I first noticed Arfa Saira Iqbal on the Warrior Forum. I say ‘noticed’ because she’s one of the few people who have entered the world of marketing and copywriting and become a success in a relatively short time.
And in that time her writing has improved so fast I’m almost jealous. Almost.
Arfa has been writing for over 15 years, but only decided to turn it into a proper career since 2010.
She fell into copywriting almost by accident because she was unsatisfied with making menial amounts of money writing articles. Trained by a top UK copywriter, Arfa discovered copywriting and has never looked back. She now works as a marketing consultant with offline businesses to increase their online presence.
In this first article Arfa explains…
Why Small Businesses Are Really Suffering…
We’re officially coming out of a recession. I get that. And yes, business is slow for everyone, from the small corner shop to multi-million pound corporations. But it’s the small fish that have been hit the hardest, and there’s a very good reason why…
Most local businesses don’t have a clue how to market themselves. They rarely have any social media presence such as Facebook or Twitter, and as for an online presence, it’s usually a hit or miss affair. Mention direct response marketing, and their eyes glaze over.
Local businesses unfortunately don’t look at the bigger picture. They see their marketing efforts as something to bring in business when things are quiet, or when they want to have a sale.
When I first started freelancing, I was amazed at the number of local businesses who couldn’t grasp what marketing meant for their business. It was usually a case of ‘I don’t have a budget for marketing’ or something to that effect. This astounded me.
One business even went as far as to say to me ‘We don’t need to market – we’re only a small business,’ to which I replied ‘which is exactly why you need to market because otherwise you’d be non-existent!’
I’m not one to beg anyone for business, but the early months in my commercial career (before I started copywriting) were also the most eye-opening. Large corporations and SME’s understand the value of marketing.
Without it, you don’t exist.
Customers trickling in slowly to buy your wares isn’t exactly what small businesses want, but for some reason or the other, they seem content with it and find it hard to spend on marketing to ensure they stay profitable.
As one small business owner put it, marketing is expensive, and when things are tight financially, this is often the first thing that is affected.
Even larger businesses tend to cut their marketing budgets when the chips are down. But, this is perhaps the worst mistake you can actually make.
Done correctly, targeted marketing during tough times helps keep your cash registers ringing and helps businesses not only survive, but positively thrive as well. In short, responsive, direct and highly targeted marketing is the lynchpin which holds a business together.
Mention marketing to small business owners, and leafleting and small ads in the papers are about as far as they go. And some of these materials and ads are downright diabolical. Here’s one I got this morning: ‘New Spa Open!’ screams the headline.
And there was no call to action.
Who actually cares if a new spa has opened? A benefit driven headline and a clear call to action is the very least you expect on any promotional material.
Time and again, us marketers have witnessed the power of persuasion through words and how simple tweaks to existing materials can make a huge difference to response rates.
One of the first rules I learnt in direct marketing is that nothing (and I do mean NOTHING) leaves your business without a clear call to action. That meant trashing the hundred or so postcards I’d so lovingly had printed to promote my business.
And here’s another challenge for the small business owner. First it’s general offline marketing. Next is your online presence. But where is it?
It surprises me, nay shocks me even, how in this day and age, businesses can function without a website. Some business owners think that websites are expensive and difficult to maintain and that they have to be selling online to have a website in the first place.
Nothing could be further from the truth. There are some excellent free websites out there specifically geared towards businesses.
Take this site for example: http://www.gbbo.co.uk/. This website is aimed at getting British businesses online for free.
Everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) who has any type of business MUST have a web presence. Period. Living in the information age, it’s a cardinal sin for any business not to.
And then there are the social media aspects to it as well. Facebook and Twitter is all you really need, and both are free. It’s how you use them that matters.
And yet, businesses don’t even have the time to do this basic piece of social media marketing.
How are small businesses telling their customers they have new stock, or that they’re having a sale or a special promotion in store if they don’t connect with their customers?
Some businesses don’t even target their leaflet drops, wasting potentially hundreds or thousands of pounds in marketing materials that end up in the dustbin because it’s sent to the wrong post code area.
Like the new luxury clothing store that is being advertised in low income areas. Or the leaflets boasting the grand opening of a cheap takeaway being promoted in highly affluent areas.
No one is saying that businesses won’t receive any custom from these locations – they’re just not going to get the desired response rates from these places.
The majority of mailings are badly written, with no discernible benefits and no motivation to pick up the phone and call. And shock, horror, when they do have a number, you can never get hold of them. This happened to me not so long ago. I was looking for carpet cleaners in my area and each one I contacted for a quote was either busy, out on a job or unavailable. How about a website please where I can get prices so I’m not wasting hours on the phone trying to get hold of you?
And it’s exactly these frustrations as a customer and a copywriter which make me think that small businesses really are losing the plot. And with problems like these, it’s no surprise then that small businesses are suffering financially. And the sad thing is that they will continue to do so until they either learn their lesson or fold completely.
Arfa Saira Iqbal
Guest Contributor
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Arfa is a direct response copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in the health and wellness niche. She works with clients all over the world to increase their online and offline presence. Arfa’s clients include Latitude Group, Impronto.org, Mercy Mission UK, Healthstation.tv and arganicaskincare.com. You can contact her via her website at www.arfawrites.com
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