Marketing is a never-ending task
By Joyce M. Rosenberg
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Sales are down at your small business, and maybe you've lost a couple of customers. Time to get out there and do some marketing, right?
Well, yes, but you mean you haven't been marketing all along?
Consultants say that failing to have an ongoing marketing program is one of the most common mistakes small businesses make. Although company owners understand that marketing is critical, many don't make it an integral part of the business. And many don't understand some marketing essentials, such as being sure their company delivers a clear, cogent message to prospective customers.
"They think marketing is a sprint, when it really is a marathon," consultant Greg Stine said of business owners who don't have an ongoing program.
Stine, president of Polaris Inc. in Oakridge, Ore., said this is particularly a problem for companies that were doing so well during the late 1990s that they never bothered with marketing. Then the recession hit.
"Suddenly, the money isn't there, and they don't know what to do," he said.
Trying to throw a marketing program together quickly isn't a good idea. The panic that follows the loss of several accounts can lead to more missteps by business owners. Among them: failing to formulate (even in their own minds) that message that tells customers what a company is about and what it can do for them.
"The first thing they have to do is know the purpose of their own business," said Barbara Findlay Schenck, author of "Small Business Marketing for Dummies." "We usually tell them to come up with one sentence about what they do well."
Panic also may motivate a business to keep changing its message, another bad idea because it will only confuse customers and even drive them to look elsewhere.
Schenck noted that Nike has been hugely successful because it has a consistent message: "Just do it." But, she said, many small businesses are constantly morphing, changing their logos, business cards and stationery and hoping in vain that doing so will help boost their sales.
Sometimes the company isn't focused enough on a particular line of business, so "they skitter about trying to be something," Schenck said.
Stine said a lack of focus is a problem for newer companies.
"When they're in the development stage, it feels more secure to be selling everything, because something will work. The reality is, the reverse is true," he said.
He pointed to FedEx as an example that small businesses should follow — the company made its reputation on overnight package delivery, period.
Both consultants said a marketing program means maintaining contacts with customers — they are the greatest source of information about what does and doesn't work for a company. Without that feedback, an owner is working in a vacuum.
Stine recalled a client that performed services for contractors; its executives thought their biggest assets were their computer system and Web site. But the reality was quite a surprise.
"When we did research and talked to customers, their answer was, 'They load our trucks fast,' " Stine said.
"A lot of times as companies grow, they get off track of what makes them special, and it's no longer reflected in their marketing and identifying their brand," he said.
The consultants also advised business owners to choose their marketing methods carefully, concentrating resources on media or venues that are most likely to deliver qualified prospective customers. Schenck noted that ads in big newspapers like The New York Times won't work for many small businesses.
Stine advised companies to consider public relations as they formulate marketing programs. He pointed to the dot-com industry of an example of how advertising can be a huge expense that delivers little in the way of returns.
Smaller companies can get publicity by staging business-related events, either locally or at trade shows. Or they can just get their names out in public by sponsoring sports teams or doing charitable work.
"Make some news," is Stine's advice.
