Successful small business entrepreneurs—from the infamous independent bookstore owner, to the family farmer, to the PC repairman—all have at least one thing in common: they market online. Resist as the small business may, the internet is here to stay, and with it comes a post-Thanksgiving, specifically designated cyber-shopping holiday, built in buyer’s incentives like special codes and sales that aren’t normally available to consumers who shop in real life. Lucky for the small business owner, there are certain online playing fields that are still relatively level and free. Facebook, Twitter, and even Myspace (which does, in fact, still exist) are all sites that small businesses can use to advertise to their followers, but these aren’t the only opportunities the web offers. Here are five online marketing opportunities that every small business should be taking advantage of:
If your business isn’t on Foursquare, you don’t know how to market online. Foursquare is a social networking site that acknowledges the user’s location, allowing them to check-in at various sites and businesses. Each time the user checks-in somewhere, they’re rewarded. If they check-in to a particular business with frequency, more often in a 60 day period than other users, then they are nominated Mayor, a tenuous position they must defend by returning and checking into the location with frequency. Users can also earn badges, Superstar status, and receive special offers. If you think turning everyday adult life into a fun game where your loyalty is rewarded is a bad idea, then Foursquare is not for you, or your boring and extremely serious customers.
Coupon Apps
Mobile coupon applications like Coupon Sherpa are a great way to advertise to everyone walking down the street without hiring someone to stand on the corner and dance around holding a sandwich board. Instead, with this app, customers are instantly notified of the deals offered in their vicinity and if they choose to stop in and shop, the coupons they use are hassle free and totally digital, just like coupons were always meant to be.
A Blog
Crazy as it sounds, a business without a blog is like a boat with out a quirky name: it lacks personality. Professional as your business may be in its day-to-day operations, in this age of voyeurism, satisfying your customer’s desire to know the real employees behind the professional façade is guaranteed to increase loyalty. Just don’t make the mistake of blogging about too much business, don’t blog about discounts or special offers, that’s what Twitter is for. Having a blog allows a company to share its interests with the world and inform the customer of things that are current and interesting within a given industry.
Hire a Customer Relationship Manager
Like the assistant or secretary you’ve always dreamed of, CRM’s (customer relationship manager’s) are often free or inexpensive to use, and they can be tweaked and honed to provide a nuanced array of information both to you and to your customers. A good CRM will notify you of someone’s birthday, manage mass email notifications without reminding your customers of Spam, organize appointments, meetings, and contacts, and much more. Design a monthly digital flyer to keep your customers or clients informed, send-out appointment reminders, and generally stay on top of your game.
The Digital Stamp Card
Anyone who has ever stood behind a counter selling clothing, books, music, coffee, even sandwiches could vouch for the necessity and wisdom behind Rezoop’s new digital stamp card. Paper stamp cards are a great way to build customer loyalty and create buying incentives, but in this digital age the customer wants convenience. They don’t want to dig through the random assortment of mystery stamp cards, business cards, credit cards, and voter registration cards that lay dormant in their wallets. But they do want to feel they’re getting a good deal, they want to feel they are compensated for their loyalty to local businesses. These are evolved consumers, they’ve owned credit cards that reward them with frequent flyer miles for at least a decade, so when a business proudly offers them a piece of paper with a stamp on it, they are understandably miffed. The digital stamp card has been discussed amongst customer service representatives for a while now, and thanks to Rezoop, the dream has become a free reality.
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