Here’s the Most Effective Type of Small Business Marketing You’ll Ever Do

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by small business marketing chatter? Contradictory voices may be telling you that social media is all that matters, or email marketing is underrated, or you should put all your money into video content.

Yes, there are many types of marketing you could do. But there’s one flavour of marketing that is more effective than all others.

Are you ready?

Are you sitting down? Have you placed your hot beverage at a safe distance?

I’m going to tell you the kind of marketing that always works:

Price promotions.

Phew.

That was anticlimactic, wasn’t it? Maybe you were hoping for something fresh and sexy. Sorry, I hate to break it to you; a lot of what’s effective in marketing is decidedly un-sexy.

The humble discount code

The king of un-sexy marketing is the humble discount code.

“15% off – this weekend only!”

“Was £299, now £199!”

“Get a free doohickey when you use the code ‘armadillo’!”

What’s sublime about discount marketing is… it’s simple. There’s no need for expensive or time-consuming marketing efforts. It’s knee-wobblingly easy to send out a mass email or a social media post saying, “Hey everyone, we’re having a sale; use this discount code for 10% off.”

Even better, it works. Everyone loves a bargain. Even a 5% discount can push prospective customers from ‘maybe’ to ‘sold’.

Worried about selling yourself cheap?

You may be thinking, “Hmph, I don’t want to sell myself cheap.”

This is a credible worry, so price promotions should be used strategically.

However, a 10% or 15% discount is unlikely to cut drastically into your profit margin. (And, if it does, you may already be selling yourself cheap.)

Moreover, what you’re banking on with a price promotion is that your customers will love your product or service so much, they’ll come back for more – at full price this time.

Creating a loss leader product

If you don’t have a product or service that’s easily discounted, creating a “loss leader” service, something small that you give away for free or at a heavy discount, can serve the same purpose.

Yes, it may be a wrench, to do hard work for no cash, but having contact details and information about a prospective paying customer is worth a lot. Think of it as paying for marketing, rather than losing money on a sale.

Lead magnets

A close relative of the loss leader is the lead magnet. Nope, it’s not something you stick to your fridge. It’s an item you give away for free, usually via your website, and usually in exchange for a person’s email address.

The classic lead magnet is a short PDF ebook or worksheet that provides the person with useful information. A life coach might recommend 50 tips for dealing with everyday stress, for example.

Creating a lead magnet requires time and effort up front – especially since it should be a genuinely useful item. However, as the name suggests, it pulls prospective customers closer to you.

When price promotions don’t work

What if you’ve tried price promotions, loss leaders, or lead magnets in the past and they haven’t worked?

It’s probably the case that you don’t have a solid marketing foundation to work with. You don’t have a robust email list. You don’t followers on social media. Or you don’t have a brand that seems established and trustworthy.

Unless you have a trustworthy brand, no amount of discount codes will do the trick.

Building your brand

In order to build the brand of your small business, I recommend re-evaluating your website marketing and email marketing.

Does your website rank well on Google? Does it persuasively convince visitors that you’re the type of company that people want to do business with?

Do you have an email list of people who are genuinely interested in your products and services?

In order to get the most out of price promotions, think about how they fit into your overall picture of small business marketing activity.

Start by taking advantage of my free marketing review service – no commitment or sales call necessary.