e-biz Blog for Small Business

We recently worked on a project for a client where the client had several thousand customers who had indicated that they wanted to receive e-newsletters and other email correspondence from the client. The client had two problems. First the client didn’t have an effective email marketing program yet. So we set up with MailChimp. With that problem solved we moved on to the next problem, integrating osCommerce with MailChimp. By default osCommerce allows a user to indicate that they want to receive newsletters from the customer. The issue is that this data doesn’t get transferred to MailChimp. What results is that customers end up having users who want to receive emails but in order to get them into MailChimp they need to be exported from your osCommerce database and imported into MailChimp. Why not automate the process? Using MailChimp’s API we connected the create account, account newsletter and customer edit pages to MailChimp. So now when a customer creates an account or modifies their account, the clients MailChimp account is automatically updated. The client receives emails from MailChimp when customers subscribe and un-subscribe to their newsletter. Automation is the way to go. Most third party services provide an API. So integrating with other services like Constant Contact, Sales Force or High Rise are all possible if you use osCommerce. Don’t fall into the trap thinking that your customer data can only reside in osCommerce. There are so many ways to automate the moving data into other third party services. Do it the easy way. Automate it.

Why do small businesses all of a sudden wake up when the economy takes a downturn and realize, “We need to start marketing to get some new customers”? It’s really a flinch reaction. You know that you need more customers to grow and when times are good you tend to forget about marketing your business. The problem is, this type of system doesn’t work. For any business to sustain continual growth you need to have a marketing strategy in good times and in bad times. Do you know what one of the most over looked resources is for growing a business? Your current customer base. It’s actually easier to grow your business by getting more sales from customers who already know and trust you.

To be successful small business marketing strategies need to include mining your existing customer data with the purpose of identifying new sales opportunities.  For example: let’s say that you have an website with a shopping cart, it could be osCommerce or any other shopping cart software. The shopping cart software stores all the data about what a customer purchased, when they last purchased, items on their wish list, and geographical information. So how could you use this data? If you’re using osCommerce there a wide variety of reports available that will allow you segment and export this customer data so that you can send targeted emails to these customers. For instance run a report that identifies all the customers that haven’t purchased in the last 6 months. Then send a targeted email with special promotion code for a discount of your choice. Not only are you likely to get some repeat sales but you can also track if this method was effective by comparing how many emails were sent by how many responses.

That’s just one example. There are many ways that your customer data can be used to promote future growth. Marketing strategies for a small business may seem like they’re complex, but they really aren’t. Think about different way you can target your existing customers for additional business and watch your sales sky rocket.

We know, we know… everyone wants to be #1 in the world in their favorite Google search.  Out of a million matches, your site is on top!  That’s a great feeling!  Of course, for the majority of sites, not only is this unreasonable, it is also unnecessary.  Think about it.  The resources and deep pockets available to the “big players” can create what amounts to an unfair advantage.  So, why even go there.  Sure, you can expect to get a share of the world market, that’s the beauty of the Web.  But don’t spend so much of your energy looking at the world scene that you miss the local opportunities;  the ones that tip the scales in your favor.

A “big player”  located in some far off city may be flashy and even well qualified.  The mystique associated with a such a company will hold little or no appeal for shopper who wants a local company.  And why would they want a local?  Of course, the reasons vary, but included in them are: a sense of security, a friendly face to face conversation, and local references.  In other words ,the “warm fuzzies”.  That feeling is hard to get when your are dealing with a company thousands of miles away.

Now, I’m not saying that everyone in your local area will blindly flock to you simply because you’re… local.  The point is, for you the local field is a more LEVEL playing field so make sure your home game is strong.

Be Found… Locally!

Fortunately, search engines ( Google for example) have provided the means for companies to make themselves known.  Let’s focus for a moment on Google Local Business Center just to see how it works:

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This is the introduction to the process.  Google has been kind enough to even provided a video of the steps involved.

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Coupons

Talk about the “local” feel, what could be more down-home than a coupon.  Oh yah, Google provides that too.  Create a coupon for your local business listing and that may be just the thing to push the on-line shopper to your store.  And why not?  Everybody likes to get a good deal!

Now don’t get me wrong; your SEO strategy should include efforts to expand beyond your local market… if your business model supports it.  Hopefully though, your committed to expending some real effort to make sure you have a strong local foundation on which to build your on-line presence.