 Deciding when to spend money on marketing is always on the minds of small business owners. You want to get the timing just right so you can spend a little and get a lot.
When is it ideal to invest in your marketing? I help owners answer this question often because I’m a small business marketing consultant and my job is to grow sales for companies like yours. Okay, back to my question, think of your answer first, then look at mine below. A) When Sales are Up B) When Sales are Stagnant C) When Sales are Falling D) All of the Above Before I answer the question, let’s look at each of our choices… A) When Sales are Up. Most small business owners think this is not the best time to invest in marketing. You’re doing great so why change a thing? “Don’t rock the boat.” So why spend money on marketing when what you have is working? To keep the momentum going. To get more sales! Customers are buying. Time to fine tune your marketing. Improve it so you can get more out of your marketing. Don’t think of the old saying “if it ain't broke, don't fix it”. Instead think of the saying “build a better mouse trap”. Time to build a better marketing trap to get more sales. B) When Sales are Stagnant. This usually means something with your marketing is not working. You have sales but it’s not ideal and you know something is wrong. Just can’t put your finger on it. This is the time to spend money in marketing. Find out early why sales are not doing as well as you hope. Fix the problem now since the next stage is “sales are falling”. So spend money in revamping your marketing. Perhaps you sound like everyone else so you are not standing out! Or you’re not using the right channel to reach customers. This is the ideal time to spend money on marketing because fixing your marketing at this stage might be cheaper than the next stage. C) When Sales are Falling. Ideal time to invest in your marketing? YES! Why? Your sales are falling! Something in your marketing is not grabbing your customers’ attention anymore. It could be the story you are telling does not resonate with the customers anymore. Perhaps the channel you were using (online/offline) is no longer the best method to reach your customers. Time to review your marketing and rebuild it. Write your story so you can stand out from the rest. Find new channels so you can makes sales instead of clicks. Create better marketing not just new marketing. D) All of the Above The correct answer is D) All of the Above. Did you answer correctly? Most small business owners would choose C. Some would choose B. Very few would choose A or D. Successful small business owners know to keep investing in marketing so they never get to B, C, or D. If your.... A) Sales Are Up. Contact me today to fine tune your marketing so you can get more sales and keep them up! B) Sales Are Stagnant. Contact me today to fix your marketing so you can get your sales back up before they start falling! C) Sales Are Falling. Contact me today to create better marketing so you can stop your sales from falling and get them back up again! Let's Talk. FREE CONSULTATION.  From software to soft serve, ALL small businesses need customer reviews. So, how do you get more customer reviews?
Short answer by ACTIVELY seeking & making it easier for customers to submit reviews. But if you are wishing/hoping for reviews & don’t make it easier for customers to submit them you will not get more reviews. Many small businesses fall in this category. Most customers are not going to send in reviews on their own. Unless you did something REALLY BAD! Most HAPPY customers don’t bother writing reviews. This is why you should actively seek customer reviews. Always ask for reviews. Send emails or make calls asking for customer feedback after purchase. Follow up with them few days, weeks or even months later to see how things are going. PLUS make it easier for customers to submit reviews. Depending on your business provide them different methods to submit their reviews. Use Yelp, Facebook, Google, your website.... The easier you make it the more reviews you will receive. Your customers live busy lives. Remind them and make it easy. Your customers will reward you with reviews. |