Small Business Marketing Strategy

I believe that all small businesses have the ability to market themselves well. Great small business marketing isn’t about throwing money at expensive advertising in a bid to try and compete with big businesses.

Less is expected of small businesses when it comes to marketing, it’s therefore quite easy to get noticed by your clients and stand out from your competitors when you start putting a little effort into your marketing.

Small businesses are agile, decision making is limited to one or two people which makes it easier to implement ideas faster. For example small businesses can be the first to introduce new products and services and the first to respond to changes in trends. Small businesses have the ability to be more personal with their service and only have to focus on reaching a relatively small target market. Some small businesses see these factors as a disadvantage, when actually it makes marketing your business much easier when you know how. Add to this the fact that most small businesses make very little effort with marketing, it means that you have a great opportunity to become the market leader in your area for what you do.

What makes a great small business marketing strategy?

It all begins with having a vision. Everyone starts their business for a reason, within that reason is usually wrapped up a lot of passion. The key is to unwrap that passion and make sure your clients know about it.

Along with you vision will go a mission and some business goals and objectives. This is the practical plan that steers your business.

A unique selling proposition is the thing that sets you apart from the rest. You may have one but may not be communicating it. You may have one but don’t know it. Or you may not have one yet and need to develop one.

Once you’ve got a USP, you can establish your target market. By combining these two pieces of information, you can now begin to ‘talk’ directly to your potential customers. Marketing is simply communication, as a small business you need to find a way to communicate to your target market in a way that appeals to them.

How to communicate with your target market?

I have been working with small businesses for the last 7 years and have developed a streamlined strategy that works. It’s not one size fits all, but a strategy that adapts to your needs. The core methods of communication are; a blog, an email newsletter, social media channels. These online methods are backed up by a selection of the following; physical marketing such as posters (for those with physical premises), business cards, leaflets, localised advertising, and events. We also focus on word of mouth and referral marketing.

The elements above all work together to create a system where over time you are able to communicate more easily and effectively with your target market. If successfully implemented it allows your business to grow and even expand into more/larger premises. The last couple of businesses I have worked with have both experienced significant growth, and this can be achieved by your business too.

Small business marketing should be affordable, easy to implement, and fun. Marketing your business should be an enjoyable experience, an opportunity to project what you are about onto the world and to watch as you see results from your efforts. Be warned though, once you get started it can become highly addictive. My clients are always emailing and texting as we approach milestone on Facebook, their email list, and achieve sales goals together.