10 Steps to Building Your Skin Care Marketing Muscle

Marketing your skin care products is crucially important, but these days most skin care companies have less time, fewer resources and often a smaller budget to work with. At the same time, their objectives are as aggressive as ever. What’s the solution?

Here are 10 tips on how to maximize your marketing muscle without increasing your budget.

1. Keep it down. Most small companies operate with annual marketing budgets under $1 million and spend disproportionately on internal resources. A good rule of thumb is that no more than 10 percent of your total marketing budget should be put towards internal resources/overhead. That means if your budget for the year is $400,000, it should be managed by no more than $40,000 in salary. Any time that you spend directly managing these efforts, as well as additional internal costs for benefits, should also be factored into the equation.

2. Buy from brokers. Direct purchasing of some outsourced services (such as printing) is often more expensive than going through a broker. A good broker has the expertise, contacts, buying power and personal relationships to optimize production efficiencies, which results in lower costs for you. Usually, this translates into fewer hassles for you and a higher-quality end product.

3. Negotiate everything. You don’t need to be Coke or Pepsi to have negotiating power in the marketing industry. For example, most advertising/marketing agencies are concerned with securing regular, ongoing work. Ask to see cost differences between project work and a six-month or even one- or two-year contract/retainer (don’t worry about over-commitment, there’s usually a 30-day-out clause). Also consider paying for some services up front. Don’t underestimate the power of “cash flow” to help you secure discounts and/or price breaks.

4. Use other people’s money. Partnering can really pay off. Look to your current vendors/suppliers to see if there are ways to magnify your co-marketing opportunities. Not only do manufacturers and suppliers often have specific budgets available for co-op programs, but you can be creative as well. For example, if a photographer’s bid on a project is too high, ask if he’d be willing to trade some of his fee for a marketing credit in your materials. You’ll be surprised at how far this can stretch your marketing dollar.

5. Tie yourself up. Large consumer brands do it every day, yet it’s amazing how few companies take advantage of tie-in opportunities. Which other non-competitive companies are trying to reach the same target market as you? Open things up for discussion. If the fit is right, you can very quickly multiply your marketing budget by simply aligning yourself with others with similar interests.

6. Be a big fish. You can find a wide range of marketing resources in size and capabilities, from single freelancers working in their basement to multi-billion-dollar conglomerate agencies. Once you’ve found the right size for you, consider going a step smaller. Odds are you’ll still get the resources you need, but lower overhead usually means lower cost to you. It’s OK to be the big fish in an agency roster, just try not to exceed 20 percent of their overall revenues.

7. Befriend the media. If public relations is an important part of your marketing plan, there is a great way to ensure that you’re getting the most for your money. Target the sources you most want and work backwards. For example, contact the editors of the top two or three publications in your industry and ask them what types of articles they’re looking for, what kind of input they want from companies like yours, etc. Building relationships with the media and becoming a contributing “source” can pay dividends down the road when you need to get a certain message out. Editors are also a good source for recommendations if you’re hiring PR resources (as employees or external vendors).

8. Measure yourself. You’re shooting in the dark if you don’t clearly establish evaluation criteria to measure the success of your marketing efforts. Make sure that your criteria are quantifiable and share these yardsticks with your entire marketing team (including other vendors/agencies). Incorporate any feedback that you receive to ensure you have buy-in up front and hold everyone accountable in the end.

9. Go East, young man. If you have the turnaround time required, consider sourcing some of your work overseas. Asia’s very low labor costs make it an attractive resource for production and manufacturing of premiums, and India’s well-educated English-speaking workforce make it a growing hub for customer service/telemarketing and development work (great for your Web site and any interactive materials). Costs can be as little as 10 percent of what you pay in the U.S. for similar products/services.

10. Get others to sell for you. There’s money sitting right in your Rolodex or PDA just waiting to jump into your wallet. Often your contacts, customers and suppliers make great salespeople for your company because they already know (and presumably approve) of what you do. Talk to them about the mutually beneficial opportunities that exist when they act as an agent and/or referral for your company with their network of business/personal contacts. There are several creative ways to provide referral fees or commission structures that would allow you to increase your new business while at the same time helping them build their business.