Marketing Strategy For Small Business

Below are some tips and marketing strategies for medium and small businesses.

1.)Target Market- The first step in developing a small business marketing strategy is to select your target market. Specifying who you are selling to can help you develop more effective advertising campaigns.

2.)Conduct Market Research- By conducting market research you can discover what potential customers are looking for in your type of business and then use this information to develop an advertising campaign that will attract them. For example if through market research you discover that the main motivator in consumers are low prices, you can use this to appeal to them. You should be aware of your potential customers and their wants and needs. Is there a demand for a product that is not being met? Is there a lot of competition? Know your market environment. Marketing a product or service that nobody wants is a sure way to small business failure. Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of assuming they know what customers want and only discover their mistake when their small business fails to produce profits. Back up your assumptions with facts and market research. Just because you love those presidential bobble heads doesn’t mean your customers will.

3.)Analyze your competition- Perform a competitive analysis and find out all you can about your competition. How are they promoting their business? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Through your competition you can get good ideas on how to advertise your small business.

4.)Your unique business spin- Your small business should have its unique spin that makes it stand out from the competition. Sell why your product or service is better. Does it offer something different from your competitors? It might be faster service, better quality, lower prices. Will customers appreciate this difference? You may think you know what customers want but you don’t. You may be surprised to find out that lower prices are not always a customer’s priority. Market Research can help you gain valuable information about what potential customers are really seeking in your business.

5.)Communicate through a single statement- Communicate the “unique spin” of your small business idea through a single statement. This statement can be your small business slogan. Make sure this unique spin is something your target market wants. For example Maria runs a house cleaning service in NYC. Her target market are wealthy New Yorkers who don’t have time to clean. After conducting market research she finds out a majority of her potential customers are seeking 1. Good quality cleaning and 2. Cheap prices. She decides to make her slogan, “Luxury cleaning without the luxury prices.” Maria uses this phrase on all her advertising efforts. The public will repeatedly see this phrase and associate it with Maria’s cleaning business. The phrase is simple, straight to the point and conveys the unique spin.

6.)Consistency- Using a consistent statement and brand for your small business marketing will better utilize your past and current advertising efforts. You want past customers to remember you and return, and new potential customers to give you a try.

7.)Test various small business advertising methods- Try various advertising methods and find out which method of advertising is more effective for your small business. This will save money in the long run because you will only be spending money on the most effective forms of advertising. For example you may want to hand out flyers, develop a small business website, try yellow book ads, billboards, newspaper ads, radio ads and more. Find a way to keep track of how customers find your small business. Find new ways to effectively reach your target market. Test conventional as well as non-conventional ways of advertising. Be sure to avoid illegal advertising methods.

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10 trick marketing

Begin by investing 10 – 20% of your time in marketing. You can split this time into 2 hour segments during each day or set aside a day for marketing. You may feel concerned about losing revenue if you do this, but revenues will increase as you invest more of your time and resources into your plan – it’s a natural cycle. Here are some guidelines and ideas; customize them to work for you!

1. Create a plan. This does not have to be an intimidating process. You know what efforts have garnered clients in the past. List them and expand on them. A simple marketing plan includes a list of marketing practices and a timeline.

2. Face-to-face networking. On-line businesses benefit most significantly from social networking, search engine optimization and pay per click campaigns, but most solopreneurs will benefit by creating relationships off line- regardless of the type of business you run. To meet like-minded people go to classes, lectures and other events that interest you. Keep your eyes and ears open at the grocery store, coffee house and other local establishments. Look into your local Chamber of Commerce and networking groups to see if those are up your alley as well.

3. Cold Calling. I know, yuck! Here’s how I look at it. I love meeting new people. I call with the intent of having a nice conversation with someone new, and I’ve met the most amazing people! You can buy a list or hire a college student, bring on an intern, or have your virtual assistant compile a list for you. Begin by writing a script and giving intention to your call. Know what you wish to achieve; a face-to-face visit, permission to send information, to close the sale or send a free sample.

4. Telemarketing. If cold calling on your own is not an option, consider hiring a professional telemarketing firm. A few hours a week can garner one or two solid leads for you. Depending on your business, this is a simple and sure way to increase revenues.

5. Social Media. A good networker doesn’t walk into a room and hand out 20 business cards, tell everyone about himself and leave. They are there to build relationships. It’s the same in social media. Ask questions, express interest, get to know people. This is a long term investment and you won’t be sorry. Great relationships, business and personal, are built this way.

6. Podcasting. This intimidates and confuses some people, but once you research how to create your own podcast you will be amazed at how easy it is. Having your own podcast puts you in the position of the “expert” and also helps you to expand your horizons. My two shows have contributed to my growth and brought people into my life who are truly important to me. Promote your show via social media, your list, iTunes, in your blog and via your guests’ lists. Create special offers to bring traffic to your site and to build your list.

7. Guest blogging and inviting guest bloggers. If you are not blogging yet, do. This again, is a long term investment – you probably won’t see results right away, but they will come. Comment on other blogs and contact popular bloggers who also target your audience with ideas for their blog, offering to write for them. You will gain subscribers and expand your audience. After you build your following invite popular bloggers to do a guest post on your blog. They will bring followers, many of whom will stay.

8. Follow up with your list and past clients. This one seems obvious but it’s often neglected. When a new client comes to me with cash flow problems this is the first area we look at. There is much untapped business with existing customers, past clients and prospects. What can you upsell? What special offers can you promote? How can you recreate yourself or your product to spark new interest?

9. Ask for referrals. Many solo-practitioners hesitate to ask for referrals. We tend to assume that if our clients like what we do for them they will spread the word. Not always so. If you recruit the assistance of your happy clients your practice will grow. Supply them with materials to forward or hand to their friends and family. Make it easy for people to spread the word about you.

10. Be consistent in your message. It may take time for your marketing efforts to have an impact and prompt a significant response. People sometimes say “I’ve been following you for years….” and we wonder what took them so long to act. We all have different “buy” triggers and have to be in the right place emotionally and financially before we buy. Market frequently and be consistent in your key message.

Small Business Marketing

The essence of marketing is to understand your customers' needs and develop a plan that surrounds those needs. Let's face it anyone that has a business has a desire to grow their business. The most effective way to grow and expand your business is by focusing on organic growth.

You can increase organic growth in four different ways. They include:

* Acquiring more customers
* Persuading each customer to buy more products
* Persuading each customer to buy more expensive products or up selling each customer
* Persuading each customer to buy more profitable products

All four of these increase your revenue and profit. Let me encourage you to focus on the first which is to acquire more customers. Why? Because by acquiring more customers you increase your customer base and your revenues then come from a larger base.

How can you use marketing to acquire more customers?

* Spend time researching and create a strategic marketing plan.
* Guide your product development to reach out to customers you aren't currently attracting.
* Price your products and services competitively.
* Develop your message and materials based on solution marketing.

The Importance of a Target Market in Small Business

When it comes to your customers keep in mind the importance of target marketing. The reason this is important is that only a proportion of the population is likely to purchase any products or service. By taking time pitch your sales and marketing efforts to the correct niche market you will be more productive and not waste your efforts or time.

It's important to consider your virtual segmentation by selecting particular verticals to present your offerings to. Those verticals will have the particular likelihood of purchasing your products and services. Again, this saves you from wasting valuable time and money.

Small Business Marketing and Large Business Marketing are Different

If you are like the majority of small business owners your marketing budget is limited. The most effective way to market a small business is to create a well rounded program that combines sales activities with your marketing tactics. Your sales activities will not only decrease your out-of-pocket marketing expense but it also adds the value of interacting with your prospective customers and clients. This interaction will provide you with research that is priceless.

Small businesses typically have a limited marketing budget if any at all. Does that mean you can't run with the big dogs? Absolutely not. It just means you have to think a little more creatively. How about launching your marketing campaign by doing one of the following:

* Call your vendors or associates and ask them to participate with you in co-op advertising.
* Take some time to send your existing customers' referrals and buying incentives.
* Have you thought about introducing yourself to the media? Free publicity has the potential to boost your business. By doing this you position yourself as an expert in your field.
* Invite people into your place of business by piggybacking onto an event. Is there a concert coming to town, are you willing to sell those tickets? It could mean free radio publicity. If that is not your cup of tea, how about a walkathon that is taking place in your area, why not be a public outreach and distribute their material?

When you do spend money on marketing, do not forget to create a way to track those marketing efforts. You can do this by coding your ads, using multiple toll-free telephone numbers, and asking prospects where they heard about you. This enables you to notice when a marketing tactic stops working. You can then quickly replace it with a better choice or method.

Getting Started with Small Business Marketing

By being diligent in your marketing and creating an easy strategy such as holding yourself accountable to contact ten customers or potential customers daily five days a week you will see your business grow at an exceptional rate. The great thing is it will not take a large marketing budget to make it happen.

become a marketing base

Basically, you might look at marketing as the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and are getting value in return. Marketing analysis includes finding out what groups of potential customers (or markets) exist, what groups of customers you prefer to serve (target markets), what their needs are, what products or services you might develop to meet their needs, how the customers might prefer to use the products and services, what your competitors are doing, what pricing you should use and how you should distribute products and services to your target markets. Various methods of market research are used to find out information about markets, target markets and their needs, competitors, etc. Marketing also includes ongoing promotions, which can include advertising, public relations, sales and customer service.

how to be a marketing

Before you learn more about marketing in the many links later on below topic, you should first understand what marketing is, because the topic is so often misunderstood. Marketing is the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and are getting appropriate value in return. Think about marketing as "inbound" marketing (hearing from stakeholders) and "outbound" marketing (getting the word out to stakeholders).

Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out:

1. What specific groups of potential customers/clients (markets) might have which specific needs (nonprofits often already have a very clear community need in mind when starting out with a new program -- however, the emerging practice of nonprofit business development, or earned income development, often starts by researching a broad group of clients to identify new opportunities for programs)
2. How those needs might be met for each group (or target market), which suggests how a product might be designed to meet the need (nonprofits might think in terms of outcomes, or changes, to accomplish among the groups of clients in order to meet the needs)
3. How each of the target markets might choose to access the product, etc. (its "packaging")
4. How much the customers/clients might be willing pay and how (pricing analysis)
5. Who the competitors are (competitor analysis)
6. How to design and describe the product such that customers/clients will buy from the organization, rather than from its competitors (its unique value proposition)
7. How the product should be identified -- its personality -- to be most identifiable (its naming and branding)

Outbound Marketing Includes:

1. Advertising and promotions (focused on the product)
2. Sales
3. Public and media relations (focused on the entire organization)
4. Customer service
5. Customer satisfaction

Too often, people jump right to the outbound marketing. As a result, they often end up trying to push products onto people who really don't want the products at all. Effective inbound marketing often results in much more effective -- and less difficult -- outbound marketing and sales.

Online Business

For college students and other people who feel burned out trying to balance paying the bills and living at the same time, ads like these can prove to be irresistible.">For college students and other people who feel burned out trying to balance paying the bills and living at the same time, ads like these can prove to be irresistible. Many of them make perfect sense and easily hook you based on good concepts. Unfortunately, many times the product or service does not match the brilliance of a great idea for making money from home or through the Internet. As I’ve learned myself, the further you go down this road, the more excited you get. You basically get hooked, and if you aren’t careful, you will end up working hard and falling further into debt than you can imagine. Much like gambling, the lure of easy money and independence can make just about anyone fall prey to work at home scams that feed off your dreams to get to your wallet so they can go on to the next victim.

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