These are some marketing tips for small and medium sized business owners. These are some of the marketing strategies for small businesses that Common Cents Consulting LLC uses to help business owners. Contact us at (219)228-1372 or visit us online at www.letsmakedollars.com. Email us at commoncentsconsultingllc@gmail.com

1. Marketing tips for small business
owners

2. Overview
•
Increasing Business
•
Meeting
•
Capture
•
Communicate
•
Encourage

3. Increasing Business
•
Don’t let your restaurant be haunted by empty
tables on slow nights.
•
Learn how to engage your customers where they
are with offers that pique their interests.

4. Engaging
•
Engaging with your customer base is as easy as:
• Meeting them where they are
• Offering them something of interest/use
• Capturing their information
• Communicating with them
• Encouraging them to share

5. Meeting Them
•
To capture the attention of your customer base,
you need to be where they are active.
•
The majority of people find restaurants on the
Internet, on their phones, and from their friends.

6. Meeting Them
•
In order for your business to be seen, it must have a
presence on the Internet.
•
This means more than a website that has been
optimized for the search engines. You need to
include:
• Directories
• Social Media

7. Directories
•
Online Directories work just like the Yellow Pages,
only they are online, free, and easier to use.
•
Some of the best places for your restaurant to be
seen online are:
• Yelp
• Urbanspoon
• Google Places
• Foursquare (mobile only)

8. Social
•
Directories are also often connected to Google
and Facebook.
•
When a user reviews your restaurant, the review
may be posted onto their Facebook wall so that
their friends may see it as well.

9. Reviews
•
Optimizing your directories will help your customer
understand what your restaurant can do for them,
this will also help you stand out from the crowd. Use
appropriate keywords.
•
User reviews will tell them if you live up to your claims
and are worth their time.

10. Offers
•
Another Key point to directories is that you can set
up an offer for your customers.
•
Give them an incentive to visit your restaurant by
using a coupon, discount or other offer such as free
delivery.

11. Foursquare
•
Using Foursquare, users can “check-in” to your
business on their phone and it will tell their friends
that they are visiting you.
•
Foursquare is particularly beneficial because it is so
powerful when it comes to offers.
•
Foursquare also takes care of all of the tracking for
you.

12. Foursquare
•
With Foursquare you can set up specials for:
• Someone’s first time checking in
• Bringing a friend
• Having X number of people check in at one time
• Becoming the “Mayor” (has the most check-ins)
• Checking in on a certain day, etc.

13. Social Media
•
You can also meet your customer base on the
Social Media front.
•
A great way to get your customers talking about
you is to talk to them first.

14. Facebook
•
Facebook also offers a Check In Option and is a
great way to set up offers and incentives for people
to “like” Your page.
•
You Can also set up a Lead Capture form on your
Facebook page so that you can add visitors to your
text/email lists.

15. Capture
•
Now that you have their attention, capture their
info so that you can communicate.
•
This can be done through:
• Lead Capture Forms
• Having Them Scan QR Codes
• Asking them to text their information to you
•
Don’t forget to give them an incentive! – this is
critical, you must give to get.

16. Communicate
•
Now it’s time to communicate with your customer
base so that you can ensure repeat business and
referrals.
•
Mailing out coupons is not your only option.
• Texting
• Social Media

17. Mobile Marketing
•
152 billion mobile text messages are sent each
month.
•
Text messaging is one of the most effective ways to
get your business in front of your client.

18. Texting
•
Texts are a great way to communicate with your
customer base and remind them of who you are
and what you have to offer them. You can have
scheduled messages and broadcast messages
whenever you like.

19. For Example
•
On a slow night, you can send out a text message
with an offer or special which would act as an
incentive for customers to come to your restaurant
and fill your tables.
•
Or perhaps you are more of a daytime
establishment. Try sending out a text for a lunch
special at 11:15 am.

20. Benefits
•
Sending special offers through texts is a way for your
restaurant to “Go Green”. Plus messages
are opened up much faster than email marketing.
•
Not having to print a coupon saves your customer
time and money and you don’t risk losing their
business if they left the coupon at home and
decide to go somewhere else.

21. Mobile Vs. Daily Deal
•
Many restaurant Owners are using Daily Deals to try
and drum up new and repeat business.
•
Mobile marketing can bring the same, if not much
more business and has way fewer shortcomings
than a Daily Deal.
•
You control the discount, the time period, no-profit
sharing and you build a list of customers to market
to again.

22. Mobile Vs. Daily Deal
•
Capture their info once and market to them over
and over again without expensive fees.
•
Create different lists based on interest. If you have a
lounge and a restaurant or lunch and dinner, let
your customers sign up for whichever messages
they choose.

23. Social Media
•
After getting their attention, make sure to continue
engaging your customer base via Social Media.
•
Make sure that you aren’t just constantly trying to
sell them something, or they will get weary of your
pitch.

24. Social Media
•
Great ways to engage via social media are:
• Holding Contests
• Asking for pictures of them at your place
• Hosting Polls
• Asking Questions
• Sharing fun and useful information

25. Sharing
•
Social Networking is a great way for happy
customers to share your business with others.
•
They can like your page, share it with others, post a
review, etc.

26. Reviews
•
Encourage your customer base to post reviews
about your business on important directory sites so
that your business is more visible.
•
If you see a restaurant with 10 great reviews and
another with none – which are you more likely to go
to?

27. Encourage
•
Give your customers an incentive to share your
business with others and then make sure that your
business is worth talking about.
•
If you do see a negative review, respond to that
immediately.

28. Recap
•
Increasing Business
•
Meeting
•
Capture
•
Communicate
•
Encourage

29. Thank You
•
For more information on a mobile marketing
campaign for your business, contact us:
•
Email: Commoncentsconsultingllc@gmail.com
•
Phone: (219)228-1372