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Going after the mom-and-pop shops

By Jim Townsend
AIM Group and Classified Intelligence LLC
www.aimgroup.com

No matter what you work for — newspaper, broadcaster, Internet pure-play or yellow-pages company — you’ve probably found it tough getting SMEs (small- to medium-sized enterprises) to advertise in your core products. It could be your company has spent considerable effort — and money — trying to figure out how to serve that huge, untapped market.

Let’s say you’ve taken a new or improved product to market to chase down all those small-business owners — the plumbers, the manicurists, restaurants, dentists, lawyers, notaries, etc. But we have to ask: Before you built it, whatever “it” is, did you ask your would-be customers if they wanted it?

Don’t get us wrong. We’re not ones to stomp on initiative. Great ideas happen all the time. And success often blooms from the husks of failures. The biggest risk you face is not trying at all.

However, before you try to wrest cash from the moms-and-pops, remind yourself that they really are moms and pops. They don’t have marketing budgets. Anything they give you comes out of their tills, their tip jars, their wallets, their take-home pay. You’re asking for their grocery money. Mom and pop have kids to feed.

No matter what you create, regardless the medium, there are basic principles you should be following when it comes to selling to small-business owners:

• Does what you’re doing solve a problem? We mean, of course, besides your revenue problem. Whether it’s a product, a service, a whole new line of business, or simply an ad campaign, what about it makes it compelling to consumers? Before it’s going to make any sense to advertisers, it has to make sense to your advertisers’ would-be customers. Why would they need it? Why would they care? These questions are basic to all business ventures, not just reaching out to SMEs. But if you can’t answer the basics, start over. Put every idea to a two-word test: “So what.”
• Don’t overlook the “small” ideas. Small ideas have the advantages of easy execution and minimal risk. If you stumble, you don’t fall far. The simpler the idea, the easier it is for your company, your consumers and your advertisers to get behind.
• It’s not about “local.” It’s about community. Dozens of newspapers are running niche social-networking sites for local mothers and mothers-to-be, such as CincyMoms.com and MomHouston.com. They’re brilliant. Lots of mom-generated content that helps mothers navigate parenthood. Perfect places for the local baby boutiques and day-care services, as well as national Toys-R-Us. It works for local radio and TV websites as well. (And don’t charge small-business owners your full run-of-site rates in your niche pages!)

The niches you create should engage, empower and activate significant audience segments. It could be moms. Or dads. Or rabid sports fans. Or teens or young adults. The list goes on. To wit:

• Know what motivates mom and pop. When the local high school band clinches the regional title, what newspaper doesn’t run a page in tribute with all sorts of congratulations from local businesses? The value to consumers is marginal. The value of that sort of page to advertisers is that it sends the message that their businesses are committed to the community. That sort of simple page works almost every time, because that’s exactly the message small-business owners want to convey: “We’re here, we’re your friends and neighbors, we support you, please support us.”
• Don’t be sales reps. Be marketing consultants. You’re talking with people who don’t know you, don’t use you, and perceive (rightly or wrongly) that they can’t afford you. Not only do they not advertise, they don’t know how to advertise. You’re planting seeds of trust. Give that seed time to germinate. Take care to curb your powers of persuasion. If you pounce on the easy sales opportunity, your new client is going to end up with some sense of buyer’s remorse just for allowing herself to be talked into it – even if the ad lifts her business.
• Sales managers: This isn’t easy business. It’s a longer than usual lead time with smaller returns per customer. If you really want a significant piece of that 80 percent of your market, you’ll have to be creative — and patient. It won’t fit seamlessly into your other sales goals.

Jim Townsend is a principal and editorial director of the AIM Group and Classified Intelligence LLC, global consulting groups that work with media companies, dot-coms and broadcasters to help develop profitable interactive media services. They offer strategic and tactical support, training, workshops, product development and research. Townsend can be reached at jim@aimgroup.com, (281) 998-2540.

More ideas like this are available on NNA's Great Ideas Forum. Check it out today.