Setting up a business is a big step, but whether you will make a profit or not depends a lot on your marketing efforts. If you fail in this facet, your business may struggle for market share and growth. That is why, after setting up your business, you need to sit down and figure out which marketing strategy will help you reach your potential customers. This quick guide will take you through the key steps to marketing your small business enterprise.
Carry out proper market research
Carrying market research is a very crucial step in identifying and developing your marketing strategy. Market research will help you identify the location, thinking, and buying patterns of existing customers. Moreover, conducting research will give insight into competitors’ strategies, which will help you develop your strategies. After conducting perfect market research, you will identify potential customers, monitor trends in the market, and identify the perfect selling price for your products and services. More important, you will discover the product or service promotion opportunities.
Profile your target market
After conducting market research, you will, of course, have a clear insight into who your target market is. Now, your target market could be large, and trying to promote your product or service to everyone in the target market will be costly, especially for a small business. Thus, it would be best to segment the target audience depending on factors like the location, behavior, demography, and lifestyle. The segmentation will help you better understand your customers and identify the exact potential customers that need your product and service and will be able to pay for it.
Define your unique selling proposition (USP)
One of the challenges that small businesses face is competition. As you establish your small enterprise, you need to have that in mind and thus develop a unique selling proposition. The unique selling proposition will make customers choose to buy from you and not your competitors. For example, you can make sure that your product meets the needs of the customers in a better way than that of your competitors. Or, your skill in offering services to your customers is so good that they will want to come back. Otherwise, if you do not have a unique selling proposition, customers will have no reason to buy from you and not your competitors.
Brand your business
A business brand is a ‘face’ in business. Beyond the good-looking logo, a good brand makes it easier to retain and acquire new customers. Yes, a brand reflects your business as in what you can deliver and your values. It makes a business look legitimate and polished hence creating trust among a customer. Moreover, having a top brand generates new customers through word-of-mouth referrals.
Choose the best marketing avenue for your business
The next step is to find the best channels to market your small business. There are several options these days, including the likes of social media, blogging, websites, TV, and flyers, etc. As a small business, it is imperative to use digital channels and low-cost approaches like entertainment marketing that won’t strain your budget. A top agency can be your source for effective entertainment marketing strategies that will help your brand grow. It could be as simple as finding the right celebrity to talk about your product or service in their show. It could be product placement approaches that create awareness about your brand. Digital channels are effective in selling your brand. You can tap into social media marketing, including using creative content. SEO is also the best way to grow your brand on search engines.
Define your goals and budget
Setting your marketing goals will help you define what you want to achieve through your marketing activities. Ensure that your goals are Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bases (SMART). Moreover, set aside the right budget for your marketing activities. As a general rule, you should spend around 3-5 of your annual turnovers on marketing. However, for a new business, you will need more money to fuel your business growth, and therefore you should allocate more.
Take care of your customers
Customers are the most important asset in the business, and therefore they should be well taken care of to become loyal. Provide excellent products and services that exceed their expectations. It is smart to create a rapport with your customer by having a regular conversation, for example, through social media. Ask for their feedback and address their complaints in the best way possible. Also, train your employees on customer care services. A customer’s happy customer will refer more customers to your business
Monitor and review your marketing strategy
Last but not least, you will need to monitor and review your marketing activities often to see if they are boosting your sales or not. For example, you can review every three months or on the introduction of a new product to the market. If a strategy is not working for you, then you know it is time to adopt a different one or fine-tune the initial approach.
Final Remarks
Marketing your product and services is one trick to boost sales in your small or medium enterprise. Be sure to follow the steps we have gone through but don’t be afraid to try out new approaches. More importantly, monitor and review your strategy, and if it does not work for you, do not be reluctant to adopt new ones.
