Business Marketing Advice
Marketing a Railroad Maintenance and Equipment Business
The value and earning capacity of a railroad maintenance and equipment business largely depends on the quality of its marketing efforts. But great marketing takes a lot more than hanging a shingle and hoping for the best.
Need to improve the effectiveness of your marketing channels for your railroad maintenance and equipment business? That's becoming a common theme these days, especially in this market sector.
Strategic marketing tactics can help small railroad maintenance and equipment businesses stand toe-to-toe with the rest of the market. What small companies lack in resources, they can make up for in marketing intelligence and expertise.
Why Branding Matters
Branding isn't just a marketing buzzword. It's a core concept for businesses trying to entrench themselves in consumer consciousness. Any and every railroad maintenance and equipment business has brand characteristics. Some brands struggle to achieve recognition with consumers while others seem to be quickly embraced by the marketplace. Companies that incorporate brand positioning into their normal marketing routines gradually accumulate higher brand values and are rewarded by consumers.
Managing Negative Publicity
Not sure how to handle negative PR? You're not alone. It's a probably faced by many railroad maintenance and equipment businesses. The worst way to handle negative buzz is to put off developing a response until reporters are pounding on your door, demanding a comment from a company spokesperson. At Gaebler, we advise our business partners to have an updated crisis response plan in place at all times. Since part of your crisis response may involve direct mail, we also recommend working with quality mailing list providers to obtain accurate contact lists.
Company Website
Technology is changing the way small businesses market their products and brands. The on-ramp for using technology to promote your railroad maintenance and equipment business is also the anchor point for your technological strategy: A company website. Although many businesses have a website, a poorly designed and unnavigable website is worse than having no web presence at all. Your site is a representation of your business; it needs to convey the same professional appearance and functionality as you expect from any other sales and marketing asset. But you will also need to consider how you will attract visitors to your site and what you will do with them once they are there -- and that means you'll need to include SEO and conversion path considerations in the web design process.
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs