Most companies don’t have the spending power big brands do. Let’s face it, if you’re running an SME, there’s no real chance you’ll have an ad playing during the Super Bowl halftime show, or that you’ll be able to pull of the kind of publicity stunt Coca Cola and Pepsi can.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can learn from big brand marketing – there is! Money isn’t the only thing big brands have to leverage, they also have powerful creative teams and software to analyse marketing trends which isn’t available to smaller companies. Watch what they’re doing and stay ahead of the curve:
3 marketing tips for smaller brands
1. Take Advantage Of Real Time Marketing
Real-time marketing is something all companies, no matter their size need to use. In today’s connected world, that’s what customers are expecting. There’s nothing more infuriating to people than having their issues and complaints ignored, or not swiftly responded to, because we’re used to everything being instantaneous.
Make the most of the technology on offer to create a twenty four hour business. That’s not to say you need to be available 24/7 to reply to customer queries, but make sure that during business hours you’re replying as swiftly as possible to people and make it clear to them the ways in which they can get in touch with you.
Platforms like Twitter are the best place to create a strong real-time customer service profile, because it’s publicly viewable. If you provide good customer service on that platform, the whole world will see.
2. Create A Story
If you’ve ever seen Britain’s/America’s/Australia’s/Anywhere Else’s Got Talent, you’ll know that stories sell. People don’t just want to buy delicious ice-cream, people want to buy delicious ice-cream that’s made by two people in the Cotswold’s, who struggled early on in life but realised their passion for the dairy confectionery product and through copious amounts of hard work, managed to make their brand successful.
People want overcoming of strife, hardship and a success story to buy into a product, it sells.
And it’s not just big brands that can create these stories, in fact, it’s much easier for smaller brands to do so. People buy into stories they can relate to, they like shopping local and they like fostering a sense of community spirit. Take a bite out of the big-brands initiative and start publicising who you are, and where you came from.
3. Make It About The Experience
Big brands offer you a factory like experience. You’re not special, or really valued, you’re just one of thousands of customers passing through their doors that day. To counteract this, big companies try to put the emphasis on the individual customer, they spend millions attempting to make us feel like we’re their best customer, we’re the ones who matter to them. They make it about the experience, as anyone who works in retail will know. “It’s about the customer journey.”
But, no matter how much money is thrown at it, this experience will never match up to the real life experience offered by smaller companies. Small businesses really do appreciate their customers, and they know the value of word of mouth recommendations.
Final thoughts
So take the lead from big businesses and focus on the experience you offer customers, focus on all the little things that make shopping, eating or staying in a hotel really special. Sooner or later, word will catch on.
About BeeLiked
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