Marketing in tough times

Marketing in Tough Times - 20 No-Cost Ideas

keithmonaghan.com - marketing strategy

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1/23

Marketing in Tough Times - 20 No-Cost Ideas

TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST (BUT RESOURCEFUL MARKETERS DO)
Unless you’ve been ignoring all media you’re probably painfully aware that pundits and experts alike are predicting a long recession, many saying it will last through 2009 and likely beyond.But it’s no time to panic or pull back on marketing. In fact, marketing is more important than ever. Mark-Hans Richer, chief marketing officer for Harley Davidson, put it this way: “Our belief is that spending through a market downturn creates a competitive advantage for the market upturn, and an extra dollar spent today has extra dividends for tomorrow.” And he’s not the only one preaching thevalue of marketing during a downturn, just Google it for more examples. But they’re talking about spending money, money you don’t have because of vanishing customers and budget cuts by clueless management. Fortunately, there are many inexpensive ways to market. Even better, many of them are made easier by the Internet. Here are twenty no-cost ideas to help you engage existing customers and prospectsand spread the word on your product or service. They range from basic tactics to high level strategies, but what they all have in common is that the only cost to implement them is time and effort. And remember, tough times never last, but tough (and resourceful) marketers do.

keithmonaghan.com - marketing strategy

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2/23

Marketing in Tough Times - 20 No-Cost Ideas

1. STIR UPINTEREST ON TWITTER
The SciFi channel discovered its show, Eureka, was generating a lot of talk on twitter, so they created a twitter site where writers posing as characters talked back to fans. Result: the producers of the show now directly communicate to over 3,000 rabid viewers. They are not alone. Companies like Apple, Southwest Airlines, and Amazon use it too.

keithmonaghan.com - marketingstrategy

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3/23

Marketing in Tough Times - 20 No-Cost Ideas

2. HOST A GET TOGETHER
Use Meetup, Upcoming, or Google Groups to organize a casual get together with your customers. It doesn’t have to be fancy, you can even skip the coffee and donuts, just stick to one of the most overlooked secrets in marketing: listen to your customers. Get a bunch of them together in a room, askthem what they want from you and stand back. I guarantee you’ll learn something.

keithmonaghan.com - marketing strategy

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4/23

Marketing in Tough Times - 20 No-Cost Ideas

3. CREATE A FACEBOOK FAN PAGE
Buying ad space on Facebook is ineffective because people just aren’t clicking. But building a Facebook Fan Page for your product is a free and, arguably, better way to reach yourfans by giving them a badge to show off their loyalty on Facebook. Then tell them about it, starting with a link to the fan page on your web site.

keithmonaghan.com - marketing strategy

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5/23

Marketing in Tough Times - 20 No-Cost Ideas

4. CREATE A PODCAST
An audio or video podcast is a great way to generate interest and attention, just be sure the content is compelling enough toget people to download it by creating a show around what your customers are interested in. Here’s a good tutorial for Windows. If you use Mac OS X you have what you need. For ideas check out how Amazon and Barnes & Noble do podcasting.

keithmonaghan.com - marketing strategy

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6/23

Marketing in Tough Times - 20 No-Cost Ideas

5. HOST A WEBINAR
I love Webinars. A good webinarinforms participants and motivates them to to purchase too. I recently listened to a webinar by Modern Postcard that featured a 20% off coupon. Nice! I plan on using mine for an upcoming campaign. Use free webinar hosting sites like Dimdim, Yugma, and Vyew to show customers how your product solves their problem.

keithmonaghan.com - marketing strategy

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7/23

Marketing in Tough Times...