Coffee, Mail, & a Marketing Conundrum: My Morning as a BBB CMO
Paula Fleming, CMSO, discusses her morning over coffee, mail and a marketing conundrum. (March 2024)
My Morning
I blinked awake to the insistent chirp of my alarm. Shuffling to the kitchen, I made my ritual morning coffee, the rich aroma a small comfort against the mountain of responsibilities waiting for me as BBB CMO.
The mail sat in a haphazard pile on the table. Bills, some glossy catalogs I'd vaguely recall requesting, and…the dreaded pile of postcard-sized direct mail. Glossy photos of too-perfect lawns, air conditioners promising impossible efficiency, and coupons for pizza places I'd never heard of.
A familiar pang of guilt nudged me. These were small businesses, the lifeblood of our communities. People poured their hopes and savings into these advertisements. Yet, I couldn't help but compare them to the sleek, targeted campaigns we created at the BBB. Data-driven, hyper-personalized… and yes, vastly more expensive.
Then there was Valpak. The bulky envelope, stuffed with coupons. I sighed, tossing it unopened into the recycling bin. Once, it was a mainstay of reaching local customers. Now, it felt oddly outdated.
My phone buzzed— an alert about our latest social media awareness campaign. It was performing exceptionally, the analytics dashboard glowing green with success. The numbers told a clear story – targeted digital outreach was the way to go in this day and age.
But what about those small businesses? The ones without a notable marketing budget or a social media expert? Could we, at the BBB, be doing more to help them bridge the gap?
The question gnawed at me as I sipped my coffee. For businesses to reach new customers, they needed strategies that:
Were Affordable: Small businesses often work with shoestring budgets. The solution had to be cost-effective.
Targeted: Spray-and-pray tactics like generic mailers were a waste of resources. Finding their niche market was key.
Measurable: Gut feeling wasn't enough. Businesses needed ways to track if their marketing efforts were actually yielding results.
As for tracking Return on Investment (ROI), here are a few methods that could work even for smaller endeavors:
Unique Promo Codes: Offer a discount code exclusive to each marketing channel, (e.g., one for direct mail, one for Facebook ads) to see which brings in the most business.
Customer Surveys: Ask new customers how they heard about the business.
Website Analytics: Track traffic spikes that coincide with marketing campaigns.
Sipping the last of my coffee, a wave of determination washed over me. The BBB was built on supporting businesses and empowering consumers. There had to be a better way to marry the needs of our communities with the realities of modern marketing. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be worth it.
Let's work together to build a marketing landscape where small businesses thrive alongside sophisticated strategies.
