The idea behind micro finance is providing small loans (very small) to little businesses (sole proprietors mostly) in poor countries (really poor). This is an idea that organizations like Opportunity International are implementing to help poor people around the world. To learn more about an organization that’s supported by donors like Bill and Melinda Gates, go to www.opportunity.org
While micro finance is an idea that is working in poor countries, micro marketing is an idea that is just beginning to work for smaller businesses in the US. Micro marketing is the use of small amounts of money and stringent standards of accountability to achieve small successes that can grow into bigger ones. It’s careful crafting of strategy. Attention-getting execution. Judicious use of all media. And defining the problem in 25 words or less. It’s about paying for performance and ensuring that short and long-term objectives are being met.
Micro marketing is the idea behind “Organic Marketing.” Small companies should start marketing communications small but with a view to smart growth. Every living organism starts as a seed and grows into a seedling. Organizations are living organisms and need to grow organically as well with a strong root system (investment capital) and vigorous stem and leaf system (human capital). The way a small business grows determines how big it will get.
1) Most people don’t care or think much about politics. That’s why they vote reflexively – Republican or Democrat. At the same time most voters distrust and resent politicians. Your message must first appeal emotionally to their self interest and their outrage about “politics as usual.” Second it must be rationally supported. And third, it must position you as a different kind of candidate. It is critical that you stand out from the political crowd.
2) Nine times out of ten your main message will be on taxes and spending -- and their impact on jobs. Illinois is one of the most politically corrupt state in the U.S. Illinois government at every level is inefficient and ineffective. Your advertising must present the problem (out of control politicians and government spending) and detail the solution (stopping new taxes and reducing/eliminating old ones). Job growth follows economic growth that follows controlled government spending and lower taxes.
3) Any candidate serious about winning votes must have three things: Palm piece – you message distilled down to its simplest. Website – to provide in-depth information to interested voters, donors, volunteers and media. Yard signs – powerful, personal endorsements that help you building awareness and credibility and attract new supporters.
4) Despite the complaints and what everybody says, negative advertising does work… … as long as it is based on fact. You need to give voters not just a reason to vote for you but a reason to vote against your opponent(s). You advertising message needs to get a reaction . It needs to irritate opposition candidates enough so they take a swat at you. You are not a certified threat to the opposition until they attack you, which only adds legitimacy to your candidacy. If they manage to ignore you, you’re the loser.
5) Advertising alone can’t win elections. All politics is local – and personal – which means as a candidate you need to be available – to the media, to interested community groups and to volunteers willing to go door-to-door and distribute campaign materials for you.
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SHAMELESS PROMOTION
Mosquito Communications/Advocacy is a team of advertising and marketing veterans who come together on an ad hoc basis to help free-market political candidates and not-for-profit organizations promote free-market solutions in the Chicago area.
Grassroots politics is BIG stuff for us.
We’re not your typical political consultants. First, we’re free market independents. We’ve gone door to door collecting signatures on ballot-access petitions. We’ve handed out campaign information at train stations and street corners. We’ve hosted campaign booths at village fairs. We know what goes into a campaign – and the role their advertising can realistically play.
The large may eat the small, but the fast will definitely eat the slow.
Mosquito isn’t big. But we’re light on our feet. That means we can be more responsive as your campaign unfolds. We don’t depend on four-color brochures and big budget TV spots. We are a lean marketing operation that strikes fast and sticks to the basics with sharp messages that draw blood.
Freedom isn’t free. Nor, unfortunately, are the services of Mosquito.
We would like to help every free-market candidate running for office in Illinois because they deserve our – and your – support. Unfortunately, available time and resources don’t permit that.
However, our fees are a fraction of what you’d pay a conventional advertising agency or political consultancy with high overhead. Mosquito can help you develop a creative strategy and strategic creative for a powerful single-minded message that resonates with voters. Our services include campaign graphic design, candidate literature, web sites and print and broadcast advertising.
For more information about Mosquito Communications, email Dave at dave.mosquitocomm.com.
For a sample, click on EQ4SR at www.mosquitocomm.com
Today’s economic and political winds aren’t doing much to lift small business.Yet, small business has an advantage that the Big guys don’t.Surprisingly, it’s size.
Smallness gives organizations the ability to experiment freely with marketing strategies, tactics and techniques – without major financial risks.In the Internet Age there are a multitude of ways to target, reach and motivate potential customers.Larger organizations that have to move many things around and motivate lots of people to innovate don’t have the freedom to find and focus on the small opportunities.Small organizations can -- if they capitalize on their #1 asset.Speed.
The tragedy of paralysis-by-analysis
The tragedy we see with a lot of business start-ups and smaller organizations is paralysis by analysis when it comes to marketing communications.It’s “ready, aim, fire” with an unhealthy obsession on ready and aim.
These small business leaders take on the marketing function as one of the most important jobs they have.And it is.But there’s such a burden to “get it right,” they freeze-up when they should free-up.Marketing-communications seems like a big gamble.But done right it’s not.
Moving fast doesn’t mean going crazy
At a previous ad agency, I once had a boss who liked to use the phrase, “We’ll build the plane while we fly it” when developing a marketing communications campaign for a client(Or was it “We’ll fly this plane while we build it?”)Either way that always horrified me, because such plan would guarantee a failure. -- and a crash.
But moving fast doesn’t mean leaping unprepared into the darkness.It just means working smartly and efficiently and making timely decisions like your business depends on it.
We know a client who is obsessed by his Web site --to the exclusion of all other marketing and communication tools.He sees the Web site as the centerpiece of his ad campaign.It is.But a Web site is only one part of the plan and the brand.(And perfection is the enemy of the good.)
After careful aim, some are afraid to pull the trigger on a campaign – no matter how modest or expensive. They are paralyzed.And in this fast moving economy you can’t afford to freeze up.
Organic Marketing:The Way To Grow
Launching a marketing communications effort shouldn’t feel like you’re putting all your business’ chips on black (or red).
For a small organization or brand, the marketing investment needs to start small and grow organically.Organic Marketing builds on successes, naturally.General Electric or General Motors can’t do much of anything without affecting a host of stakeholders.You, on the other hand, don’t have that problem.
New products, services and causes all need marketing but each should start as a small investment.Maybe it’s a low-cost social media campaign or a business card and letterhead.Or a trade ad.Or maybe just a flyer.
It all depends on your target audience and what your objective is.Don’t rule out bigger or more glamorous media.But start small and experiment.And make every marketing investment be accountable in dollars for return on investment.
No matter how small or basic a strategy or idea is, it must pay for itself in terms of awareness, preference and sales.That’s true if you’re executing a rebranding strategy, launching your first website or doing some flyers.
We’ve got to fly!
We’re Mosquito Communications and we’re launching this blog today.And we’re all about “marketing small.”To learn more about Mosquito go to www. mosquitocomm.com
The idea behind micro finance is providing small loans (very small) to little businesses (sole proprietors mostly) in poor countries (really poor). This is an idea that organizations like Opportunity International are implementing to help poor people around the world. To learn more about an organization that’s supported by donors like Bill and Melinda Gates, go to www.opportunity.org
