the Introduction, Growth, Maturity & Decline stage. Every product has a life cycle, some of which has potential for product life cycle rejuvenation.

For multiple products, the marketer’s task is more complex as he or she needs to map the various life stages of each of the products to stagger and phase them across the product universe in order that each product life cycle is fully optimize for cash generation across the business horizon.

The product life cycle analysis is a fluid document which needs to be revisited annually for planning purpose. Most product life cycles do not follow a straight path, and various business and political factors could cause less certainty of the product living through its life stages as planned.

As a prudent marketer, you should pro-actively look to rejuvenating the life cycles of Cash Cow products, in the BCG matrix, at their matured and declining stages. Some even plan ahead at the growth stages of their product lines for product life cycle rejuvenation.

Product rejuvenation ideas could be generated from the perspective of enhancing or changing the product features, adding new usages for the product, enhancing the product manufacturing process, product packaging technological innovation, creative and unique channel delivery process etc.

Baking soda, a product traditionally used for baking cakes and facing decline stage in the product life cycle has taken an innovative twist of fate for the good. Product development and marketing departments worked together to discover a creative and very practical new usage of utilizing baking soda as an odor-removing agent. The rest is marketing history and sales have rejuvenated leap and bounds since.

As a smart marketer, you must carefully weigh the pros and cons of product rejuvenation. The ultimate decisions whether to rejuvenate a product and extend its life cycle depend largely on costs associated with the process as well as the ability of your company to successfully re-position the rejuvenated product and convince potential customers of their extended usages and value add.