Article Title

Marketing Ideas

Article Audience

Small business owners, managers, new business marketers

Article Summary

Marketing ideas - brainstorming assistance geared for new and small business.

Article Author

Matt Chansky

Stuck For Marketing Ideas or Don’t Know Where to Begin?

Wondering how to grow your small business? Here is a comprehensive list of marketing ideas and strategies to get more business from existing customers and increase new business. Start by identifying your goals, understanding the needs of your target audience, and of sketching out a budget.

Tip: Stay flexible, don’t over-commit to any one strategy and remember, it will be the combination of marketing applications that will give you the best chance at success.

Tip: Don’t just think in terms of “this is who we are” or “this is what we need to do.” Instead, think about how you are going to teach your market about your business. When you start thinking that way, you are thinking like a professional marketing firm and your strategy will be focused and more successful.

Print, Broadcast, and Strategic Marketing Ideas

  • Trade magazine ads
  • Direct mail coupon mailing
  • Direct mail marketing card
  • Marketing slicks (Sales slicks)
  • Branded giveaways (flash memory drives, pens, hats, mugs, etc.)
  • Cross-promotional campaign (work with other businesses to help promote each other)
  • Trade shows
  • Car magnet
  • Sponsorships
  • Door hangers
  • Menu advertisements
  • Movie ads
  • Newspaper ads
  • Newsletter mailing or e-newsletter
  • Posters
  • Press kits
  • Press releases
  • Regional or local magazine ads
  • Sales letters
  • Podcasting
  • Billboard ads
  • Yellow page advertising (really depends on your business)
  • Gift certificates/gift cards
  • Television ads
  • Radio ads
  • Television advertorials

 

Web Marketing Ideas

  • Article marketing
  • Study your competitors’ web marketing strategies
  • Banner and web button ads (sometimes called “display ads”)
  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Contest / sweepstakes
  • Press release marketing
  • Online newsletter
  • Linking strategy (put your website on relevant business directories)
  • Meta tag optimization (greatly underrated)
  • Google images optimization and promotion
  • Build a better website
  • Market free tips from your website
  • Quizzes, surveys, and polls (spread the word through social networks)
  • RSS feed
  • E-mail blasts
  • Create special landing pages and promote them
  • YouTube marketing
  • Offer a free service to draw in visitors to another service
  • Pay-Per-Click ads
  • Search engine submit
  • XML site map
  • Join online forums and make meaningful posts
  • Viral marketing
  • Google analytics
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About

The inspiration for the article center is to give small businesses, start up businesses, and newcomers marketing and branding information for FREE.

So many businesses I’ve met with over the years are singularly focused on fulfilling their everyday tasks. But if you don’t take care of your business, it won’t take care of you.

If you don’t have the time to read books on marketing / branding or the finances to hire a marketing firm, the selection of ezines here should help you on your way. Hopefully you will find some good nuggets of info to give you or your team a strategic spark. Enjoy your reading!

—Matt

Usage

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