Localize Your Marketing Message

Question: I operate a small business that is basically local. Some of the general advertising I've tried was more about overall name recognition and didn't really seem to bring customers in the door. Now I hear more about "neighborhood marketing" which sounds more like something for me. What's this about?

Answer: The bygone era of mass marketing, populated mostly by big companies that could afford that kind of thing, is being replaced by something marketing mavens call "mass personalization."

One of the latest trends in market for small businesses, as well as large, is to bring it down to the neighborhood level and make it much more personal to the customer. Tom Feltenstein, a top neighborhood marketing proponent, advocates targeting your marketing efforts on specific neighborhoods, "making sure your message is delivered only to people most likely to be your customers - those within 10 miles or 10 minutes of your door."

Feltenstein, who works with many corporate giants on their marketing efforts, says that it's all about thinking small and keeping your marketing local. He encourages stores, restaurants and other types of businesses to look no further - literally - then their own back yards for customers.

This neighborhood-first mantra suggests a heavy dose of community involvement. For example:

1. Good grades equal good customers. Contact the local school principals to offer incentives of free products or services to students who achieve high grades. When someone brings in a good report card to your business, give them the reward.
   
   
2. Surveys equal more customers. Regularly check the pulse of your customers with an attitude profile survey. You'll collect useful date, learn what they like and dislike and demonstrate your concern for their opinions, all at the same time.
   
   
3. Complaints are your best friend. Nine out of ten unhappy customers never complain - at least not to you, notes Feltenstein. Instead, they don't come back and then they go tell their friends. Your business needs to invite criticism so you can address the problem and turn it around.

Some other uncommon wisdom on marketing locally:

• To gain success, you need to tap the potential of your greatest profit opportunity within your trading area - the customer base that is right in your back yard. Businesses, schools, churches, community events and even fellow retailers become your promotional allies in building cost-effective programs to capture consumer dollars right within your reach.

• Local marketing is face-time marketing. Look for ways to convey your marketing message to potential customers one-on-one. You can go first to your employees, then from your employees to your guests, and finally from your guests to their families, friends, neighbors and co-workers. According to Feltenstein, this brand of face-time marketing is intimate and personal- quite the opposite of slick and impersonal mass media advertising. Even big chains are latching onto this concept by encouraging individual stores to think small, and locally and market on their own.
  
  
• Contrary to some of the old "rules" of advertising, the local approach eschews institutional "exposure" type advertising. "Every marketing program should pay its way," says Feltenstein. "A marketing approach is either profitable or unprofitable based on results. If your current marketing is not measurably profitable on a per-project basis, kill it," he says. Move on to the next tactic. Go for sales, he says, not branding.

Neighborhood marketing also relies on a concept called "internal customers." Think of it this way: Your employees and staff are also your customers. Feltenstein: "You can do all the clever marketing in the world, but if your staff isn't on board, if they aren't engaged and enthusiastic, the results will be unsatisfying." To achieve this, you must make employees feel heard and special.

To help generate more sales, treat your customers as authorities and unpaid consultants. Ask their advice and opinions of your operation, such as how you might improve it to better meet their needs. Don't be afraid to reveal inside information, such as marketing ideas or recipes. The more they understand your business, the more they will respect what you are trying to do. Look for ways to show you are aware of them as individuals, not just customers.