Here is a synopsis of an article by Janis Pettit, What You Need to Do Before Spending a Penny on Marketing:
Most of us build our small businesses around a basic talent, skill or passion that we assume will easily make us profitable. Yet a recent informal survey I did showed that attracting new customers is the main area where small business owners (SBO’s) say they need help. Whether you’re just starting out or are well established, your challenge is the same as any other business, including the IBM’s of the world—identifying, attracting and keeping customers by getting a strong ROI from your marketing program. It’s imperative that you develop a strategy and plan to make your marketing powerful, affordable and successful. Yet many small businesses I’ve worked with were overwhelmed by the possibilities and were going about marketing in a very haphazard way, making very costly mistakes. Here are some guidelines to get you started.
Picture a dart board with a bull’s eye in the center. The bull’s eye represents your ideal customer – the one who loves what you offer, buys often, pays your asking price and refers others to your business.
The more you research and learn about your ideal customer and target market, the more you’ll know how to create, package and sell your offering successfully. This approach to identifying and understanding your target market is routine for big corporations, so research needs to be part of your routine as well.
The biggest mistake you can make is to assume that just because you are excited about your business or product, everyone will want what you have to offer. Actually it works the other way around. First find a need that’s not being filled, and then use your skills, talent or passion to fill it. If you’ve been in business for a while and your business is not growing as quickly as you would like, remember the marketplace changes at lightning speed and you may need to periodically realign yourself with your customer’s changing wants.
Once you understand what your customer will pay for, you need to know what similar products or services your competitors are selling successfully and how they’re doing it.
Next you need to clearly define what truly differentiates your business from the competition. What makes you unique and valuable?
This question needs to be answered from Day One. Better price and service don’t count since every business says that, so it carries little meaning. Dig deeper, refer back to your research and find out what will make customers think of you instead of your competition. Armed with the answers to these questions, develop a compelling 30 second “sound byte” that verbalizes what kind of clients need your services and what the result is after they work with you and use it whenever possible. Make this message client-focused not you-focused.
You may think that in order to market yourself successfully you need a Big Company marketing budget. But actually, many companies allocate their marketing budgets as a percentage of gross sales. So first it’s imperative that you estimate your projected yearly gross sales for the coming year. Then allocate around 5% of projected gross sales (recommended figures vary) for your marketing budget.
Make a list of the ideas that seem interesting. Think carefully about the time and money involved in implementing each. Then choose those the top three that meet the highest criteria for achieving your marketing goals, fitting within your budget and aligning with your personal skill set.
Try listing each specific marketing activity you’re committed to implementing in the next six months. Note how you’ll do each, what marketing materials you’ll need, how often you’ll repeat it, how you’ll schedule it and how much it will cost. Check each to make sure it will attract your target market, fulfill your marketing strategy, fit into your marketing budget and your schedule. Then stick to it.
Every month, measure and track results so you can determine what’s working and measure your ROI. Measurement is not difficult and is essential in determining what is bringing in paying customers
For more detail, be sure to check out the complete source article.
