I’ve been collecting together marketing ideas for small businesses in a file for several years. The intention was to write a series of posts on free/cheap marketing ideas. That list has now grown to 171 marketing ideas and I’ve included it below.

Some of the ideas are new, one or two are fresh and innovative, all of them are relatively low cost – ideal for a small business. However not all of the ideas will suit every businesses. A good marketing idea for a restaurant, hotel or bar might not suit a retail business or a law firm and the ideas that suit b2c companies aren’t always going to be as effective for a b2b business.

Researching, Planning And Monitoring

These marketing ideas relate to planning your marketing so that you know what you are marketing, who you are marketing it to and why – market research in other words. That feeds in to developing, monitoring and fine tuning your marketing strategy.

1. Define your target market.
2. Research your market – establish who, why and what.
3. If it is big enough, segment your market and target each segment appropriately.
4. Define the benefits your product offers the market/each market segment.
5. Focus on your customer.
6. Create a marketing plan.
7. Allocate a sensible (big enough) budget to marketing – don’t make the mistake of having no marketing budget.
8. Tie your marketing budget to sales forecasts – don’t rely on the idea of an average marketing budget.
9. Monitor your results regularly – at least monthly. Adjust your plan based on the results.
10. Monitor and study your competitors.
11. Monitor and study successful businesses that target the same customers as you.
12. Learn from your mistakes and your successes.
13. Keep an ideas file and add all new marketing ideas to it.
14. Read about what others are doing on marketing/business blogs and in marketing books. Start by visiting the top 100 business blogs.

Your Product

The next set of ideas focus on your product and how to maximise it’s contribution to your overall marketing strategy. Marketing strategy should feed in to product development.

1. Create a Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
2. Make it remarkable.
3. Ensure the packaging sells – focus on benefits, not features.
4. Use the price to create a message – value versus premium.
5. Make it exclusive – limited editions.
6. Customer service matters.
7. Offer a guarantee.
8. Consider using the freemium business model.
9. Consider focusing on a niche market.
10. Offer what your competitors do not, but that customers want.
11. Create special offers by pairing related products.
12. Give away or discount slow moving products when sold with popular ones.
13. Refine your product based on feedback and sales figures.

Inbound Marketing

These inbound marketing ideas focus on how to position yourself and your business as the solution to a customer’s wants and needs. The emphasis is on building your brand recognition and positioning your business so that customers come to you. A lot of inbound marketing is Internet based, focusing on driving customers to your website or other online assets as the first point of contact.

1. Create a brand (look, attitude, values and actions) and use it throughout everything you do.
2. Get listed in the search engines / online directories.
3. Optimise your website for the search engines.
4. Create an authoritative and informative website about your product, industry and company.
5. Write a blog about your industry.
6. Contribute to blogs about your industry.
7. Contribute to forums about your industry.
8. Write articles for e-zines that reach your target market.
9. Create videos and post them on YouTube.
10. Create podcasts.
11. Use LinkedIn to network in your industry.
12. Create a Twitter account.
13. Create a Facebook account.
14. Use Social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Del.icio.us and Stumbleupon
15. Write for the local/national press.
16. Write a white paper about the problem your product solves.
17. Conduct and publish research related to your market.
18. Run a competition.
19. Write a book about your industry/the problems your product solves.
20. Publish an informative newsletter (either online, offline or both).
21. Get listed in industry directories.
22. Get to know the journalists that cover your industry and offer to be a source.
23. Campaign for something.
24. Offer useful information in your advertisements.
25. Get people to review your product in the press and online.
26. Conduct a webinar.
27. Offer a free trial.
28. Sign up for Help A Reporter Out and respond to the queries.
29. Create an affiliate scheme.
30. Submit articles to article directories.
31. Join and participate in relevant professional organisations.
32. Become a public speaker, speaking about your market/expertise.
33. Do some pro bono (volunteer) work.
34. Join a referral marketing organisation.
35. Publish case studies.
36. Run a workshop.
37. Organise a networking event.
38. Become an expert and speak with authority.
39. Disagree with someone, making a good well reasoned argument will reinforce your position as an expert.
40. Create an elevator pitch.
41. Tell everyone you meet about your business – using your elevator pitch.
42. Add social bookmarking links to your site.
43. Create a Squidoo lens.
44. Try buzz marketing.
45. Create some viral marketing.

Outbound Marketing

These outbound marketing ideas focus on reaching out to new customers. They directly target those you have no relationship with.

1. Send out press releases.
2. Do at least one marketing activity EVERY day.
3. Make at least one sales call EVERY day.
4. Create and host an award.
5. Create a press kit, send it out with press releases and make it available on your website.
6. Open unusual hours, especially if your competitors don’t.
7. Advertise on the side of your car / vehicles.
8. Advertise in your shop window or on your building.
9. Advertise in other local shop windows.
10. Advertise with businesses who offer products that yours complements.
11. Sponsor relevant events.
12. Sponsor relevant people.
13. Do something (an activity) for charity – and publicise it.
14. Advertise on local radio.
15. Advertise in the local press.
16. Advertise in industry magazines.
17. Offer businesses that have a similar customer base as yours a discount/gift voucher to give their customers.
18. Stage a flashmob event.
19. Get testimonials.
20. Get a celebrity to endorse the product.
21. Get an expert to endorse the product.
22. Sex sells – use it.
23. Create an emotional attachment to your product.
24. Seek out feedback on your products.
25. Give people a reason to act on your marketing.
26. Make it easy for customers to talk to you.
27. Answer your emails.
28. Provide live online chat.
29. Use search engine marketing to target customers.
30. Use email marketing.
31. Advertise on your clothing and on the staff’s clothing.
32. Give away promotional items to your target market.
33. Visit trade shows.
34. Advertise in your email signatures.
35. Advertise on TV.
36. Make your business card sell.
37. Get accredited.
38. Support a cause.
39. Tell a story.
40. Hold a sale.
41. Use classified advertisements.
42. Advertise in the Yellow Pages.
43. Partner with other related businesses.
44. Create a strategic alliance with a related business and undertake joint marketing.
45. Telemarketing.
46. Brochures.
47. Use special offers.
48. Host a challenge.
49. Picket yourself – hire someone to picket your business complaining about something funny or different.
50. Donate to charity and shout about it.
51. Carry out a publicity stunt.
52. Go on Dragon’s Den or similar.
53. Be different – dress differently.
54. Put on an industry event.
55. Host a discussion panel about your industry.
56. Advertise on a billboard.
57. Hold an event in, or outside your shop.
58. Invite a local group to collect in or outside your shop.
59. Use Craigslist, Gumtree and the like.
60. Register on lead generation websites.
61. Do a give-away, where entry requires customers providing contact details.
62. Identify your worst trading times and have a happy hour then.
63. Do a press release about a customer.
64. Direct mail.
65. Give out flyers.
66. Leaflet drops.
67. Use Guerrilla marketing tactics.
68. Pay for someone else – buy the person queuing in front of you at the coffee shop their coffee and given them a flyer.
69. Get an 0800 number.

Relationship Building

It is easier and cheaper to sell to someone that you already have a relationship with so these marketing ideas focus on building on the relationship you already have with your leads, prospects and customers. Relationship marketing is increasingly important and may well soon overtake the 4P’s (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) as the standard marketing mix model.

1. Create a database of prospects, leads and customers.
2. Use your invoices to build the relationship and sell.
3. Use your stationary to sell.
4. Keep in touch.
5. Send out customer newsletters.
6. Send special offers to customers.
7. Put on workshops for your customers, leads and prospects.
8. Create a referral programme.
9. Network with your customers – turn customers into fans.
10. Network with your suppliers.
11. Network with your competitors.
12. Network with businesses that sell to the same customers as you.
13. Send cards to your customers – thank them for their custom, wish them a happy birthday or send them holiday (Easter/Christmas) greetings.
14. Give customers discount cards.
15. Offer a discount for regular business.
16. Make your answer-phone message useful and sell with it.
17. Be consistent, but refine.
18. Be remarkable.
19. Treat customers as fans.
20. Be personal – people buy from people.
21. Text your customers.
22. Ask for referrals.
23. Give customers lottery tickets as a thank you – low cost to you, but massive potential benefit to them.
24. Show up in person – visit your customers.
25. Create a customer advisory panel with your best customers.
26. Ask your customers for feedback and advice.
27. Offer customers reminder for their next purchase.
28. Train your staff to delight customers and empower them to do so.
29. Train your staff to cross sell.
30. Make your marketing recent and frequent.

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