PR Campaign Tricks for SMEs to Improve Start-up Business March 26, 2012

The prime reason behind most new businesses to fail is their poor marketing strategy. This realization has motivated many enterprises to divert their efforts into developing a strong public relations (PR) campaign, which can help them promote & advertise their business on a wider scale.

A public relations campaign can compose of many different channels including, promotional offers, broadcasting media, print media, etc. However, you must choose a public relations outlet that can best suit your kind of business.

Here are few important steps entrepreneurs may follow to help them choose the most profitable PR channel to promote their business:

Know Your Target Audience – Before you can actually go about developing a public relations campaign, you must first define your target audience. Depending upon the types of services & products of your company in relation to your target audience, you can then tailor your marketing campaign accordingly.

Identify Competitors – A subsequently important step is to define your competitors. There is bound to be strong competition in every business & in order to be able to outdo this competition, you must first have a thorough knowledge of the opposition. Identifying your opponents and seeking details like, their pricing, marketing strategies, etc can be instrumental in planning your own marketing strategy.

Calculate Advertising Budget – Once you have defined your target audience & identified your competitors, the next step is to look for means to promote your business. However, it must be noted that advertising a start-up can be a costly endeavour. For this you must have prior planning as to how much amount you can afford to spend for marketing strategy.

Self vs. Hired Promoters – Once you have your advertising budget ready, you can then make a decision as to whether you would require a public relations specialist or have the promotions done through other cheaper alternatives like, blogs, newspaper advertisements, etc. The only thing to remember here is that, while the cheaper means of promotions may not be very effective, on the other hand a skilled public relations specialist can help you in implementing more aggressive means of promotion.

If you can spend ample time on each of these steps, you are sure to have a marketing campaign that can easily outshine the campaigns of your competitors.

If you need any assistance in PR email us on media@smejoinup.com

Boost your Profits – 5 Interesting Ideas for Free Internet Marketing Promotion January 3, 2012

There are endless advertisements one may find online for free internet marketing promotion. A well-developed & fool-proof internet marketing promotion strategy is sure to drive targeted traffic to your website & boost up your profits within no time.

Research & studies indicate that, employing free advanced website traffic strategies is an excellent means of achieving huge online success without having to spend much. Although, this may initially seem daunting for SMEs, the fact is that a low cost strategy is sure to create a win-win situation for you.

Here are few power ideas that can assist you with free internet marketing promotion:

Write & Submit a Keyword-Rich & Quality Article: There are numerous authority article submission sites like e-zine articles, article base, isnare, etc, where you can submit a high-quality article relevant to your site, mention the name of your website & enjoy hits from curious visitors. The key thing is to get the maximum number of hits, even if that means manually submitting your article to numerous article directories.

Active Participation in Blogs & Forums: The most important thing to do here is to first find a list of forums, blogs, social networking sites & boards that are relevant to your own website. Then try interacting with online friends to make your online presence felt strongly. Though this may take time, it is definitely one of the most cost-effective ways of driving in target traffic free of cost.

Use Advanced Web Tools: The internet world is full of such advanced tools that can churn out impressive results, that too without having to empty your wallets. There are endless free web tools that can be used for monitoring & automating your internet marketing campaign right in the comfort of your home.

Directory Submissions: There is no harm in continuing to submit your website to authority directories. However, before you start doing that, make sure that your website is well-developed because web-directories have a tendency to overlook poorly done websites.

Although it cannot be said for sure that by employing the above mentioned free internet marketing promotion strategies you are sure to generate a good amount of targeted traffic for your website, one thing is for sure that, the traffic generated would be of quality & you would definitely not be ending up shelling your pockets off your hard earned money.

 To avail of any help on internet marketing promotion please write to us on media@smejoinup.com

 

Does Your Branding & Marketing Align with your Business Figure? December 31, 2011

Most small and medium enterprises especially the growing ones and start-ups, seem to spend a large amount of their time trying to figure out how to position their business in the crowded & competitive business world, who is the target audience, what messages are to be conveyed to their target audience, how the messages would be carried across and so on.

However, how many SMEs have really tried to take a break, sit back & figure out that – How your message is going to be heard? How will it be interpreted by your target audience? Whether or not your audience will be able to understand exactly what you are trying to convey? What would it mean to the person who is listening?

The main point of interest behind such elaborate question and answer is to make you realize the fact that, it is not always what you say or do that necessarily counts but mostly the way it is received, understood and interpreted by your target audience that matters more. Unless and until your message sent = message received + interpreted, you cannot say for sure that you have hit the bull’s eye.

A good way to ensure that whether or not your message is getting conveyed & interpreted the way you want it to be is, to get a feedback from your customers as well as from your network. Customers because, their perspective of your business as well as you is very important & significant. They are mostly the ones to carry forward your message. And network because, this normally includes people you have always known but have never worked with.

While most SMEs may find doing this sort of an exercise on a regular basis a little scary and time consuming, you can be assured that the exercise is definitely worth every minute and penny spent. Not only will this initiate and strengthen your relation with both your customers as well as network, but also make you clear on your marketing strategies & business goals. You will simultaneously have a clear understanding of what you are conveying through your strategies and also your target audience’s perspective over the same. You also get to know how the business world is looking at your business and is it in line with your marketing and branding strategies.

Most importantly, this exercise is the simplest answer to the question that “Are your business and marketing strategies talking about the same thing to your target audience as well as to those around you?”

For any help on branding and marketing , pls email us on media@smejoinup.com and we shall try to help you out !

Cost Effective Ways to Create Brand & Sales Leads December 16, 2011

“If you don’t put yourself in a position to be noticed, you never will be”.

This holds very true for the SMEs, especially for the start-ups, who wish to make their presence felt in a strong & influential way. With the business world becoming ever-competitive, there is a need for SMEs to generate that “X” factor. However, this is not possible unless you have a clear understanding of who your target audience is & what appeals to their buying instincts the most.

1.Social Media Strategies/E-Marketing – Referrals and viral marketing can accelerate your lead generation initiatives in a fun, fast & free way. Use sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc to develop interactive & niche groups & create a buzz about your products & services within minutes & in the most cost-effective way.

With more than 770M users on FB worldwide and a whopping 38M in India itself growing at a mnthly rate of around 8% we cannot ignore this medium for our own marketing.

2.Print and Radio Advertising – A well-crafted advertisement placed time & again in the right publication or broadcasted repeatedly on the radio is an effective way to generate leads & help build brand awareness in today’s competitive business environment.

Eg: People of all ages, regions, castes & creeds enjoy listening to radio. The youth is especially fascinated by the new-age radio channels like Mirchi, My FM, etc. This automatically turns the youth into brand ambassadors of a product or service.

3. Brand Building and Emotional Benefits – People buy benefits rather than features. What appeals to people are not just the features of a service or product but the benefits that tag along.

Eg: Taglines like – Dissolving tablets allow us to take medicine on the go.

Another recent eg is that of Fast Track. The company knows that owing to their own durable watches, people would not be looking to buy another watch soon. Hence, to instigate people to buy multiple watches, they have come up with taglines like – “How Many Do You Have?” And “Move On..”

4.Direct Mail / Email / SMS Marketing – Sending out direct emails to your customers gives your strategy a personalized touch & also it is extremely cost effective. Our common human tendency is such that we enjoy reading mails & SMS’s addressed directly by our name. This tendency can easily be enchashed upon by the SMEs.

Eg: Most people must have received a birthday or anniversary wish message/card from a company at some or the other time. Such messages tug at the emotions of customers & pave the way for a strong & long-lasting customer-provider relationship.

5.Partnership Marketing/ co-branding/ strategic partnerships – Such type of swap branding can enhance the visibility of SMEs & also help strengthen identity.

Eg: An advertisement for tie on a website selling formal shirts. A customer looking to buy formals may most probably be interested in buying a tie along with the shirt. What better a deal for the customer to buy both the things through one single site.

6.Provider-driven Brand Image – This kind of branding serves to build credibility for the provider. After all, customers are always on the lookout for businesses they can blindly trust.

Eg: A punchline of Allstate’s:  “You’re in good hands,”

7.Word of Mouth – One of the most potent, viral & cost effective marketing communications is the word-of-mouth. If you can create a buzz about your products & services amongst the common man, your battle is half won.

8.Content Marketing – The use of blogs, forums, newsletters, whitepapers and e-books are some of the best cost effective ways of content marketing.

Eg: Post open end questions about your products & services on blogs & forums & let people do the talking.

9.Active Participation in Social, Community, Business events – This is the best & most cost effective way of creating leads in your niche market. Showing active participation in such events not only supports your brand image but also brings you at par with prospective co-branders.

Eg: Attend Tradefairs, Business Gatherings, etc.

10.Youtube Video for a Product – For the tech-friendly SMEs, creating innovative youtube of your products & services can enhance your brand visibility. Unlike the TV commercials, this kind of branding is absolutely free with the same or most of the times greater response than TV ads.

It is important for SMEs to remember that, “When there is an original sound in the world, it makes a hundred echoes.”  Thus, unless & until SMEs start ‘thinking out of the box’, they cannot take the lead.

 Contributed by Sushmita Kalashikar

For any of the above requirements pls send a mail to media@smejoinup.com

 

How SMEs Can Make Effective Sales Pitch? December 14, 2011

Every SME at some or the other stage of their business needs to make a sales call for their company as a whole as well as for their products & services. However, only few SME’s can possess the kind of training needed to make an effective sales pitch.

Here are few essential tips for SME’s to make an effective sales call:

Be What You Are

Do not try to change yourself just because you want to tempt people to do business with u. Sales is equivalent to directed conversation and that is something most SME’s are already skilled at doing. So, it is better to be consistent with your potential customers.

Pre-plan your Sales Call

It is always advisable to prepare well in advance for your sales call. You may start with gathering necessary information about the prospect & his respective company. Have a clear understanding of what you expect from your sales call and how & where your products & services may prove to be beneficial. As far as possible, try not to deviate from the objective of your sales call.

Generate Client Interest

Generate clientele interest by stating the benefits clients would be enjoying by associating with you. Site out the purpose for which you are there & what you as an SME can provide them. This in turn will also update your clients on your needs & will ensure that you get a niche clientele response, who can prove instrumental in your business growth.

Be a Good Listener

A good way to find out the needs & specifications of your prospect, is to ask open-ended questions & keep your ears open for the answers. This can help you uncover facts like their upcoming projects, how they make decisions & so on. Remember that it is often times better & more profitable to be a good listener than a good speaker.

Bridge Benefits & Needs

Now that you already have a clear understanding of the needs of the prospect, you can easily site out how your business can prove beneficial to them like, lower costs, easy maintenance, greater sales, etc. Recall & revert the words of your prospect to make them understand how your products & services can serve as the perfect solution for their needs.

Come Down To Business

You already know the needs of your prospect. You also know how your products & services can be of use for the prospect to meet their objectives. Now, if there are no more outstanding issues then all you need to do is to straight way ask for business. It is time to let your prospect know that the purpose behind your meeting was. Though for most SME’s this is the most frightening & awkward stage because of the fear of being turned down, you must remember that the prospect already has a fair idea about your objective.

Review & Close the Sale

Carefully review the terms & conditions both parties have agreed upon & assign dates & figures to every action. The most important part, keep the door for further conversation always open.

If you need expert guidance on marketing and sales email us on media@smejoinup.com

Contributed by Sushmita kalashikar

Print Media vs Online Media – Which is a Better Choice for SMEs? December 7, 2011

With the ever increasing competition in the business world, more and more SMEs are understanding the importance of having a strong online presence, especially to get an edge over their competitors. This has triggered a race among businesses to enter the virtual world and generated a growing preference for online media over print media.

Few of the major reasons for online media to get more attention than print media include:

Unlimited Virtual Space: While the print media allocates only a limited space for businesses to market their products & services & is bounded by the limited number of pages in publication, there is an unlimited & unoccupied space available in the online media for businesses.

Instant Results: In order to ensure that the marketing & promotional strategies of businesses are headed towards the right direction, it is important that they get instant feedbacks. While print media may take a long time to reach the masses & instigate them to give feedbacks, results on the online media are most often quick & real.

Interactive Communication: This is possibly the most important advantage of online media over print media. Today there is a need for constant user interaction to ensure business from your present customers as well as gain business from new prospects. This may seem like a tedious job with print media since the response time is longer. On the other hand, with the online media, you can easily have interactive communication by means of live chats, forums, polls, blogs & so on. This sort of communication not only creates a quick buzz for your products & services but also keeps your audience interested.

Enhanced Brand Visibility: While the print media may feature your products, services or special business events only when asked for, the reach of online communication if carried out effectively is practically endless. You automatically tend to surface in searches and within few days you can have millions of people talking about your products & services, that too without shelling out your pockets.

Cost Effective: The biggest advantage that tempts SMEs into going online is its cost effectiveness. While organizing even the smallest business event may cost you a hefty amount, the same can be carried out effectively & conveniently through the online media without losing a penny. The best part is that the response you receive here can be multiple times higher than what you receive with the print media.

Continuous Online Presence: The most important factor that sets online media high up than the print media is that, people may hardly read yesterday’s newspaper, but a piece of information mentioned about you on the online media may be available from a day to years together. More importantly, it doesn’t just stay as it is but also appears frequently on the searches enhancing your visibility.

Reports suggested that there are over 42 million internet users in India with nearly 27 million active users. Now, you can easily imagine what it can be like to reach out with your business to 27 million prospective customers!!

For any media requirement do get in touch with us on media@smejoinup.com

This article was contributed by Sushmita Kalashikar

Innovative Marketing Strategies for SMEs June 29, 2011

“An Enterprise may have a great product, but it will not translate into success unless it is marketed well”.

This statement tends to be true especially for SMEs and start ups, which may not have huge funds for spending on promotional exercises or may lack skilled resources to conceptualise a need for a marketing plan. Research by various agencies suggests that SMEs in pursuit of organizational goals do not adopt the marketing concept to the same extent as the large firms do. Also, marketing practice at SMEs, tends to be situation specific and variable in terms of sophistication & effectiveness.

However, SMEs need to understand that a good product backed by comprehensive marketing initiatives can effectively take them on the path of growth. But at the same time, only marketing efforts may not be enough in this uncertain environment that is characterised by rapid globalization and trade liberalization. Innovative marketing could be the key.

Utilising innovative marketing efforts, SMEs can overcome challenges like poor cash flow, tactical customer related problems etc. to generate higher sales. Let us now look at few innovative marketing initiatives that could be undertaken by SMEs.

Marketing of any firm is characterised by 4Ps namely product, promotion, placement and price, all of which together constitute the offering to customers. I would like to put them as ‘Marketing Variables’. Few initiatives under this could be:-

• Product innovation with an incremental approach that incorporates the customer in this process, resulting in a more customised product for the customer.

• Alteration of marketing mix that could involve developing creative & novel solutions to problems along with emphasising on the implementation of these solutions.

• Altering distribution channel by utilising alternative distribution channels & methods of product distribution which could give competitive advantage, cost efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Being Proactive and embracing change are critical elements of innovative marketing. A monthly review of marketing plan towards its validity & results, as against set targets can give the firm a sense of need for pro-action and a change.

Integrated Marketing is core to innovative marketing idea. So all the innovative marketing activities must be guided by profit, are market led, reactive and are continuous. These activities should be grounded in existing activities & practices and be built upon an integrated approach to doing marketing.

Innovative marketing depends a lot on the ‘Unique proposition’ offered by the firm. The unique proposition could be derived from new products/ processes or unconventional tactics & activities.

Lastly Customer Focus and Market Focus are two key elements of innovative marketing. Incorporation of Customer satisfaction and Customer orientation should be given prime importance, because these attributes lead to establishment of loyal customers & also to certain degree of relationship with them. A vision is the guiding force for all marketing decisions at the firm. So having a proper vision in place is important. Market focus involves establishing a vision, setting profit goals and having a market centric approach. Market centred approach can help exploit the opportunities that larger firms have either ignored or have not been able to exploit due to bureaucratic structures and rigid processes.

This list may not be an exhaustive one, but with these few innovative strategies SMEs can look forward to higher sales and better profitability.

Contributed by Manohar Gadre

 

 

Entrepreneurship and Marketing Lessons Learnt from Goli Vada Pav May 21, 2011

Recently I attended a very invigorating session by Venkatesh Iyer (Venky as he is fondly called) of Goli Vada Pav organized by TiE. While the session title was “My Story to Entrepreneurship”, the actual session was much more than that.

The passion with which Venky spoke demonstrated how much can be achieved if you just have true belief in the idea about which you truly passionate. Venky spoke about entrepreneurship, beliefs, passion and marketing.

After thoroughly enjoying the interactive talk, I jotted some key takeaways.

Thought these would be really valuable for those who maybe already have a marketing degree but are passionate about some idea and want to make it big – because Goli’s story is all about that:

1.     Premium Sells:  Before Goli Vada Pav, people were used to eating vada pav at much lesser cost than what Goli charges it. Goli charges premium for the quality it provides – the quality is in the menu, the ambience, the service and everything. Once the consumers see the quality, they are ready to pay premium for that. Be convinced about the quality you provide and you won’t ever have to ‘justify’ high price.

2.     Don’t give up on the idea: Goli failed twice, with the same idea, for different reasons. But Venky and his team did not give up on the idea thinking that it is not working out. Only when you believe in an idea, you can sustain multiple failures and never blame the idea. You look out for the solutions which will actually solve the problems.

3.     Keep it simple: Complex things might sound good in books but keep things simple when it comes to actual implementation. This applies to everything – right from talent acquisition, training, franchisee setup, branding, promotion – just about everything !

4.     Effective branding and promotion only requires currency of creativity: Venky narrated some incidences about how he used railway announcement system or TiE event for branding and promotion of Goli. None of these were paid. All these just needed the currency of creativity. Venky’s blog also is an excellent piece of writing demonstrating how a very creatively written blog can attract attention of the right crowd.

5.      Piggybacking works: Goli used the technique piggybacking very effectively – Be it the usage of brand (as Venky calls it) of Vada Pav or the famous dialogue of movie Sholay (toh aaj goli kha…) or in the franchisees setup.

6.     Speak consumers’ language: I was amazed to see how Goli speaks consumers’ language. The consistency can be seen in: brand name, brand mascot, Facebook page name, blog language, ambience at the Goli center, pictures on the site, cartoons – just about everything!

I left the room with a mixed feeling of inspiration, awe and respect for passion and with a definite plan to visit Goli Vada Pav center – more for experiencing the passion turned into reality.

Cheers to Goli !!

Contributed by Radha Giri  , CEO of Midas Touch Consultants

How to make that killer business proposal?

Often, businesses focus on the cost aspect when drafting business proposals for potential customers. However, a well written business proposal could help you win the project inspite of the fact that your quote may be a little higher than your competitors’. Here are a few pointers on how to draft that killer business proposal which could help you bag that coveted project:

• Include as much information about your company as possible, focusing on some important projects handled till date, the team size and how you intend to handle the current project. Remember, the client always wants to be sure you are adept at handling the project, so win his trust.
• Whether it’s a business proposal or an advertisement, it’s always about the customer. Tell him how he will benefit by giving you this project. You could mention the special expertise you have about the tasks involved, or the excellent management that you have, or anything else which makes him believe that you can be a really beneficial resource.
• Often times, when businesses are looking to outsource, they are looking for long term partners. Thus, make sure your business proposal highlights the fact that you can handle the project for a long duration. Including your expansion plans in terms of resources and the motto of your business in the proposal is never a bad idea.
• Be straight to the point, and never keep anything hidden. Sometimes, businesses keep certain terms and conditions hidden from the prospect in order to win the project. But that could be detrimental for the long term plans of your business. If you are levying sales tax or service tax, clearly mention that in the proposal. Mention every term and condition that you have as your company policy. Remember, it’s about the trust, as much as it’s about the cost.
• Of course, the pricing is the crucial aspect of any proposal. And you could be innovative here too. Instead of merely writing the complete cost of the project, you could highlight your usual rates and the discount you are offering to the prospect. You could even throw in some value added services or products which do not cost you much but could be useful for the prospect.

Contributed by “The Writing Lab”

Marketing lessons from Coca-Cola March 17, 2011

Did you know that Coca-Cola sells almost 1.3 billion servings every day? You may not find public toilets in a village; you may not find electricity in a village either; but what you can definitely find is Coke. It’s present everywhere. So, what is it that Coca-Cola does to make it such a successful brand?

It’s actually a combination of three factors which has helped it become so successful and maintain its success over the years. Here’s a look at them one by one and how businesses can take a cue from that.

Real-time data- Coca-Cola gathers real time data of consumer feedback, analyses it in real-time and takes prompt necessary actions. For example, let’s say Coca-Cola launches a new line of beverages. Now, instead of waiting for the initial line of bottles to sell, gathering the consumer data and analyzing it after the project has failed, it gathers the data real-time, analyses it real-time and takes corrective measures while the product is still in the market.

In the same way, SMEs could also have a mechanism whereby they get real-time feedback from their clients, which lets them make necessary changes in their products and services. This way, they would save time, have a greater chance of success and save money too, which they would have spent in coming up with a product from ground zero.

Using local talent- You must have seen the carts of Coca-Cola being run by people with disabilities in small cities and villages? Coca-Cola sustained its success because it utilized the abilities of the local people to reach the nooks and corners of every country. It gave the local people an opportunity to make a living for themselves and grow.

The same way, you could also reach a wider market by giving the power to the people. Create an eco-system for them where they can grow by using your product or service, and you are bound to get popular among the masses.

Strike a chord with marketing- If you have ever looked at the advertisements of Coca-Cola closely, you will find out that there is a common chord running between each of them- human emotions. Coca-Cola always tries to strike a chord with the people through its advertisements, and that’s what marketing is all about.

Try and relate your product or service with the ultimate benefit that the consumer is going to have. It could be more time on his hands, living a stress-free life or anything which makes him think about your product or service.

If Coca-Cola can do it, so can we. The only thing needed is correct implementation.

The source of this article is this video-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEPjEimKrJs&feature=pyv&ad=5027182736&kw=youtube%20world%20view

 

Contributed by “The Writing Lab” (http://www.thewritinglab.in/)