Which Marketing Works, Attract More Customers at a Lower Cost

How does a small business owner know which advertising efforts work? The answer to this question saves money for the small business owner. Every time a customer purchases a product it is because of some sort of advertisement. The advertisement could be the job well done (quality of the product), a referral(word of mouth), or paid-for marketing (newspaper, radio, mailer, etc). A successful business owner tracks what works and quickly capitalizing on them. Whether a newspaper ad or a small billboard sign, whatever brings the sale in the doors is where most energy should be concentrated on.
So far this is very straight forward– find out how the clients hears about your business and use that tactic over and over. The challenge is properly identifying the effective source. For instance, if you own a store and someone happens to stroll in to purchase a medium price ranged product you may have no clue of what drove the client to your store. At this point all it takes is a question “how did you hear about us?”, and that is it. There is no need for clever surveys or feedback questioners, just ask how the client heard about the business. Keep track of the answers and at the end of each week draw your conclusions.

A tour guide one man shop has recently implemented this strategy and increased his monthly sales while lowering his costs. At the end of each sale as he signed up groups to take a day tour he asked how they have heard about his company. Throughout the months he kept on hearing that the local guide book was the main reason why people came to him. Within months he dropped the other forms of advertisement, moved his office to a small location with cheaper rent, and continued to take on more groups on grander trips. Greater profits for him were possible by simply asking “how did you hear about us?”

Finding out which marketing works and which doesn’t is only a portion of a business profile. Business credit, legal requirements, strategic tactics and basic fundamentals are other areas that must be established as well. 

Sincerely,

Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting Group