Over the past decade more and more people are getting fired, getting
downsized, or getting fed up with their corporate jobs and embark on the
journey as a small business owner. Unfortunately, most of the new small
business owners fail to consider their marketing plans or strategy.
There are many marketing concepts for small business marketing to
consider and plan for, but here is our list of Top 10 Marketing Concepts
For Small Business Marketing.
Marketing Concept # 1: Consistency
Consistency
is the number one marketing concept for small business marketing only
because it is left out of marketing concepts for so many businesses. I
have worked with a long list of clients, big and small, that are
extremely inconsistent in all areas of their marketing. Consistency
helps lower the cost of marketing and increase the effectiveness of
branding.
Marketing Concept # 2: Planning
Once small
business owners decide to be consistent with their marketing, planning
is the next major concept to engage. Planning is the most vital part of
small business marketing or any level of marketing, for that matter, and
so many owners, marketing managers, and even CMOs plan poorly. Put the
time into planning your marketing strategy, budget, and other concepts
presented here to ensure success.
Marketing Concept # 3: Strategy
Strategy
immediately follows planning because your strategy is the foundation
for the rest of your marketing activities. In the process of planning,
you must develop your strategy: who you will target, how you will target
them, and how will you keep them as a customer.
Marketing Concept # 4: Target Market
Target
market is also another key concept for small business marketing.
Defining exactly who you are targeting allows small business owners to
focus on specific customers and reduce marketing waste. A well-defined
target market will make every other marketing concept so much easier to
implement successfully.
Marketing Concept # 5: Budget
Although
it is listed at number 5, budgeting is important throughout the entire
process. Creating a marketing budget is usually the hardest and most
inaccurate part of small business marketing. Most small businesses
owners lack a great deal of experience in marketing, so their budgets
usually end up skewed. The most important part of this marketing concept
is to actually establish a marketing budget. From there, you can worry
about how to distribute your available funds.
Marketing Concept # 6: Marketing Mix
The
marketing mix is usually defined as product, pricing, place, and
promotion. As a small business owner, you must specifically decide on
your products (or services), the appropriate pricing, where and how you
will distribute your products, and how will you let everyone know about
you and your products.
Marketing Concept # 7: Website
In
today's market, a business of any size must have a website. I hate when
I see businesses that have a one page website with out-dated
information. Customers, be it businesses or consumers, will search the
web over 60% of the time before making any purchasing decisions. This
marketing concept contains a slew of additional components, but you must
at least develop a small web presence of some kind and keep it updated.
Marketing Concept # 8: Branding
Many
small businesses owners also neglect this concept. Small business
marketing must focus on this marketing concept just as much as large
corporations do. Branding consists of the pictures, logo, design scheme,
layout, make up, and image of your products and even your company.
Branding is how your customers perceive (please place a lot of emphasis
on that word!) your products and company. Make sure to pay special
attention to what kind of brand you are building through each step of
your planning and implementation.
Marketing Concept # 9: Promotion and Advertising
Promotion
and advertising is a very complex marketing concept, but must be
considered for any type of business and its products and services. Once
you engage the previous 8 marketing concepts, you must finally let your
target market know about you and your products. Proper promotion and
advertising will result in effective brand recognition, and, ultimately,
increased sales.
Marketing Concept # 10: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The
concept of customer relationship management has become a huge industry
in the marketing world. There are many types of software and services
offered to help businesses of any size handle their customer
relationship management. Since there is so much available, usually for a
large sum of money, small business owners usually look at this concept
as something they are not big enough for or have enough money to
implement. Don't be fooled by the massive industry that has evolved from
this concept. Maintaining proper customer relationship management is
essential to creating loyal and consistent customers.
This list of
marketing concepts should be examined, researched, planned, and
implemented, especially by small businesses, in order to be successful.
Also, your marketing doesn't stop here. Each business is unique and will
have additional components that must be considered, but this list will
jump-start any marketing plan.
