Photo (CC) by Mean Mars, on Flickr

Think about why you marketing effort. Are you bringing more customers into the store now or are you looking to build your customer base for tomorrow?

Both are worthy goals and both should be on your mind as you develop your marketing plan.

What happens though is most often marketing focuses on today and we forget about tomorrow. This is much like the business owner working in the business and not on the business.

As a business owner you need to be constantly working on tomorrow or bringing customers back to the store and attracting new customers to your business?

The potential customers group are the building block for your next growth step.

Let’s consider the group who have been in the store but haven’t come back or you see them only occasionally. You probably assume they didn’t need anything. Chances are that’s true, BUT do you know this for a fact.

Ask yourself, were they satisfied when they left last time. Did you get them what they wanted and was it done in a pleasant, professional manner? Did you ask if they needed anything else? Was there a follow-up? Did you say hello when they came and a good-bye when they left? Think about their past purchases, does it seem like you are getting 100% of their business? How about 75%? Or is it only 50% or just an occasional purchase?

Finally there is the big question, what are they saying about you and your store when they leave? Are they your ambassador?

The second group, potential future customers, has never been in your store. If you live in a small community, you may be are making a list of who you that might be. But, this audience is much bigger than that.

Who are the newcomers to the community? How many of the visitors to the community stop by your store? This only begins to define the potential audience.

What if you made yourself a destination? We all have places that we will travel to because of what they offer or the way they do business. Maybe you don’t do your daily shopping there but, if you are like me, when I go my purchase probably is larger than the average.

Finally, there is a third group who you need to market towards, the customer of tomorrow. This means the millennials and Generation Z. It’s early but both of these cohorts have disposable income. For this group though your marketing must turn somewhat on its head.

These two generations like brands and feeling part of a community. They will be online shoppers and their expectations of service will be different. They follow reviews and key in on “word of mouth” recommendations. And they don’t hesitate to change their shopping patterns, at least to this point in time.

You can’t forget about today’s customer. Part of your marketing will need to maintain that group. But, the long-term success of your business will depend on tomorrow’s customer. You must determine who that customer is and be gearing your marketing, your merchandising strategy, and your focus on that audience.

So as you market, think not only of people in the aisles today but packing the aisles tomorrow as well. Build the business.

Photo by bjmccray, on Flickr

“If you build it, they will come” may work in the movies. But for small businesses, it is a myth.

People will only come if they know you exist and they know where and how to find you.

You would think that finding a business today is pretty easy given the mapping apps available and the mobile technology we carry with us. And yet, how many times have you walked or driven around trying to locate that store you were told was right here.

This frustrating endeavor happens for several reasons. The most common of these reasons are, first, as a small business owner, we fail to check the online information about our business, including its location, to ensure it is correct. And we may forget to ensure to update that information when we move or simply to make sure nothing has changed.

A second reason, however, why a business can’t be located comes from one simple mistake, not having a sign out front that people can see or that can be read.

Sometimes a zoning regulation, city code or property covenants might be a part of this issue.  My daughter has lived in communities that have lots of trees and shrubs and that limit how high up signs can be located. I found it very frustrating to find the place I wanted in those towns.  If this is the case, you may want to discuss the issue with other business owners to determine if something could be done.

When designing your sign, consider:

• Orientation. Should it stick out from the building or if it should be across the front of the building or both?
• Font size. The faster the traffic moves by your building, the less time they have to catch your sign. And it is not only the speed but the amount of traffic a person may also be dealing with as well.
• Font typeface. Fancy script or some other unique font is not what you should use. It may be part of your brand but it may make your sign difficult to read
• Color. Use bright, bold colors with substantial contrast between the lettering and the background
• Lighted. Even if your store isn’t open in the evening, lighting your sign gives people a chance to see it and consider coming back some other time.
• Amount of information. Keep the amount of information limited, again to make it easier to read when passing by.
• Sign maintenance. Keep it painted; make sure the lights work: if a letter falls off, get it replaced.
• Multiple signs. Depending on your location, you may need to have more than one.

Not only can signage help people find your business but it can also bring in people who are just passing by. The key factor is your sign must catch the consumer’s eye and tell them enough about what you do as to encourage them to come in.

One final suggestion in terms of a business sign comes if you are in located in a common parking lot with other businesses.  If this is the case, you may need a sign on your business as well as having a presence on a group sign to help bring people off the street.

Signage alone can’t be your entire marketing effort. Yet, it has great value in helping the customer make it into your door. Don’t miss out.

Photo (CC 2.0) blullana_miranda, on Flickr

How many hits did you get? Or how many people saw your ad?

If you have read many articles on marketing, especially those talking about social media marketing, you may come away with the idea that marketing is a numbers game. The more people who “like” your page or respond to your advertisement, the better your marketing effort.

The idea of counting is not new. Traditional marketing often looked at how many “eyes” saw your advertisement or how many people subscribed to a newspaper or magazine. For radio and television, the numbers were about how many listeners a station had or how many people were listening to a certain station.

Knowing your numbers is useful. The more people who see your message, the better your chances of them doing something. We hope that means buying. But you can spend a lot of money getting your marketing message in front of a large number of people. Is it money well spent?

So before launching your marketing campaign, first define your goal. Is it awareness, building your brand, making a sale or something else? Remember that this goal needs to be consistent in all your marketing.

Then you need to understand, in as much detail as possible, exactly who is your target market.

Think about the Super Bowl, where a 30-second advertisement might sell for nearly $5 million, but it should get you in front of more than 110 million viewers. What an opportunity, right? The problem is, does your target audience watch the Super Bowl? (This might be a poor example because many people watch it just to see the ads, but you get the idea.)

You also need to determine if your message does what you want. Run some test messages on a variety of platforms to see how people respond before spending your entire marketing budget all at one time. Understand that each marketing method may require a somewhat different way of presentation. A colleague ran a Facebook ad test and found people respond differently whether they were viewing the message on a desktop computer or on a mobile device.

Your message must connect with your intended audience. It must encourage people to read more, embed your company and products/services into their mind, or elicit action. Again, what is your goal?

The fourth issue for many small-business owners is this: What does your marketing do for your bottom line now or in the foreseeable future? In part, this means determining the most cost-effective way to reach your goal or goals.

Numbers are great, but aware, engaged customers taking action are what you want.