Small Business Data Base Marketing

A Home Business Article Contributed by Sharon Hill

Data Base Marketing for Your Small Business

Whether you're a mogul in a global corporation or an entrepreneur just starting your small business, database marketing is a crucial factor in your business success.

What is Small Business Data Base Marketing?

Data base marketing is the process of taking your lists of current and prospective customers and converting them electronically. In other words, using your computer system and a data base program to organize, evaluate and manage this information more efficiently than can be done manually. Small business database marketing can be as simple or as sophisticated as you want to make it. While the upfront tasks to complete this are heavily time intensive, the revenue rewards for having done so are generally extensive - and well worth the effort involved.

This data base marketing effort will allow you, the small business entrepreneur, and your staff, to send out direct mail notices of promotions, a thank you for a recent purchase, a simple annual reminder mailing, even a birthday card or holiday greeting. It will also ease your retrieval of phone contact information for your customers or prospective customers.

How-To's of Small Business Data Base Marketing

The first rule of thumb for successful small business data base marketing is to focus most of your money and time on contact with your best customers repeatedly, while saving a few extra dollars to periodically target new potential customers. While these contacts will primarily be email or snail mail, you will also want to do follow up calls not only to the prospects to whom you have initiated contact but also to those regular customers who have not responded to your last promotion effort.

Small business data base marketing began as a snail mail effort, primarily because, other than the telephone, that was simply all there was. Telephone was used as the follow up. Then telemarketing became the data base marketing means of choice for both small and large businesses. Now, of course, that has come to be looked at askance by so many, and has become difficult due to caller id and privacy manager software, as well as legislation that has allowed private parties to dictate that you must not contact them by phone.

Now, however, you have several options for your small business database marketing efforts. You can use e-mail (opt-in, not spam), fax and your own web site's feedback form. Remember, however, to familiarize yourself with legislation restricting unsolicited marketing faxes.

You don't have to spend a ton of money to create a four color direct mail piece. A simple, professional and enticing black and white letterhead message will do fine. If you are including a business brochure or flyer you will probably want to use one or two colors, but if you want to cut back even further on your costs, your first mail out could be a two-sided large postcard, no color, on white 60 bond paper.

There are two advantages to this - it is less costly to mail a postcard than correspondence inside an envelope; and, postcards are read in their entirety considerably more often than envelopes are opened are letters are read.

If and when possible, address your correspondence by hand, or use a script program. Don't use mailing labels. It looks too "bulk mail" and will hurt your response.