Marketing in a Recession - Small Business Roundtable Presentation

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Marketing in a Recession

Small Business Roundtable Presentation – November 4, 2009

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Information You Can Act Upon

• Advertising philosophy for good and bad times

• Notion of ‘Hive Marketing’• Social Media: Moving from

communicating to engaging• Online and electronic marketing• The customer experience

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First, Stick to Your Knitting

• No time for retrenchment• If anything, step up community

involvement. Be more involved.• Echo Branding: Marketing shared values.• Do good and then share the news:

– Press release– Signage at your location(s)– Announcement on your website– Info in your monthly email blast– Jersey Mike’s example

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A Good Time to Learn• Take this time to do some ax

sharpening.• Figure out social media and trends

like online advertising.• Listen to customers; survey

customers.• Learn how to create blogs and online

communities.

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A Caveat: Recession as Opportunity

• “Cutting ad spending hurts brands long term” - Ad Age, April 6, 2009

• TNS Media Intelligence study

• In the past, companies that maintained ad spending were able to hold their ground or make gains

• Companies that cut in recessions tended to lose more market share

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Advertising Philosophy• For good and bad times.• Don’t buy it unless you’re going to make

an impact!• Avoid budget busters.• Less is more when selecting media

outlets.• Is traditional media the right venue for

your ad dollars?

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Media Buying

• Negotiate

• Ask for value-added

• Look for online components

• Track click throughs

• Try to measure everything

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Winning Formula When Money is Tight

• Media relations – perception of momentum; successful brand

• Community relations (goodwill)• Customer relations and retention• Engaging and updated website• Social media• Search engine marketing

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Media Relations (PR)

• Press Outlets– PRLog - Free global

press release distribution

– www.prlog.com

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Media Relations

• Press Outlets– www.CarolinaNewsWire.co

m

– Free press release

distribution, Carolinas specific

– Email your press release to publisher@carolinanewswire.com

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Media Relations• Press Outlets

– Dbusiness news– http://

triangle.dbusinessnews.com

– Simply fill out the form and post your news online

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Media Relations

• Press Outlets• www.RaleighDurham.co

m

• Simply fill out the form and post your news online

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Media Relations (PR)

• EPR Network - $29 global press release distribution

• www.epr-network.com

• Hits major social media outlets - furl, twitter, facebook, digg, delicious, etc.

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Media Relations• Distribute press

releases using LinkedIn Groups

• Other social media outlets: delicious, digg, etc.

• Linking Raleigh, NC• Chamber group

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Media Relations• Pitch Engine• Free source for

distributing press releases and story pitches

• www.pitchengine.com

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Social Media & Hive Marketing

Creating online environments where like-minded people can come together and share their

passion for your brand.

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Books About Social Media

• Groundswell, Charlene Li• Join the Conversation, Joseph Jaffe• Social Media is a Cocktail Party,

Jim Tobin and Lisa Braziel• PR 2.0, Deirdre Breakenridge• The New Rules of Marketing & PR,

David Meerman Scott

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Keys to Success in Social Media• Get involved• Develop a social media marketing plan• Be strategic; don’t try to do everything• Go where your customers are• Repurpose content and use automation

between platforms• Pace yourself; myths about frequency• Be patient; it takes time

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Social Media

• Start a blog (here are a few)– http://www.wordpress.com– http://www.ning.com– http://www.blogger.com

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Social Media: Track Visitors

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Social Media: Track Visitors

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Start a Facebook Group: www.facebook.com

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Social Media: LinkedIn Profile

• Create a LinkedIn profile and join relevant groups

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Social Media: Twitter

• Huge opportunity for some businesses

• Keep your brand constituents in the loop

• Myths about Twitter

• www.hootsuite.com

• TinyURLs

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Start a YouTube Channel

• Not right for everyone• Flip video camera - Post videos

on blogs, YouTube and other social media sites

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Search Engine Marketing

• Become more visible on search engines• Review books and publish lists on

Amazon.com– Post your reviews on your blog and on

facebook• Comment on other blogs and news articles• Do you have Google Alerts set up?

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Amazon.com Book Reviews

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Online Marketing• Pay-per-click advertising• Facebook Ads• Google Adwords• Yahoo geo-targeting - Target by zip

code, DMA, county or state• Local Media affiliates (Newspapers and

TV) - Usually pay per impression– Dbusinessnews.com– RaleighDurham.com– TriangleBusinessJournal

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Online Marketing

• Back to basics: Build a Website• Recent Webvisible & Nielsen study• Only 44% of small businesses have websites• Yet 50% said they use search engines as the first

place they turn for info about a local business• Only 7% reported that their primary marketing

goal was to drive traffic to their website• Only 9% reported being satisfied with their

online marketing• 30% do no internet advertising

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The Customer’s Brand Experience

• More important than ever

• In person, online and over the phone

• Aggressively manage brand experience

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Contact Information

• Dan Dunlop, President• Jennings• Ddunlop@jenningsco.com• Blog: http://dandunlop.wordpress.com• Website: www.jenningsco.com• Phone: 919-929-0225• I will post presentation in

www.SlideShare.net.