A guide to business marketing materials

If you're one of the thousands of small businesses that suffered a loss, reinvent your approach, this could mean something big like a change of your marketing logo, or something smaller like running a promotional offer. If you're expecting change with limited budget, inexpensive business cards with a new design, are great ways to show that your business is changing.

Promos as marketing materials

For example, if you run a lawn care company, your competitors can offer to mow a customer's lawn for $50. You charge at the same rate, but provide no promotional offer or advantage to the customer. If your website, commercials or newspaper ads do not state why your services are worth more than the competition's, why would they choose you? Be mindful of always letting the customer know why your $50 lawn service outperforms the competitions. Perhaps, you can mow the lawn in a limited amount of time, or the customer receives 50% off. Your customer is also entitled to a free lawn cutting if they refer a friend or family member. The possibilities truly are endless. Play around with different promotions, and allow those benefits to be the goal and importance of marketing. Marketing experimentation The best marketing materials are the benefits and features of your company, not the advertisements. You can be the most successful advertiser, but if your product doesn't exceed the competition, it makes the difference between one-time customers versus a loyal customer. Ask yourself if your company's advertisements talk about building a brand more so than explaining what separates you from the others. If so, this may be driving your customer away.

Customer focus

If you're unsure of how to change, don't be ashamed to ask your customer.
Ask them if they would fill out a brief "How Did We Do" questionnaire, with a 1 to 10 rating on factors like Quality, Promptness, Satisfaction with the Service, and allow them a space for suggestions. Remember, you don't have to set aside much money to change your marketing approach. You can also run an affiliate program in your website, which gives the customers an option to speak about your services and also to be a passive marketer for your business. Experiment with your choices until you find what works for you.