Slides from a talk given at NAWBO Days, 10/14/10.

1. +
30 Marketing Tips in 30 Minutes:
Faster, better & cheaper with less stress
Mary Bahr
President & Creative Director
MAB Advertising Inc.
NAWBO Day at Metropolitan Club 10/14/10

2. + mbahr@mabadinc.com

3. +
#1
You can’t do it all,
so don’t try.

4. +
#2
Think cheap and cheerful
Promote your brand everywhere.

5. + #3 Only print material that is evergreen
Don’t waste money on expensive brochures,
folders, if you don’t need to
 Choose the right materials and quality of materials based
on your audience
 Print as many as you think you’ll need in the next 2-3 years
 URL should be printed on EVERYTHING!

6. + #4 Make your email signoff work harder
List all the ways people can reach you,
or find out about your company

7. +
#5
Never under-estimate
the power of the
thank you note

8. + #6 Differentiation is critical

9. #7
+ If you’re not using social
media to market your
business, you’re not
where your customers are

10. + #8 Leverage your marketing efforts
in multiple channels
Make it easy on yourself
 Monitor all of your social media efforts in one place
 Hootsuite.com my personal favorite,
as free version works for most businesses
 Post from one place, place information in many places
 Ask friends and customers to repost and retweet and forward

11. + #9 Add video!!!!!
 Video improves open rates in email dramatically;
browsing rates on websites and blogs
 Keep it short (under :60 secs)
 Doesn’t have to be fancy, but does need decent audio
 Flip Mino is one of the easiest HD video cameras to use,
and comes with editing software
 Consider: message from you, product review, testimonial,
event footage, product demo

12. + #10 Optimize your website
 Be sure you pop up on Page One!
 Understand the difference between paid and organic search
 Use free tools available from Google and Hubspot
 Google alerts (google.com/alerts)
 Google ad words (google.com/adwords)
 Google analytics (google.com/analytics)
 Websitegrader.com (free SEO tool fro Hubspot)

13. + #11 EVERY PAGE of your website must have
contact information prominent
 Especially if you prefer contact via phone or live first!
 Address, phone, email contact on every page: don’t make
customer work hard to find out how to reach you.
 Think through what a customer will need to find you:
 Parking? Public transportation? Directions?
 Mapquest directions can be embedded for free

14. +
#12A Email marketing
If you’re not doing it, you’re missing an opportunity
to stay connected to customers and prospects
 Well-known and easy to use email marketing machines
 Constant Contact
 Mail Chimp
 Emma
 Exact Target

15. +
#12B Email marketing
Rules of the road
 Don’t spam, ask permission
 Keep it relevant, make content unique
 Keep most important information “above the fold”
 Hyperlink and credit attributions
 Link to your other social media pages
 Ask for feedback

16. +
#13
Marketing is all
about
understanding
and solving your
customers’ pain
points

17. #14
+ Survey your customers
They know you best. Ask them:
-what you’re doing right
-what you’re not doing
-what’s bothering them
-what else they need

18. +
#15 Be selective in how you
choose to engage

19. +
#16
LinkedIn is a
powerful tool,
especially if your
customers are B2B

20. +
#17 Webinars work
And there are no-cost providers that work

21. +
#18
Surprise and Delight

22. + #19
What’s the deal with twitter?
Do I really have to do it? I don’t want to.
You might not want to, but you might be
missing opportunities to get your message out.

23. +
#20
Before you fall in love
with the name of a
company or product,
check it out here
uspto.gov/trademarks

24. +
#21 Direct mail is not going away
Despite predictions to the contrary, DM is still one of the best
ways to communicate with your current customers.
 Use it sparingly, and with communications that count
 Moving, Bday, Important news, new product
 Link DM to your other social media pages
 Measure your results: Ask for a response
 Follow up
 Letters work better than postcards,
but cost significantly more

25. +
#22 Proofread

26. +
#23 Bloggers are powerful
Find out where YOUR influentials are talking,
then engage
 Great to have a blog, but if you can’t commit, then don’t
 Engage on other sites where your customers are talking
 Be transparent
 Link back to your own sites

27. +
#24 Ask for help!
Find experts, leverage connections
 WBDC, NAWBO, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
 All offer low-to-no cost resources
 Ask friends and colleagues to help spread the word
 Interns, interns, interns

28. +
#25 Facebook is your friend
Use it to help with customer service and
conversations
 Facebook places
 Post customer service information and policies
on your FB page
 Ask open ended questions
 Post pictures and video
 Tag your posts and businesses
 Never say anything you wouldn’t want your mother to see

29. + #26 Keep your database fresh
Accurate contact information is critical.
 Over 30% of people change their email address each year
 Even higher for work email addresses
 If possible, get both professional and personal email—
market to address customer prefers (both if they allow it)
 Get pertinent additional information (will change by
business type)
 B’day, children’s ages, pets, age, schools attended, affiliate groups

30. +
#27 Wrap your car or truck
Mobile marketing that’s cheap and impactful

31. +
#28 Use new technologies wisely
Figure out what works best for your company
 What’s cutting edge today, will be commonplace tomorrow
 QR Codes, Jag Tags
 Google Mobile
 Iphone and Ipad apps
 Mobile messaging and apps
 Proof of concept, test
 Don’t spend # on new technologies without testing first

32. +
#29 If you ever need inspiration
Ted.com

33. + #30 Sweepstakes, contests
and games work