A Guide

to
Promoting
Small Businesses

Yasmin Hart
Alexandra Garcia
Amy Le
Lauren Mack
 Table of Contents
Memo 2

Events 3

Promotional Items.... 5

Social Media..

Websites

Blogs

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 Memo
This Small Business Promo Guide was created to assist any student whose client is a small
business. At times, it takes some research and time to convince a business to be open to ideas
such as: events, using promotional items and social media, or having a website and blog. We
hope you use this promo guide as a part of your research to show your client how they can
utilize any of these suggestions to help better their business.

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 Events
People want to buy products and services from businesses
run by people they like, know and trust. Therefore, as a small
business owner, your personal network becomes the most
important aspect of growing your company. You must work at
having great communication skills to grow sales and encourage
customers to come back for more. For this reason, it is crucial for
clients to attend events. Clients must attend events as often as
possible to grow their network. It also helps to learn from other professionals who can
offer insight and current information about your industry.

Why Your Client Should Attend Events

1. To Increase visibility
2. Start new relationships
3. Stay current on trends in industry
4. Learn from powerful, motivating speakers
5. Find solutions to problems or issues
6. Recruit talent and gain clients
7. Learn about target market
8. Socialize
(Strategic Business Network)

Event Suggestions
1. America's Small Business Summit: Held annually in Washington, D.C., this event
is sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Association. It provides small business
owners with an opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs. According to the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, attending gives you the access to the experience and
perspective of hundreds of small business owners facing the same challenges you face
and gives you the tools, strategies, and best practices to compete successfully in
todays rapidly changing business environment.

2. Small Business Expo: As the nations largest business-to-business trade show,

conference and networking event, this is a must for small business owners to attend
(Nala blog). Its popularity is evident as it occurs in 14 cities throughout the U.S. This
event is a chance to develop business leads and new customers, gain priceless industry

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insights, and network with peers in a specific industry which is one of the top strategies
for small business success. It is also beneficial as attendance is free and each Expo in
each city is only one day, and includes workshops, exhibits and presentations.

3. Sage Summit: This event allows business owners to hear advice from top experts
and entrepreneurs. In 2017, the event will tour around the world. For businesses of all
sizes, whether established for 20 minutes or 20 years, this is a must attend event for
thought leadership, inspiration, and learning (sagesummit.com). This event provides
relevant content, networking, mentoring and knowledge to small business owners.

4. America's SBDC Conference: This is the national Small Business Develop

Centers' conference, which offers seminars on technology, business development,
marketing and more. According to the SBDC website, the mission of Americas
nationwide network of SBDCs is to help new entrepreneurs realize the dream of
business ownership, and to assist existing businesses to remain competitive in the
complex marketplace of an ever-changing global economy. Small business owners get
training on writing business plans, marketing, technology development and more.

5. National Small Business Week: Since 1963, this event has occurred to honor and
uplift entrepreneurs from California to New York and is run by National Small Business
Association. Business owners should utilize the free, inspiring and educational events
that are offered during this time throughout 10 regions and 68 districts during NSBW
(Entrepreneur.com). The theme of the week is to Dream Big, Start Small.

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 Promotional Items
For small businesses, it is important to foster brand awareness. According to the
figures published by Promotional Products Association International, users of imprinted
promotional products spend $18.2 billion dollars annually on over 400,000 different
types of customized logo products. While word-of-mouth and person-to-person
marketing is still popular, people love things that are free. Promotional items can help
engage loyal and new customers while also emphasizing the name and logo of the
small business. It gets customers excited about your business and sparks their interest.

While promotional products are great for helping new businesses establish their
brands and helping existing businesses increase their sales and find new leads, it is
important to cater the promotional item to the target audience. It is essential that the
promotional item that is given will be used in the environment where customers make
decisions about using the product or service of the small business.

Some of the most popular promotional items include USB drives, aluminum
sports bottles, reusable grocery bags, and anything green or American made.

Figure 1 shows a retainer case with the orthodontist's name and phone number.
This makes the business not only stand out from the competition, but also remain in the
minds of customers, both current and potential.

Fig. 1

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 (to save or delete)

Coupons are useful as are special signups through emails where customers
receive information about secret sales and new products in store. How do companies
find the right promotional item? MP Mueller of New York Times offers four suggestions:
Give items that members of your target audience will use in the environment
where they make decisions about using your product or service. Basically, small
businesses need to figure out what their target audience will use. For example, if your
target market is executives, you would want to give them something they could use in
their office like a nice pen or USB drive.
Have it underscore your marketing message and differentiate your company.
Personalize them. According to Mike Linderman, president of Express Pens,
People like seeing their own name above all else. His company makes pens in
small quantities that can be imprinted with the companys logo and clients name.
Make your promotional products investment something that will have a shelf
life. While reusable water bottles are still popular, something like thumb drives or
environmentally-friendly goes a long way with customers.

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 Social Media
Social media is an inexpensive way to promote your business. There are over
three billion internet users and two billion of those have social media accounts.
According to Hubspot, 80 percent of businesses indicate that social media increased
traffic. Social media is no longer an option for your business, it's a necessity.

Share Content Faster and Easier

Social media is important because it can provide quick ways to get information to
your customers. Changes happen all the time, its important that your customers and
clients are informed about these. Maybe your business is extending its hours or maybe
youre having a flash sale. This creates an incentive for people to follow you on social
media. In figure 1 we see Square One Pizza use Facebook to let people know that their
new extended patio space is now open. In figure 2 we see The Iron Press use
Instagram to let their customers know that they are closed on Thanksgiving, but will
re-open the next day.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

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Feedback
Social Media is an excellent way to receive feedback from customers, and
respond to it. If someone has a question or comment about your business, it can be
answered quickly. According to Adweek, bad customer service costs US companies an
average of 41 billion dollars a year. Customers will not hesitate to leave a company that
they have had a bad experience with. By offering customers a way to contact your
business to help get their problem fixed, you are upping the probability of them staying
with your business. When companies engage and respond to customer service
requests over social media, those customers end up spending 20% to 40% more with
the company, says research from Bain & Company. Feedback is not always negative,
social media is a great way for customers to leave positive feedback. When someone
praises your business, other potential clients will see these comments and it can help
persuade them. Simply put, social media is an easy, affordable, effective way to gain
and maintain customers.

Fig. 4 Fig. 5

We see here in figure 4 and 5 that a customer left a review on Yelp that gave details
about her poor experience at the nail salon. The nail salon manager responded,
indicating that they would like to determine what happened during her bad experience
and how they can make it better.

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There are many other benefits of social media a few being:

Increasing brand loyalty and brand recognition

Increase web traffic
- Your social media outlets can help lead potential customers and clients to your
website. This will improve your search ranking.
Stay up to date with competitors
Build relationships with your customer base

While weve explored all of the benefits of social media, its important to touch upon
using it to its full potential. It will not benefit your business if you create profiles on every
social media outlet and never maintain them. Its important to realize which social media
outlets are best for you, and utilize them. If someone follows you or likes you, they
expect things out of you. You need to make sure you have content on your social
media, and keep it up to date. Be realistic with yourself, understand your audience, and
create content that keeps people coming back.

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 Websites
We are living in an advanced technological age where people Google and Yelp
for confirmation of credibility. Part of the credibility begins with your website, as stated
by Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle, author for Forbes, beginning with your website, consumers
are passing judgement and making decisions. If your website is too busy or complex,
contains too many ads, looks boring, or is slow to load this leads to mistrust and steers
potential consumers away from your business. According to Forbes, design elements
are exponentially more powerful than content, in terms of mistrust. When asked to
describe why they mistrusted a website, 94 percent of comments were directly related
to web design elements, while only 6 percent referenced specific content.

In order to seem credible to potential consumers, it is important for small

businesses to have a website that:
Has simplicity with the homepage and navigation.
Contains an about us.
Has third-party validation.
Contains contact information.

Homepage Simplicity & Navigation

The first and important element in creating simplicity when it comes to navigation
is having a homepage that does not overwhelm the potential new consumer. Think of
the homepage as your first impression to the consumer; when given too much
information it may cause the consumer to quickly close out the window due to boredom
or mistrust instead of making them want to click on the provided links to learn more. Fig.
6 and Fig. 7 contain an example of a website that says too much on the homepage
which causes consumers to not want to explore the website any longer and may ruin
credibility due to repetitiveness.

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Fig. 6

Fig. 7

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A simple homepage should include actual photographs of members from your business,
a logo, a headline, and a short mission statement or bio. By having a simple homepage,
it allows the consumer to spend more time on your website by clicking the options listed
on the navigation bar on the top. The longer a consumer takes looking through what is
being offered, the more interest builds up and credibility is being form. Fig. 8 and Fig 9.
are examples of a simple homepage that creates interest in wanting to navigate the
website.

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

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 About Us
The about us is crucial for any business because it gives the website a more personal
touch. Fox Business explains that the about us page is critical to strengthening your brand
identity and creating a connection with prospective clients. It is often the second most viewed
page on company websites and is prime real estate when it comes to showcasing you and your
business.
Fig. 10

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 Third-Party Validation
Business Dictionary defines third-party validation as a process where an independent
party is asked to confirm whether the client's information is accurate or to validate their intent.
Third-party validation builds credibility and ultimately the determining factor on if consumers
utilize your business. A business can utilize third-party validation by having a tab on their
navigation bar dedicated to testimonials. In order to create credibility, make sure that the
testimonials are relevant to your work and contain a source.

Contact Us
The Contact Us page is crucial to any website. It allows the consumer to quickly
get in touch with the business without doing external research. Without the contact
information, the website is considered to be a wasted source.
Fig. 11 describes what items are crucial to have on your contact us page.

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Fig. 11

15
 Blogs
With the constant advancement in technology, it is becoming increasingly
important for small businesses to develop an emphasized web presence. One of the
most effective ways to build brand awareness, while providing relevant and useful
content is through consistent blogging. Blogging is a relatively easy, inexpensive way
for small businesses to drive traffic to their website, enhance inbound marketing efforts
and attract more prospective customers.

Benefits:
Boost Search Engine Optimization
Develop relationships with potential and existing customers
Establish the small business as an industry leader
Connect people to the brand
Create opportunities for sharing

Figure 1 is an example of a blog. Facialworks blog covers all things skincare including
products, beauty and the spa industry.

Fig. 1

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(delete?)
An example of a successful small business blog is Stonyfield Farms. They
specialize in organic dairy products and their focus is on family, farming, and organic
living. Their blog is successful because they tell a compelling story by staying true to
their brand and their theme is reflected throughout. As the image below suggests, they
value healthy families and healthy living.

Stonyfield Farms also incorporates videos for an inside look about how their
company and farming works. By staying consistent with your theme, your target
audience will trust you and identify with your product easily. According to Social Media
Examiner, another thing they do very well is their use of soft sales messages
contextualized in value-added content. For example, they may write an article about the
importance of eating organic fruit, but weave in the idea of mixing Stonyfield yogurt in
with your fruit for an extra dose of nutrients. Successful blogs add value while also
promoting products. Their blog connects customers and shapes their image positively.

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 References
Hendricks, D. (2015, February 11). Understanding the full impact of web design on SEO,
Branding, and more. Forbes. Retrieved December 06, 2016,
fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhendricks/2015/02/11/understanding-the-full-impact-of-we
b-design-on-seo-branding-and-more/#3bf74b392027

Kuruvilla, S. (2011, December). High End, Low End: Which Promotional Products Work Best?
Retrieved December 7, 2016, from
https://www.ppai.org/documents/highendlowendreportwithcover.pdf

Leinbach-Reyhle, N. (2014, September 29). 3 reasons Websites are vital for small businesses.
Forbes. Retrieved December 06, 2016,
fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleleinbachreyhle/2014/09/29/websites-for-small-businesses
/#4da934424318

Miller, S. (2012, July 16). How much is third-party validation worth to your brand? Retrieved
December 06, 2016, from
http://www.cision.com/us/2012/07/third-party-validation-brand-credibility-online/

Pozin, I. (2012, February 27). 5 steps to a great Website. Forbes. Retrieved December 06,
2016,
fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2012/02/27/5-steps-to-a-great-website/#e9bacb32dd0
b

Rosenbaum, M. (2011, November 14). How to write an effective about me page. F ox

Business. Retrieved December 06, 2016,
fromhttp://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2011/11/14/how-to-write-effective-about-me-page.htm
l

Third party verification (TPV). BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from
BusinessDictionary.com website:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/third-party-verification-TPV.html

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