Skip to content

North Idaho Marketing Series – #1

We’ve been working with some great local businesses developing targeted marketing solutions. As you can see from our SERVICES page, we charge a reasonable rate for all of our marketing services.

In addition to charging a reasonable rate, our mission is to educate our clients to become as self-sufficient and successful as possible. We think the best clients are ones who have done their research, done as much as possible on their own, and finally come to us when they’re ready to step up their marketing and media plans to the next level.

A lot of companies and agencies will want to charge you for the education process, or for the initial marketing and media activities you and your staff can complete on your own. We believe this should be free. That’s why we make an effort to update our blog with tips, tricks and ideas you can use for your business – all for free.

We realize many small businesses just don’t have the time (or desire) to work on their marketing and media by themselves, and if this is the case, we’re more than happy to step in and lead your business to success. Either way, here’s a good place to start:

Affordable Local Marketing Strategies to get More Business

North Idaho Marketing Strategies

To help local business in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Spokane Valley, Spokane and the surrounding areas, we’re presenting a FREE series of articles on local marketing strategies. This week we’ll be talking about targeting specific groups with coupons. Next week, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of utilizing daily deal sites like Groupon.

Some of the marketing ideas we’re going to cover during this series will work across industries and some will not, but don’t hesitate to tweak some of these to fit your business.

Local Marketing Strategy: Targeting groups with coupons

Coupons are all the rage right now, and there’s no reason your business shouldn’t get in on the excitement. These days, everyone loves a good deal, so it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of this affordable marketing strategy.

Types of coupons to consider (depending on your business):

  • Buy One Get One FREE
  • Buy One Get One HALF OFF
  • Free gift with membership
  • Referral Coupons (50% off your next purchase after your referral purchases)
  • Free Shipping
  • % Off

Groups to Target

Identify who you’re target audience is, and then make a list of all the groups they may be a part of. For example, if my target group is 18-35 year-old men who are interested in sports, I’m going to consider the following groups:

  • Community Colleges/Universities
  • Churches
  • Gyms
  • Corporations with company athletic teams
  • City Parks & Recreation (both employees & parents of children)
  • Local clubs/organizations: running groups, slow pitch softball, etc.
  • Sports Retail Shops (consider cross-promotion whenever you can)

After identifying your groups, get in contact with the manager or marketing person for each group and have a meeting to discuss how you can help each other out. Many times, you won’t need to provide anything to the business/group other than a promotion specific to their members.

For example, give all members of a certain gym a Buy One Get One Free deal if they show their gym membership card.

You may even be able to get yourself a free gym membership in exchange for such a deal. It’s a win-win scenario. Their member are happy, and you get more exposure and promotion for very little.

Use Coupons in your Email Marketing Newsletters

If you’re not using email marketing, you’re missing out on a cheap way to get in front of your potential customers. An easy way to reward your loyal customers is to include a promotion or coupon in your regular newsletter.

This can work the other way as well: offer a downloadable coupon to users who subscribe to your online newsletter. Pretty easy!

Check back next week for the next post in our North Idaho Marketing Series:
Daily Deals (like Groupon and Living Social)- Are They Worth it for Your Small Business?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.