GUIDE TO STARTING YOUR SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING STRATEGY

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1 GUIDE TO STARTING YOUR SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING STRATEGY

2 Table of Contents Before you started your business, chances are you came up with a business plan. You outlined your intentions, a goal, and specific actions that would get you there. Surely things have changed along the way, but what hasn t changed is your drive to make your business successful. Could you have gotten where you are without first drafting a business plan? The same could be said about a marketing strategy. Marketing plans give your company a focus and help shape your interactions with customers. They also help you understand where your company fits in the marketplace and how to attract new business. Where do you stand on a marketing strategy? If it isn t something that s been a top priority for you so far, this guide will help get you where you need to be. Here s a step-by-step list to guide you on how to start (and continue to grow) your business marketing strategy. 3 Understand Your Brand 5 7 Analyze Your Target Market Find and Study Your Competition 9 Hire a Marketing Team 11 Set a Marketing Budget Enhance Your Website Create Your Assets

3 STEP ONE Understand your brand Since you already put together a business plan and know what your goals are, this one should be simple. Whether you are a retail store, construction company, or food services business, you need to know who your target audience is and what it is that you consider your niche. Are you a restaurant that serves food for all taste buds but specializes in Italian cuisine? Or a construction company that works best on commercial property development? Try to nail down who you are as well as who you want to be. 3

4 STEP ONE: UNDERSTAND YOUR BRAND Example You own a clothing shop in a suburban downtown area with a lot of foot traffic. You sell clothing for men and women of all sizes, but when you started your business you really wanted to cater to plus-size individuals. This specialty is your goal for your business future. Now that you ve identified the brand you hope to be, you can shape your marketing strategy around it. 4

5 STEP TWO Analyze your target market In a webinar series Direct Capital hosted last year, marketing and communications executive Larry Olson said, One of the first missteps I have seen with smaller organizations is not taking the time to properly research your target market and identify your core customer. Once you ve determined your brand, try to find the audience that will best fit what your company can provide. This can be accomplished by researching customer demographics (age, gender, income, education) and psychographics (what your target customer values or would be interested in). 5

6 STEP TWO: ANALYZE YOUR TARGET MARKET Example You already know you want to target plus-size men and women, but analyzing your target market should go further than that. For starters, what type of clothing do you offer in your store? Is it expensive-looking clothing for an affordable price, or is it higher-end all around? Your geographic region may factor into this decision, but it s also about your goals as a business. Talk to your existing customers to find out what articles of clothing they most enjoy, whether it s pants, dresses, tops, or something else entirely. This will help you understand what your target customers value and can help you make inventory decisions that they will enjoy. 6

7 STEP THREE Find and study your competition Competition comes in two forms direct and indirect. Direct competitors are businesses that do exactly what you do in the same area, and could potentially take customers away from you. Indirect competitors are companies who may not do what you do, but offer products to your customers that may eat into what they could be spending with you. In either case, you need to be on top of it. Olson provided a few ways you can start your competitive research: Read reviews Search Twitter Do a Google search Find employees on LinkedIn Check out their advertisements The only way to be the best is to know what you re up against. 7

8 STEP THREE: FIND AND STUDY YOUR COMPETITION Example You likely know who your direct clothing competitors are that operate in the same general location as you, so find out what they are doing to market their business. Do they have Facebook ads about a new clothing line they re selling? Do they offer special promotions to draw in customers? What do customers say about their product? Then think about where else those customers might be shopping; take Amazon for example. You may not be able to compete with the shipping benefits of Prime, but what else about Amazon do customers find so appealing? Not only will all of this research help you determine what you need to do to stay competitive, but it will also improve your products and customer service. Plus, it gives you a good starting point for building a marketing strategy. 8

9 STEP FOUR Hire a marketing team Once you ve completed steps 1-3, you re ready to get moving on developing your strategy. However, that can prove difficult for someone without a marketing mind. Now is a good time to bring on one (or more) marketing personnel to really help you dive deep into what you are trying to accomplish. They will know what to do with the information you ve gathered, and they ll be the ones helping you execute, manage, and report back on your strategy. 9

10 STEP FOUR: HIRE A MARKETING TEAM Example You bring in a couple of new team members to help with the marketing strategy of your clothing shop: one to help with social media and website development, the other to manage the strategy as a whole and help with execution. Together, they develop a social media plan for the next quarter that includes:.retargeting on Facebook to those that landed on the Plus Size page of your website.a review post per week showcasing all the great work your company does.personal posts about the goings-on at your shop.a 20% promotion you are offering to new customers 10

11 STEP FIVE Set a marketing budget Work with your marketing team to set a budget for the upcoming year. You know the books better than anyone, so tell them what you have available to spend on projects and let them figure out how to use it. They will be able to suggest where you will likely see the biggest return on your investment, but it s important to remember that sometimes marketing dollars are spent to help enhance your brand and solidify your place in the market. It doesn t always mean you ll get new customers rushing to your door. Both brand awareness and new business are important! As your business continues to grow, consider increasing your marketing budget. What you had planned for years one and two might not work the same for year three and beyond. Be ready to explore new marketing tactics with a wider budget, if your books allow, and you could reach even greater success. 11

12 STEP 5: SET A MARKETING BUDGET Example After you give your marketing team a budget of $20,000 for the year, they set out to find the biggest bang for your buck. They decide you will spend $1,000/month on Facebook retargeting, $3,000 to host an event at your store welcoming new customers, and $5,000 on things like direct mail, giveaways, and Google advertising. 12

13 STEP SIX Enhance your website Even with very limited knowledge of marketing, you knew when you started your business that you d need a website. Whether that website is working to its fullest potential is up for debate. Let your marketing gurus take a look around the website and decide: Is it SEO friendly? Optimized for mobile? Do you have enough content to attract visitors? Will customers find what they are looking for? Is the design user-friendly? While a complete redesign may not be in your budget this year, your marketing team will at least be able to help enhance the website by addressing these questions. 13

14 STEP SIX: ENHANCE YOUR WEBSITE Example The look and feel of your website is just right it s on brand, easy to use, and has online ordering functionality. However, your marketing team found some key areas for improvement. They suggest posting more blogs on fashion trends, specifically in the plus size industry. They also think you have room to showcase more of your current promotions or sale items. Plus, changing up some of the language on the pages and making the words plus size more prominent will help you appear higher on search engine results. 14

15 STEP SEVEN Create your assets You have the plan and you have the team now it s time to execute! You need assets to push out on social media, campaigns, direct mails, and even posters or advertisements to hang in your business. If you have it in your budget, bring on a graphic designer that can create these for you or try out free tools like Canva. If you are planning to do marketing, have your marketing team write and test out some copy. Work on getting some creative ideas together for direct mail campaigns, and develop your social media posts as well. 15

16 STEP SEVEN: CREATE YOUR ASSETS Example You need specific assets for your Facebook retargeting strategy and your website enhancement plan. For your website, it could be as simple as a sidebar graphic with the text, New customers get 20% off! and an image of your best-selling outfit. For Facebook retargeting, your ad could say something like, Still interested? with a photo from your website. With all of the different avenues you re going to be exploring, you will want to develop new assets for each. 16

17 Just keep at it There s one more step, but this one s easy: Just keep at it. Marketing doesn t work instantly and sometimes your ideas won t work at all. Remember your goals and that you have a team supporting you, and keep thinking of what to do next. Before you know it, you ll have some marketing experience under your belt and your small business will be booming. 17

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