I will now discuss a typical marketing campaigns for the second scenario posed in the first blog of this series. If you missed it, click here. The situation is this:

An established mechanic finds his business in heavy competition in recent years. Many shops are popping up around his, and he is seeing a steady decline in business and must lower his rates to stay competitive. He doesn’t want to spend a fortune on marketing as his operational costs are significant, but he can’t fathom a 20 thousand dollar a month advertising strategy.

Three key elements of this scenario really stand out as the most important. Once again, we must consider the stated fact that his operational costs are high. Second, the budget is described to be low. The third point, which is that time is of the essence, is perhaps of even higher priority. I will describe these issues in reverse order.

First, time is of the essence. That is to say that no matter the plan, no matter the marketing campaign, no matter the tools used, we don’t have much time. The difference between this example and many others is that while the mechanic cannot spend money like an enormous corporation would, he cannot afford to stay in business very long with the current trends: lowered prices, increased competition, etc. This information is not given, but it comes with knowing the industry. Having had experience in the automotive repair industry, casey troy marketing, has worked closely with clients to develop strategies that would fit their budgets while dynamically adapting to their industry. As such, it has become abundantly clear that there are two ways in which automotive repair/mechanic businesses run. First, they may employ mechanics at an hourly rate. Second, they pay by the job. In either case they face the risk of operating costs running above revenue generated or losing employees if they do not maintain adequate business. In other words, marketing strategies must have a quick turnaround.

Next, the budget must be considered. While we will seek a plan that maximized budget, step one is to determine the type of budget. In this case, the budget is described to be on the low side while taking into consideration the above paragraph’s message.

Lastly, his operational costs are high. This is incorporated in the paragraph above last, but the fact is distinctly important in that the implication that the business needs to see a turn return remains important.

All things considered, a fitting campaign may include the following:

• Guerrilla marketing tactics to hit high yield niche locations and demographics. If the shop is near a school, flyering, direct distribution of coupons, etc. should be inexpensive yet effective.
• Press releases are key if the area is small enough to capture. casey troy marketing, for example has been working with many clients in smaller districts of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas. Smaller area such as Santa Clarita (Valencia, Newhall, Canyon Country, Castaic), Gardena, Santa Monica, Studio City, etc. are areas in which conquering keywords with frequent press releases is feasible.
• SEO… just about always, these situations dictate some basic search engine optimization, search engine marketing, or SEMM.
• Cheap radio/Television publicity. All attempts should be made to gain free or affordable exposure through local TV and radio stations.

These strategies (and others) should give high yields with low costs, fit the industry and business model, and be dynamic enough to strategically change over time.

Stay tuned for more.

There seems to be a debate amongst many marketers (I really do prefer the term marketer—it reminds me off Willy Wonka!) between the proponents of internet marketing and classical marketing strategies. The argument is heated and peoples’ businesses are at stake, so it is important to understand both sides of the debate, the pros, the cons, and those involved.

The fact is that marketing is a field which is ever changing, often subjective, sometimes unquantifiable, and is dabbled with psychology and sociology. The field is arguably as old as mankind, but in its current form, with highly analytical and scientific notions, it is easily dated back to the industrial revolution. Any one of these facets would understandably make for a debatable subject, but all together, the mix makes for a messy, messy situation.

In my years working for a street-level/guerrilla-esque marketing firm, I heard over and over, “Sure internet’s great, but it takes too much time,” “SEO takes months or even years to bring results, and business owners don’t understand how to wait that long to see a return,” or most nasty of all, “No matter what happens in the advertising world, they’re always going to need us.”

I also spent my share of time involved with a web marketing group in my early years. There the statements ranged from “There just isn’t anything as cost effective or as worthwhile as SEO and web marketing’” to “Web marketing can do everything that other forms of marketing can do cheaper, better, more strategically, and with more traceable results.”

I challenge these attitudes. Neither marketing tactic replaces the other, and there are many scenarios in which either medium alone falls short. Take these two examples, and see what sort of strategies you would propose:

1. A law firm is opening a new service which relies upon unique customers calling in. Their marginal cost is low but fixed operational costs are high. It is therefore important that any proposed strategies create a bang. It simply isn’t cost effective to keep lawyers in the office, sitting around waiting for phone calls.
2. An established mechanic finds his business in heavy competition in recent years. Many shops are popping up around his, and he is seeing a steady decline in business and must lower his rates to stay competitive. He doesn’t want to spend a fortune on marketing as his operational costs are significant, but he can’t fathom a 20 thousand dollar a month advertising strategy.
3. A toy company is considering a radio campaign. Their website is a mess, but they are launching a new product and can’t afford to wait for search engine marketing to return results.

I will break these examples down in the coming posts, but for now, think about them, and challenge yourself to think of a deliberate and dynamic marketing strategy.

If you need a little help—here you go. The reality is simple. Nearly every company needs an effective web presence. Every business knows that the larger their footprint, the better the chance of catching the attention of their potential customers. A web presence is much like having another store operating in a busy thoroughfare. A website is basically the least expensive satellite store you will ever be able to open. Still though, how you do you capture the attention of the masses of those for whom a website would mean nothing (those in their car, outside, too busy to peruse, or not net-savvy)?

Stay tuned for part 2.

This is the first post on my new blog. My name is Casey Troy, and I am a marketing consultant in Los Angeles, California. I will use this blog to catalog my notes and advice in the realms of SEO, web design, business development, and guerrilla and classical marketing. Stay tuned.