Marketing budgets getting too heavy? Try Mini-marketing Date:   Wednesday , November 02, 2011 Companies spend money in tunes of percentages of their total expenditure to fund their marketing strategies. They use different media, in order to reach out to the maximum number of people, and have a tough competition in the marketing front. Has the thought of mini-marketing ever crossed your mind? These campaigns can serve as appetizers in-between meals and that too, on a light budget. People love to talk, be it the President or a small kid; everyone wants to talk their mind off. So why not use this platform to your benefit? Social media is the call of the day, where even the most introvert of the people are present, making it a hot cake for businesses. Use the combo to your advantage. You can start a conversation, something like an open forum, where your product can be looped in. Wal-Mart for example, sponsors bloggers to visit its headquaters, but doesn’t pay them anything else. Many companies like Sears, Google hire bloggers to review their products, and the readers for these forums will be more interested to read reviews by people who have experienced the product, rather than companies trying to blow their own trumpet. Sites like AdRants offers sponsored posts for $565, and Mashable used Twitter to insert sponsored tweets, in a transparent way. Disney worked with influences and sponsored conversations for paid movie reviews that they have released. The main point to be taken care of is, not to appear like you are trying to “sell” your product. You should also try to make your product a resultant of the conversation, and not the leading star of the conversation. For any product, selling to people they have already sold to is easier, than venturing out in the big blue ocean out there. So how can you use your already existing customers into the loop of marketing your product? The most powerful tool in marketing is “Word-of-Mouth”, which generates instant fame for any product, as compared to crores spent on TV ads. You can always re-pitch to all your previous enquires—if they enquired about product, means that they were interested in your product, but something stopped them from buying your products. Call them up, start up a friendly conversation, and if possible, re-pitch to them, who knows, the conditions might be favorable for them now. And the best part is that it is no rocket science, you already have the data with you, and so it’s a no-cost activity. Companies sponsor multiple events to make people aware of their presence. But not all of your potential customers can be streamlined from corporate events. The latest trend is to sponsor events that your customers would be interested into, like award shows, or food festivals. Not only will your potential customers be surprised to see you at places which interest them, but will also have a good experience. Many companies set up temporary stalls in the crowded areas like shopping malls, universities, in order to cash in on potential customers, but not many of them keep in touch with these cold leads. You can send a thank you note and something of value for them, like a newsletter or a discount coupon, so that they will be delighted to see that you appreciate the time they spent with you. Thus, such mini-marketing tools can not only act as fillers between your massive marketing efforts, but also act as a cost-efficient way to connect with people. After all who doesn’t want to be recognized? Your existing and potential customers will always be kept in loops, and ensure a wider market for you.