Project provides marketing help
Southern Alleghenies commission started program last year
A new marketing program introduced by the Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission is drawing rave reviews.
“I can’t tell you how beneficial and positive our experiences with Southern Alleghenies have been,” said President Ann Makowiecki of MailPro Inc. of Duncansville.
MailPro is one of 12 clients benefiting from the commission’s Marketing and Communications Assistance Program which offers specialized help.
The free program is open to small- and medium-sized businesses with 100 employees or less in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Huntingdon, Fulton and Somerset counties. Retail businesses are excluded.
The program was initiated about seven months ago when Benjamin J. Mazur, a marketing and communications specialist, was brought on board.
Mazur said the program is geared to small businesses that “may not have the experience and knowledge to develop a marketing plan for their business.”
The program provides one-on-one assistance.
“We conduct a marketing audit,” Mazur said. “We look at the business – what it has done in the past and what it is doing currently. We look at its strengths and weaknesses.
“From there, we develop a comprehensive complete marketing plan for their business. It is typically anywhere from 60 to 90 pages. We really get into the nitty gritty of how to market through traditional advertising, social media and the internet.
“We tell them about branding and how to develop promotional materials they need to attract clients. It is a lot like an intermediate college course on how to market their business,” he said.
The marketing plan gives the business lots of ideas.
“They don’t have to do everything we recommend,” Mazur sai. “They are under no obligation. They can also do nothing. Many see it as a tremendous resource.”
In the past, the commission helped MailPro procure a loan for printing equipment, receive Women Business Enterprise certification and taught them how to acquire government contracts.
Makowiecki thought the new program would help her business.
“We explained that we want to grow our business, and honestly, we don’t have the time, skills or budget to develop a much-needed expert, effective and comprehensive marketing plan,” she said.
“What they presented to us after a few meetings and conversations was more than we dared hope for,” Makowiecki said.
She received a “three-binder call-to-action marketing plan.”
“They critiqued our current marketing strategy,” she said. “Their concise and methodical plan identified the steps we needed to build a strong brand name and reputation. Their plan explained how to effectively communicate our mission and values.
“They included relevant information to guide our strategy steps and explained how each step will benefit our growth. A very important section was on what we needed to know to make good decisions during website and social media development.
“They saved us so much time and money that we can use to grow our business and make our community that much stronger,” Makowiecki said.
The new program has also been helpful to Catalyst Space, 1331 12th Ave., Suite 205.
“It is a fantastic resource for us at no cost. It allows us to have outside input to develop a marketing plan that gives us guidelines of where to go next,” said Justin Merrell, board chairman.
“They also have access to data bases and resources we would have to pay for; that alone can’t be beat,” he said. “It has helped us target customers and develop a marketing message to effectively recruit them. We’ve had a great deal of success from the recommendations Ben has made.”
Mazur put together a package for Penn Metal Fabricators of Ebensburg, which had not marketed its products.
“This is all new to us. He put together a real nice package,” said Matt Strait, quality control engineer. “We are setting up a website. He told us how to build it and how to market our business. This will help us find our target audience. I definitely think it will be good for us. It is what you have to do when you have no marketing experience. This will give us a great direction,” Strait said.
The program’s first client was Fort Roberdeau, which in the past had received funding through the state’s Tourism Assistance Program. That program was eliminated under Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration.
Fort Roberdeau director Glenn Nelson is impressed with the program.
“Ben gave me a professional marketing tool and we are trying to get more of it implemented. It is a valuable document. It includes plenty of practical steps that we can implement, and do so without any impact on our budget,” Nelson said.
“One of the biggest challenges Fort Roberdeau faces is the fact that we are tucked in the mountains. We need to get the word out more. He mentioned getting better signage out on how to get to the fort. We have already put some signs up.”
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.
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