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

There are few more useful books for understanding sales and marketing than Influence—Science and Practice (Allyn & Bacon, 2000) by Robert Cialdini. In this book, he outlines the six key principles of influencing people. As you build your brand, keep them in mind:

1. Reciprocation. When you receive something from someone, all but the most socially inept feel an obligation to give something back. This isn’t limited to gifts and goods; it also includes treatment. If someone treats you with kindness, you are likely to treat them back in the same way. Example: Charities giving gifts when asking for donations.
2. Scarcity. When people perceive something as popular and in short supply, they will seize the opportunity to possess it. This explains the potency of limited time and limited quantity offers when there’s little reason for limits of either. Example: the “limited” number of people could sign up for Google’s Gmail.
3. Authority. You can persuade people if they perceive you as having knowledge and credibility about a subject. This effect includes not only celebrity endorsements but the reliance of people in a social circle to believe the group’s “experts.” Example: I know this is ridiculous, but Dennis Haysbert is effective at selling Allstate Insurance because he’s The Man in “The Unit.”
4. Commitment. If you can get someone to commit to an order or request, she is likely to go through with the commitment. This is especially true if you sign a pledge document or publicly declare your intentions. Example: Signing a petition to support a cause.
5. Liking. The more people know you and like you, the more likely you can influence them. While people you dislike may bludgeon you into doing something, it’s certainly not “influence” in the way that we’re discussing it. Example: my daughter asking me for anything anytime anywhere.
6. Consensus. If everyone around you is buying a product, you’ll be more likely to buy it, too. Doesn’t food taste better at restaurants with long lines? In many instances, saving time and thinking is a benefit of following the wisdom of the crowd. Example: the lines of people waiting to get a new model iPhone.

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Google inspired me.

Yes, Google inspired me to create a marketing collateral piece for my business, from its little AdSense booklet that I received in the mail several years back.  (See the booklet and read more about it here.)

Today I’d like to share my own booklet – the booklet that Google inspired.  When I saw Google’s booklet, a light bulb went on over my brain.  “A ha!  I can create something like that to drive people back to my website,” I thought.

You see, I run a Web-based publishing business – akin to an informal online magazine.  I have struggled to come up with meaningful printed collateral to hand out at in-person events and speaking engagements that will get people to go online and visit my website.

In my case, going to my website is the single biggest call to action.  My goal is to get people to go to my website, whereupon they read information, subscribe and participate in the community.  So I created my own booklet, which looked like this:

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We’ve featured a lot of great advice on this site for developing your brand strategy. Here are some highlights to help you take advantage of the tips we’ve offered so far.

1. Choose a name with a good story behind it

John Battelle advises: “It’s often said that a brand is a ‘vessel waiting to be filled.’ In other words, you can call a new product or service anything, and after a while, if your product is successful, that brand will come to mean whatever experience it ends up delivering. While I generally agree with the thesis, I’ve found that having a great story is a very good way to jumpstart a new brand, and a great way to help sell it and keep defining it in the long term.”

You can read the full post here.

2. Clearly define what it is your company does

Guy Kawasaki says,  “… if you want to build a company that can take the heat, you need to define your business in not in terms of what you do  but what benefit you provide. Now ask yourself: What business is your company in?”

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I’ll never forget how surprised I was to receive the little booklet from Google.

You see, I’ve always thought of Google as the quintessential electronic business.  Who would have thought that they’d print up little spiral bound booklets and mail them to small business owners like me?  But they did.  Here is the booklet I got in the mail one day:

The booklet is called “Tweak Your Way to Profitability.”   The subtitle is “Tips for Boosting Your Income with AdSense.”

It contains tips for running Google AdSense units on your website to earn extra income.

Several things intrigued me about this marketing piece – so much so, that over 4 years later I still have it.  

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In case you missed it (or would love to hear it again): The March 18 webinar on “The Truth About Small Business Branding” is available for re-play. Click here to play the webinar.

The all-star panel, led by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing, featured:

• » Karen Post – The Branding Diva & Author of Brain Tattoos
• » John Moore – Creator of Brand Autopsy & Author of Tribal Knowledge
• » Sam Horn – Author of Pop! – Stand out in any crowd
• » Aaron Weiss – Chief Product Officer for MarketSplash

Join us March 31 for the next webinar, Creating Marketing Materials. Register now!

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