Small Business Marketing Toolkit
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Marketing creates sales opportunities by attracting customers. Successful marketing requires understanding your business, customers, and their problems. There are four steps to effective marketing: 1) Know your own business and solutions, 2) Understand customer needs and problems, 3) Develop marketing messages and tools, 4) Implement tactics like social media, referrals, and advertising to reach customers. Tracking results allows improving the marketing plan over time.
Small Business Marketing Toolkit
- 1. Small Business Marketing Toolkit Susan Prince January 8, 2014
- 3. Marketing creates the sales opportunity Marketing is the act of attracting customers to your business. Without customers, you have no business and without marketing you have no customers.
- 4. Sales Opportunity Your Company What do you do? What problem do you solve? You’ve got solutions The Customer What do they need? Who has these problems? Customers have problems
- 5. Successful marketing requires a strong foundation 4 Simple Steps: 1. Know thyself - what problems do you solve 2. Understand your customers – who has these problems 3. Combine steps 1 and 2 to develop strong marketing tools 4.Choose the right tactics to create the sales opportunity
- 6. Four Steps to Marketing like a Pro Know Thyself Understand who your Customers are Build your marketing toolkit Get the word out
- 7. What do you really do? Not as straightforward as you think More than what line of business you’re in Not just a list of your products/services
- 8. Focus on What Your Customers are Thinking About People are self-centered and mostly want to know “What’s in it for ME?” Stop talking about what you do and instead show them how you’ll solve their problems
- 9. What Problem or Need does your Business Solve? Examples: You aren’t a financial advisor You help people gain control over their finances You aren’t a graphic designer You help people communicate what their business does Especially important for service businesses
- 10. Focus on What Sets You Apart Highlight what makes your solution special Why are you better/different from your competition? Why would someone choose you?
- 11. Four Steps to Marketing like a Pro Know Thyself Understand who your Customers are Figure out what you want to say Get the word out
- 12. Who is Your Target Market? The people who have the problems you solve Can be more than one group, but saying “everyone” is not an acceptable answer. You must have at least one specific target market
- 13. Define your Target Market Be specific – each target market needs to be: Measurable Sizeable Reachable
- 14. Understand each Segment What are their problems? Do they know they have a problem? How do they make their decisions? What’s important to them? What’s the primary motivation for buying this product/service? Where do they go for information?
- 15. Four Steps to Marketing like a Pro Know Thyself Understand who your Customers are Build your marketing toolkit Get the word out
- 16. Building Blocks to a Better Toolkit Branding and Messaging Essentials Checklist Mission/Vision Statement – where you’re going as a company Strategy – how you’re going to get there (who you are going to go after and why) Positioning Statement – what makes you unique Brand Personality – Logo/Look and Feel/Tone Tagline Elevator Pitch Key Messages tailored by audience About Us Boilerplate Services/Product Description and Benefits Statements
- 17. Marketing Tools Must have: Properly Optimized Website Business Cards Customer Database As needed and as budget allows: Email Template Product Catalog/Folder Case Studies/Portfolio Brochure Media Kit Video PowerPoint Presentation White Papers Blog Online Advertising Print Advertising Tradeshow Booth Promotional Items Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
- 18. Four Steps to Marketing like a Pro Know Thyself Understand who your Customers are Figure out what you want to say Get the word out
- 19. Before you start Set some goals Concrete and measurable (either in dollars or number of units sold) Will it be a stretch to reach? It should be. You need a timeframe to reach these goals Create a Budget Plan to spend a percentage of sales on marketing Don’t be afraid to invest in marketing, but continually evaluate and adjust
- 20. How to reach your customers – Use your tools There is no magic formula – you have to know your customers and where they go for information Try different things to see what works best Track response rates Referrals/Loyalty programs Internet Social Media Publicity (PR) Promotional Events Tradeshows Database marketing Direct Mail Email Other options: Networking opportunities Public speaking Writing/publishing Advertising
- 21. Time vs. Money Think about where you want to spend your time and money Cost/Contact Time Social Media Free High Referrals Low Low Web Presence Medium Medium Database Marketing Medium Medium Tradeshows High High PR Low Medium Promotional Events Medium Medium Advertising High Low
- 22. Develop a Plan and Measure the Results Decide which tactics you’re going to use Make a commitment to market your business Everyone should be doing the following: Social media Don’t have to do every platform, just what makes sense for your business Touching their customers on at least a quarterly basis (email, postcards, visits/phone calls) Continue to build your network Review results every 6 months
- 23. Congratulations! You just now know everything to market like a Pro! These are all the components of a thorough marketing plan…
- 24. Follow-up Feel free to contact me if you have more questions. Susan Prince President Cadence Marketing 22 W. Jefferson St. #405 Rockville, MD 20850 www.cadencemarketing.com 301.340.2520 Follow me on Twitter @CadenceMarket Like me on Facebook @Cadence Marketing
Editor's Notes
- #3: Incredibly influential thinker and scholar of business management. Wrote over 35 books on management and believed that A company's primary responsibility is to serve its customers. Also thought marketing was really important which is why I like him!
- #17: These are the things every business must have to successfully market their company
- #18: These are the things every business must have to successfully market their company