Guest Blogger, Mark Turner, President / CEO of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce offers his “Best Ways for Small Business Owners to Promote their Products and Services”.  Mark Turner is the key executive staff member and oversees the Chamber operations, communications, legislative affairs, and major fund developments.

We can all talk about a product we’ve seen advertised on TV that stands out in our mind. It’s the commercial we talk about at the office and when we gather with friends. For me, it’s the camel walking though the office asking workers if they know what day it is. Geico has scored big on their marketing and advertising over the last several years. People often talk about the various commercials Geico produces. They are creative, humorous and memorable. If you ask me, Geico has got to be happier than a camel on Wednesday.

Although it’s every business’ dream to produce a marketing piece like Geico’s, small businesses don’t have a national advertising budget to operate with. That doesn’t mean small businesses can’t be creative and memorable.

There are many different ways to promote one’s products and services, simply Google “Marketing strategies for small businesses,” and you’ll discover and endless list of ideas of the best ranked promotional products in the Orlando, etc. No doubt some of the ideas discovered on-line may be successful. A good marketing plan, however, takes time to develop. There are a number of different marketing plan software packages available to work with.

When developing a marketing plan, two components certainly have to be a part of that plan, 1) a web site and 2) a social media strategy. Everyone’s business is different and so their approach to which social media platform to use or how many may be different as well. Financial resources may be limited but it’s important to create a consistent brand throughout your collateral materials and this is where bringing in a local marketing and advertising firm may prove to be helpful.

The bottom line is this, do your homework. Research, develop and implement a marketing plan, track the results and be willing to modify the plan to get the best return on your marketing dollar.