While some marketing campaigns
can break a small business's bank, not all require big bucks to execute
Shawn Prez, CEO and founder of
the marketing and promotions firm Power
Moves, Inc., said
there are a variety of campaigns small businesses can run for little to no
cost. To help businesses looking for a creative marketing plan on the cheap
this holiday season, Prez, a former executive at Bad Boy Entertainment, offers
five suggestions, including:
·
Social Media Marketing: More than three-quarters of
adults between the ages of 30 and 49 use social media, according to the Pew
Research Centre. Since this age range represents a significant portion of those
in a household with purchasing power, small businesses should make sure they
target their audience through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Post a visual of holiday deals or fun holiday
products and invite the audience to share and comment. Businesses can even film
short holiday-themed commercials and post them to their social profiles.
·
Product Placement: Product placement is perfect for
those without an extensive holiday campaign budget that are looking to gain
airtime for their products. Businesses can contact production assistants or
networks and explain why their product is the perfect fit for a time slot this
holiday season. Product placement allows marketers to spend the money and
effort displaying their products, while ensuring the chosen time slot or
location reaches very important and influential demographics.
·
Guerrilla Marketing: A tactic that is perhaps the
most effective with reaching younger audiences is guerrilla marketing. It focuses on non-traditional methods for
increasing brand awareness, using various brand ambassadors to interact
one-on-one, in a very intimate manner. Using minimal resources, this tactic is
proven to have a significant effect on driving sales, as well as growing brand
awareness. In addition, the interactive nature of guerrilla marketing aids in
building a brand experience by helping a community create a more lasting
relationship with a product beyond the holiday season.
·
Lifestyle Marketing: Small businesses that are a
lifestyle brand should consider utilizing lifestyle marketing to reach their
audience this holiday season. Lifestyle marketing utilizes word of mouth. Place
products or messaging at locations where consumers frequent, such as hair and
nail salons or popular lunch spots. These locations can carry a lot of
influence with a local community and a product or flier visible in these
locations will help grow brand awareness for small businesses during the
holiday craze.
·
Holiday Shows: Work the holiday shopping fair
circuit. Metropolitan areas have hundreds of these shows each holiday season.
Make use of these popular venues and rent a booth for your business. These
fairs are great for exposing products to a large crowd at little expense to the
business. Even for those that don't sell a lot of merchandise, these fairs are
great networking tools for small businesses to grow awareness of their brands
among the shopping community. When at a holiday show, make sure to spend time
passing out business cards and talking up the products.
SOURCE: by Chad Brooks