Small Business Marketing Guide - DIY (do-it-yourself) BRAND MARKETING STRATEGIES to HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

It’s no secret that consumers today are increasingly embracing all things green–green products, green services, anything that promises to be more environmentally sustainable than the options of days gone by. In fact, recent data shows that even during these tough economic times, 82 percent of consumers are still buying green products, despite the fact that they may cost more.

While an “eco” focus may not be part of every company’s mission–at least not yet!–it’s also a mistake to ignore the trend altogether, especially when you’re creating paper-heavy marketing materials. All other things being equal, the competitor with a greener image will likely win the sale.

So how can you create a greener image?

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Even during the best of times, it’s far more costly to acquire a new customer than it is to keep an existing one. But during a recession? The disparity can become monumental as cash-strapped potential buyers hold their wallets close in their efforts to save money.

Each lost customer, meanwhile, is a step closer to disaster for small businesses. So it’s more important than ever to do everything you can to hang onto the customers who have already chosen to buy from you before. It’s time to count your blessings, in other words, and do what you can to keep them. And that, in turn, is where direct marketing can help.

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One of the classic mistakes many marketers make is to assume that potential customers inherently care about their company or the product they have to sell. It may sound harsh, but the fact of the matter is that they just don’t. Most customers don’t care about you, your product, your exciting young company or what you have to say.

What do they care about? Solving some problem or meeting some need of their own. But increasingly, they also care about doing business with companies that care about them.

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