Along with your business plan, your small business marketing plans is
only of the most important long-term plans you'll make for your small business. Some small business owners choose to ignore that advice,
instead preferring to fly by the seat of their pants, so to speak, to
"wing it." While some of those small business owners are successful,
they're not nearly as successful as they could be had they laid out a
well-defined small business marketing plan.
Small business marketing strategy step 1: Know your market
The
first step in developing a successful small business marketing strategy
is to make sure that you have a really solid handle on your target
market. Ask yourself: Who are my customers? Once you've identified who
they are, ask yourself: What are my customers' problems? What are
their dreams and aspirations? The surest way to answer those questions,
of course, is to ask your customers themselves. Even if you can't
afford to hire a small business marketing firm that will conduct focus
group tests for you, you can do your own simple survey by hitting the
streets and talking to those people you plan to sell to (and make
contacts at the same time!). You'd be surprised how powerful that
simple task is yet how few businesses do it.
Small business marketing strategy step 2: Know yourself
The
second step in developing your small business marketing strategy is to
get to know yourself (your business), once you've gotten to know your
customers. Ask yourself: What does my business do? How is my business
different than my competitors'? How does my business help solve my
customers' problems or help them achieve their dreams? Answering these
questions will help you to define your unique selling proposition -
those aspects that set you apart from your competitors.
That
unique selling proposition should become your brand - your business's
identity. Your brand is what will pervade all of your marketing
materials and what your customers will use to identify you. The
importance of diligently developing your brand as part of a successful
small business marketing strategy can't be overstated.
Small business marketing strategy step 3: Analyze your competitors' small business marketing strategies
Once
you've developed your brand - that unique identity that tells your
customers who you are and how you're different - you can begin thinking
about how you're going to actually market your business. First, look at
your competitors' small business marketing strategies. Are there
obvious gaps that you could fill (and thereby stand out among the
competition)? For example, if you see that none of your competitors
have websites, you could stand out with a small business marketing
strategy online.
Wherever you market your business, it must be
where your customers are. For example, small business marketing online
will be a waste if none of your potential customers use the Internet.
Likewise, you may think that writing a monthly column in your local
newspaper would be a great way to advertise your services and establish
yourself as an expert; but if none of your potential customers read that
paper, that small business marketing strategy will fail.
At this
point, your small business marketing strategy will not only be defined
by where your customers are and what your competitors are doing, but it
will also depend on your small business marketing budget. A full-page
spread in a national magazine may be the best way to reach your target
audience, but if you can't afford to shell out tens of thousands of
dollars, it's not the small business marketing strategy for you.
Wherever
your small business marketing plan takes you, the careful development
of your small business marketing strategy - by knowing your market,
knowing your business, and analyzing your competitors' strategies - will
be a critical determinant of your long-term business success.
