Piggyback marketing is a way you can promote other members or your networking group in general by including information within your companies marketing material.
For some people, this is a very big mental step. We all only have a limited marketing budget that buys us so much marketing material. To think of giving away space can be hard at first, but there are areas where the impact it has far outweighs the cost implications. I have found over the years that this type of piggyback marketing is very effective.
Some low or no cost ways you can use your activity to help promote your Chapter member can include:
Newsletters - If you regularly produce a newsletter about your own company’s goods and services, why not consider giving over a quarter page to an article about either group member or your Networking Group as a whole? In our newsletters sent by both mail and email, we regularly feature Group members. I think it adds a little diversity to our marketing message and is of great interest to our customers. Most already know about our activity in our groups, I make a point of telling them about it when we have our initial meetings but know nothing about the membership.
Website - Have you considered having a page on your website dedicated to networking? This will again add a difference to your site and give visitors a more rounded view of your company, as it allows them to see you are part of a business community.
Vehicles - Your company vehicles offer a great promotional opportunity for your company. If you can give over a small amount of space to your networking group, and promote your Chapter by having a statement somewhere that could be as simple as ‘we are active members of xxx – see xxx.com for details’.
Brochures - If you have a company brochure you can promote your Networking Group in it as a way of explaining a little more about how your company does things. You can do this subtly by including a paragraph or statement about your membership, or unsubtly by making a feature of your membership. In a world where we are all trying to promote why we are better than our competitors, showing your customers that you are an active part of the business community will give them a more rounded feel for your company and will enhance their positive perception of you.
Joint Promotions - You might also consider getting together with companies within your group and having a joint brochure produced. For example, the plumber, the electrician and the builder, each offering emergency call out services could put together a joint brochure. This can be used in general promotion as well as giving it to your group members to give to their contacts. This joint brochure will have a good effect as it promotes a whole service and will cost less as the companies share the cost.
Giving away space is not a ‘waste of space’, it has genuine benefits and is truly in the spirit of Group Your Networking Group. Ultimately, your marketing activity is there to promote your own business, however by cross promoting members or the Group as a whole, you can enhance your message and give your company more credibility.