Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

The $1000 Question

Posted by Anonymous on 9/6/2008 at 8:41 AM ET 250 Points
I have been asked by a B2B horticultural trade publication editor,

"If you had just $1000 to spend on marketing for a business, how would you you spend the money? What would you do, when would you do it, and what results would you expect?

He's looking for "a nice paragraph, not too long, but not too short, with enough detail that a business owner can learn a bit from it."

That's all the details I have. So what would you do?????
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Inbox_Interactive on 9/6/2008 at 8:50 AM Member
    Depends on the business...its product or service, its customers, whether a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or retailer...and so on.

  • Posted on 9/6/2008 at 9:02 AM Author
    Good question. It is in the horticultural industry and everyone reads the publication. The magazine reaches both those who grow the plants -- the "farmers" -- and those who sell them -- "garden centers". Some are growers and distributors. Some are growers and retailers.

    His column in which this will appear is for the grower side.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 9/6/2008 at 11:14 AM Accepted
    I'd use the $1,000 to learn all I can about my customers ... who they are, where they live, how they make decisions, why they buy from the suppliers they buy from, how much they spend on products in my category, how often they purchase, etc.

    I'd probably hire a market research professional to help me frame the right questions and figure out how best to get at the answers, then I'd learn whatever I needed to learn to implement the plan myself (at little/no out-of-pocket cost).

    I'd do it as soon as I can, and I'd expect the findings from my work to help me make some really smart decisions about how to position and market my products (and/or my company) effectively and efficiently to a clearly defined target audience.
  • Posted by Mikee on 9/6/2008 at 12:06 PM Accepted
    In this day and age, I would spend my money on web advertising. I would do this one of two ways.
    1) I would probably first look at doing some SEO to the website so that it is showing up under all of the pertinents search.

    2) Second I would look at an Adwords campaign.

    This of course depends on whether the company had a web presence. If they did not have a web presence I would have a minimal website created. People tend to look for information on the web first.

    The reason that I would pick this over print is that the money can go further. $1000 in print will not last long and once people throw out the magazine/journal it is gone. A website can last longer and evolve over time.

    Mike
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 9/6/2008 at 12:19 PM Member
    So it sounds like the readers are B2B as well.

    I'd spend it in front of the customer. I'd set my strategic meetings and get in front of their faces and find out what it takes to seal the deal.

    Sell Well and Prosper tm
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 9/6/2008 at 12:39 PM Member
    Strategy and Analytics. You need to figure out who/where the prospects are, and measure what messages resonate with them.
  • Posted by cgreenglass on 9/6/2008 at 12:58 PM Accepted
    I agree with mgoodman and I would spend it on profiling my best customers to determine which segments provide the highest ROI. I would append firmagraphics to my top customer segments and then analyze and profile them by media channel.

    Armed with this information, I would then create a test plan with various prospect segments that represent the best ROI opportunity based on the customer profile. I would match my messaging and media channels to these segments and use personalization to attract these prospects and turn them into customers.

    Based on this test, I could then determine the best roll out potential and predict my ROI by segment. This will allow me to project spend and return on investment by channel and prospect group.
  • Posted by flanger on 9/7/2008 at 7:24 AM Member
    I would buy the blog I sell - https://game-on-game.com/ and then make more money with that :))
  • Posted by steven.alker on 9/8/2008 at 7:24 AM Accepted

    Dear Suzi

    B2B operations which in turn have B2B customers would benefit from vertical market PR.

    For a very low cost base, you could go out to all the relevant journals which cover their market and run an industry interest story which would provoke hard enquiries. It would also bring in enquiries from new potential customers, an analysis of which, combined with an analysis of the existing customers would give you a platform for further marketing to cherry pick the best prospects in the market.

    Due to the low cost base of this approach, you would be able to simultaneously bring in new paying customers whilst at the same time, providing a valuable analysis of where they sit in the market and how best to proceed beyond the $1000 expenditure.

    If your client is the horticultural publication, you might also, without being too cynical, provide them with some of “What they want to hear”

    Once PR has produces coverage and some penetration amongst the grower community, you will be able to suggest that future budget should be utilised in advertising in the client’s own publication. That would produce further enquiries and provide the lever to getting further articles published which are of interest to the users.

    Once you have leads, you can get in front of prospects and customers alike and combine fact finding with some quality selling.

    Best wishes


    Steve Alker
    Xspirt
  • Posted on 9/8/2008 at 8:09 AM Accepted
    I'd stop dead in my tracks and not do anything until I had spent the $1,000 with a good PR professional who could develop a strategic, integrated public relations and marketing plan. With limited funds, it's easy to go willy-nilly in a wrong direction and use up all of your $.

    A thoughtfully developed plan will provide you with a roadmap to use for the next 6-12 months, extending your marketing efforts, and knowing you are heading in the right direction, with the most effective tactics.

    Call the local Public Relations Society of America office and ask for referrals for small agencies. Tell them you've got a limited budget, and ask for their help.

    Claudia

    Or, if you're near a university, call the biz school, find out who teaches PR and see if your biz can be a case study for students to analyze.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 9/8/2008 at 7:44 PM Moderator
    Gary (NuCoPro):

    For less than $1,000 you can get 4-5 hours of great advice and consulting from a market research professional, and he/she can help you set up a simple online survey or develop a great discussion guide that you can use to conduct your own one-on-one interviews with customers.

    That said, your approach also sounds like a valid alternative.

    Where/how can we listen in on your webinar next week?

    (To all: Gary is a great resource for small businesses. I'm sure his webinar will be loaded with useful ideas.)
  • Posted by steven.alker on 9/9/2008 at 11:54 AM Member
    Methinks Michael has spent too long telling people never to underestimate the intelligence of your audience!

    5 hours of in depth consultation and probing would provide a large number of real insights, but would leave the average marketer without a clue how to progress to something which makes money.

    I think that something in between the two would meet the need. Alternatively, if 4 of us volunteered to do our own specialist bits for the client and the client were to agree to it becoming the material for an article, they could have $2000 worth of effort from world-class experts who are prepared to offer a reduced rate in return for providing an article for MarketingProfs.

    Alternatively (2) they could get me blotto with a blow-out $1000 meal at the Four Seasons and I’d agree to anything!

    Steve
  • Posted by steven.alker on 9/9/2008 at 2:42 PM Member
    Sorry - her ladyship has pointed out that you can't get a decent meal for two at the Four Seasons including wine for $1000. Same goes for the Ivey and Quaglino's in London.

    If you don't mind getting your marketing advice in Glasgow, we could go to the "Ubiquitous Chip" which is still going strong and still has the murals by Alasdair Gray which he did in exchange for food whilst writing Lanark.


    Best wishes and Pass the port


    Steve

    Steve
  • Posted on 9/11/2008 at 11:04 AM Author
    Thank you all for your great responses. It seems most of us are in agreement that the first thing that needs to happen with the $1000 is to define the target market and how to reach them. Amazing how the tools change -- print to virtual -- but the basic tactics are the same. Know your audience.

    Again thank you all for your time and great thoughts.
    Suzi McCoy
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