Oscar Lama Economy Issues
Oscar Lama on May 8th 2009
Better Marketing in a Bad Economy
By Michael Sieber
A friend and I were talking the other day about the economy and how businesses can better market themselves during a slowdown. He told me a story that I think is relevant to businesses no matter what the economy is like.
A flower shop recently expanded and put a store in our little downtown area. My friend (an advertising sales rep) stopped in to chat and asked how the business had been going. The owner said that things were fair, but it wasn’t going as expected.
So my buddy asked her what kind of marketing she was doing. Well, she was doing everything she could. She ran an ad in the paper, but it didn’t get much response.
That’s it: one ad and no response.
My friend then asked her if she was planning any grass roots marketing. The shop owner had no clue what he meant by that, so he explained.
You’ve got the courthouse right across the street. There are handfuls of men who work there - men who are “too busy” to remember that Valentine’s day is coming up. Why aren’t you going over to the courthouse with coupons for 10% off a dozen roses? Or better yet, let the guys know that you can have a gift basket containing flowers, candy, teddy bear, and a card ready to take home to the wife or girlfriend when they get done with work on Friday.
The shop owner was blown away. That was a great idea! She’d never thought about that.
And therein lies the problem that many struggling businesses face. They think that marketing begins and ends with putting an ad in the paper or on the radio, and if that doesn’t work, they throw their hands up in frustration because…well..they’ve done everything they can do.
They neglect to see the opportunities that exist if they get out and put themselves in front of their potential customers rather than waiting for their customers to find them.
Oscar Lama Economy Issues
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