CHICAGO — While there’s more competition than ever for the valuable attention of current and potential drycleaning customers, there are more options than ever to connect with them, as well, and many of these are low-cost or even free.
During their webinar, “Nine Steps to Marketing on a Shoestring Budget,” hosted by SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives), Brian Moran and Jocelyn Ring offered ways open to owners and operators that cost little, if anything. Moran is the founder of Brian Moran & Associates and Small Business Edge, and Ring is a brand strategist and leadership coach. Also, together, they founded and host the “Bricks or Sticks” business podcast.
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at some of the foundational thinking and questions dry cleaners need to ask themselves before spending their resources on marketing efforts. Today, we’ll dive into the first steps of creating a low — or no — budget marketing plan.
1. Build Your Website
The first step to marketing your company is to stake your claim to your own part of the internet.
“In today’s world,” Moran says, “it’s almost impossible to be a competitive business and not have a website or a social presence. If someone does a search for your product or service, you need to pop up.”
Fortunately, Moran says, companies like Ueni.com, Wix, GoDaddy and others do a good job in terms of not only locking down the domain name for a company, but also allowing owners to quickly build a website and host it inexpensively.
When designing and deciding what should go on the site, Moran suggests that owners put themselves in the shoes of the audience they want to connect with online.
“Think like a prospect,” he says. “Are you mostly a warm lead or a cold lead? A cold lead is somebody who’s just kicking the tires. They don’t know what they want. Maybe they did a search and your website popped up, so they clicked on it. With a warm lead, maybe somebody referred you to them. Make sure that it is representative of what that referral person said you could do.”
2. Build Your Network
Getting involved with the business community is the second step in this marketing framework, Ring says.
“Networking will cost you some time to research and to get involved and contribute to networks,” she says. “But right now, it’s so easy to do a search within your local geographic area to find networking groups where you can make connections. Maybe there are opportunities for you to do a presentation, to have an event or to get more exposure about your business.”
Industry conferences can also be an important step, Ring says.
“These have become very robust again after conferences took a hit during COVID,” she says. “People are willing to meet in person again and have live events. Local businesses and professional organizations can be fantastic for building relationships and referral partners. LinkedIn has tons of different communities, and it’s very easy to search for different interests.”
Ring says that owners should have an open mind when it comes to building their networks. In her thinking, dry cleaners could work with companies that sell clothing, for instance.
“You don’t have to stay in your lane,” she says. “Personally, as a brand strategist, I want to join groups of people that are graphic designers, copywriters and people that do different aspects of a brand project who I can get to know and work with.”
3. Sharpening Your Referral Process
“Referrals are an extension of networking,” Moran says. “You want to build out that ecosystem. So, I’ve got partners, suppliers, customers and other types of business owners in my network.”
Moran offers the example of a real estate agent. “The agent might have an appraiser, a mortgage broker, an attorney, a builder and other business owners they work with,” he says.
“That becomes their ecosystem — that’s their network. When somebody’s looking to buy or sell their house, they’ll reach out to this real estate agent. And then the Rule of Reciprocity kicks in. That real estate agent will say, ‘Well, if you’re looking for a mortgage broker, here’s a really good one.’”
There are two types of referrals, Moran says: the general referral and the specific referral.
“A general referral will come from somebody who leaves a LinkedIn recommendation or a review on your Google business profile,” he says. “It might say, ‘I did work with Brian and Jocelyn, and they were fantastic. I highly recommend them to anybody who is a business owner.’
“A specific referral is somebody who says, ‘Hey, I’m looking for an agent to help me buy a house in this area,’ and someone will point out a specific agent and why they personally liked working with them.”
Part of taking advantage of referrals is to make sure the company’s branding is on point.
“What would the four words be that I used to describe you and your business?” Moran asks. “Maybe, ‘They are smart, they’re detail-oriented, they are they meet their deadlines and they’re great communicators.’ You can control that narrative. You can control how people refer to you when business opportunities arise by using those four words that you want them to use to describe you.”
Once the owner has these descriptive words in mind, Moran believes he or she should use them at every opportunity.
“When you launch a marketing campaign, or you use them in your LinkedIn profile or any opportunity you have in video and audio, make sure you talk about them,” he says.
“You can say, ‘I pride myself on being detail-oriented and hardworking, and I love to make sure that I hit my deadlines.’ The more repetitive it is, the better it’s going to stick in people’s minds.”
There’s a simple, key action that owners need to take when it comes to referrals, Moran has found, but many are hesitant to do it.
“Always make sure to ask for referrals from satisfied customers,” he says. “Some people have a problem with this. They say, ‘You know what, they bought from me. I’m good. The transactions done. I don’t want to rock the boat.’ I think that’s missing the point, because the point is, they bought from you. They chose you over all these other companies and people, and that’s probably the best time to ask them for a referral, because they feel good about it. You’ve done everything right. Go ahead and say, ‘If you had a great experience with me and you’re comfortable making a referral, it would really mean a lot to me.’”
Moran urges owners to think of places like Google, Yelp and Yahoo and LinkedIn when asking for recommendations.
“Those are great opportunities,” he says. “And as I said earlier, follow that Rule of Reciprocity. For everyone who gives you a referral or a positive review, either pay it back or pay it forward. That’s what strengthens your network, because you shouldn’t just be a taker — be a giver.”
“Another powerful thing to do is to interview your customers to get testimonials and case studies,” Ring says, “because those should reflect the four words that you want to project in your brand and in the stories that people tell about the experience with you or your company. Stories are powerful because they’re shareable and they’re relatable. Somebody can read a testimonial or the review and say, ‘Oh, that’s exactly the spot I’m in right now and what I need help with.’”
Owners can help the process along with a little prior effort.
“Don’t give somebody a blank piece of paper and say, ‘Here, would you fill this out?’” Ring says. “It’s helpful to offer people a list of questions. They can answer the questions, and then you can craft the testimonial and the case study from that.”
With this, and each of the nine steps, Moran believes that owners should consider the resources available for marketing.
“(Referrals) don’t cost any money, but they do cost you time,” he says, “so think about ROI, return on investment, versus ROTI, return on time invested. How much is this costing you in time? Because time is money. Make sure you are efficient with your time, and that you’re not going down dead ends and doing exercises and programs that are not bringing value into your company.”
Come back Tuesday for the conclusion of this series, where we’ll finish our examination of the nine steps. For Part 1 of this series, click HERE.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].
