10 Ways SMBs Can Engage Customers in a Tight Economy

Daily Mentions returns from it's break today.  Thanks for stopping by.

Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that more than one million self-employed Americans decided to shut the doors to their businesses due to the recession.  According to Kristin Arslen, president and chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association for the Self-Employed, diminishing opportunities and few customers are behind the failure of so many small businesses.  Despite the promises made by politicians, few are able to simply wait for the eventual economic turnaround.

However, according to Arlen, some small businesses are actually thriving in this anemic economy.  These are businesses that have been awarded state and federal contracts, or are in the healthcare or technology sectors.  Good for them.  But what about the majority of small businesses that don't get

Another Way Technology is Leveling the Playing Field

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, in business, technology is really the great equalizer. Small and mid-sized businesses can compete in ways they never would have been able to just a few years ago. They can pretty sell anywhere they choose, tapping into previously unapproachable markets. If you sell soap, the Internet allows for a global client base. No longer do the mom and pops of the world have to sit back and dream about expansion. Anyone with a well-designed website that has quality shopping cart software, and the appropriate fulfillment and distribution systems can have the same web presence as a multinational corporation.

Marketing and advertising options have also greatly improved for SMBs thanks to technology. And the one device that I believe holds the most promise going forward is your cell phone. A great example is text marketing or Short Message Service (SMS). In fact, SMS marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing channels, and for good reason too. Mobile phones are everywhere; audience measures on mobiles are 9 times more accurate than the Internet, and 90 times more so than tv.

The benefits are quite significant; when a mobile user texts your business, it's to request information or participate in your offer, so that's even better than permission marketing; you can get started for well under $100; you can create promotionals that require a quick response--and get it; you can develop creative promotionals that require an action such as forwarding your text to a friend, and of course the mobility factor can greatly increase traffic into your place of business.

Are you currently using text marketing? If you haven't thought much about using text messaging in your marketing plan, then perhaps it's time to consider it. Send me your feedback.