Follow these 10 steps to plan your marketing and get the attention of consumers.
When starting a business, be prepared for certain unavoidable expenses. Savvy entrepreneurs plan carefully for both fixed and variable expenses, from renting office space to leasing equipment to buying stationery. But the fundamental difference between successful business owners and those who have to close in a few months or years is their dedication to proper and consistent marketing activity, and to categorize these expenses as an investment.
Marketing is not an optional expense. Although it is often the first line of the budget to be cut when cash flow drops, it is important to remember that marketing your business is the activity that brings back the bad patches. Following these ten marketing commandments will help you avoid the mistakes of many beginners and guide you to a good recommendation of your product or service.
1)Determine who your audience is
Ask some entrepreneurs who their customers are and they will respond with an enthusiastic response! Although some markets are larger than others, no company on earth sells to everyone. You need to know who specifically you expect to have as customers. Start by listing their characteristics: Are they from a particular area? Are they wealthy or average income? Married? Do the customers you plan to attract fit your ideal customer profile? When you group your target audience by categories you will begin to see the types of marketing tools that work best.
2)Investigate the competition
If you think you won’t have competition, you’re mistaken. There is always someone, somewhere, who provides similar products or services. Companies that rest on their laurels, believing they are the only ones in the area, soon face serious problems. The key to success: maintaining the edge by offering customers better, faster, or less expensive products or services than others.
Take a look at your competitors. Objectively compare your ideas for running a business with those of others. Do they do some things better than you? How do they promote themselves? Do they get good results? Watch them carefully: you can also learn from your competitors’ successes and mistakes.
3)Get to know yourself
Analyze the skill set your company requires for effective marketing. We all have strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to recognize as realistically as possible what you can do. You may be a great writer, but if you don’t take the time to write your ad, brochures or press releases, you’ll need help keeping your marketing activities on track.
Before you can come up with a plan that benefits your business, a lot of research and work is required. Before hiring help, whether from an employee or a company, it is essential to know the marketing tools available to you, their costs, strengths and weaknesses. With a solid knowledge of these techniques, you will be able to monitor the progress of the person or company in charge of your marketing.
4)Plan
Just as a good football team does not take the field without a game plan, a good marketing specialist does not walk the streets before having a good plan and a solid strategy. RACE stands for Research, Action Planning, Communication and Evaluation, a formula used by marketing professionals for decades.
The first step in any good marketing plan is to do a little research, including gathering information about the competition, the audience, and the possible tools at your disposal. Then prepare an action plan with a corresponding timeline and budget to organize the tasks and maintain continuity. The communication phase is when you put your action plan into action, and finally, you need to assess how the plan is working in order to make adjustments accordingly.
5)Be constant
The key to success in any marketing plan is firmness. To attract your audience’s attention and foster a lasting impression, it’s a good idea to communicate your messages consistently. Look at various frequencies: brochures, ads, mailings or other external promotional methods to see which combination is best for your business. Creating a presence takes time, so be patient.
6)Be carefully creative
In the crowded world of marketing, it is essential that your materials are creative, but never at the expense of communicating your core messages. When preparing your ads, brochures or other forms of communication with your audience, make sure they clearly understand the benefits you offer and what you are doing. Putting an important ad in a six-point font, as wonderful as the graphic concept is, is the best way to ensure that no one will read it. When considering a concept it is essential to take into account the target audience, so that the message is effective among your target market.
7)Budget time and money
Marketing programs need to fit two types of budgets: time and money. If one (or both) is limited, carefully review the tactics and strategies you will employ to achieve your goals. In general, the more time you spend on your marketing activities, the more money you will save. For example, if you prepare your own ads or send out your own press releases, you won’t have to hire someone to do it for you. On the other hand, if you are the only person who sells or manages and don’t have time to create good materials, it’s a good idea to hire someone to help you.
8)Diversify your activities
When carrying out the marketing plan for your product or service, do not put all your eggs in one basket. Instead of spending your entire budget on an insert in a trade magazine or newspaper, plan smaller, more consistent ads for a year, especially if your budget is limited. Use the power of advertising and cross-promotion to stretch it out. Keep a mailing list of your basic customers and send them interesting communications on a regular basis.
9)Measure the results
If you invest without measuring the results of each tool as specifically as possible, you may end up wasting a lot of money. There are several simple tracking mechanisms that will help you identify which activities work and which should be discarded. If you use coupons in your ads, print small keys on them to track return rates in different media. On radio ads, offer a discount if the client mentions where they heard it. Ask customers where they heard about you. Use contests or surveys to find out what media clients choose to inform or entertain themselves, and incorporate them into your advertising and public relations plan.
10)Be flexible
A good marketing plan can start with advertising in the local newspaper or by sending direct mail letters to everyone in the area. However, if you do not achieve your objectives or if your measurement mechanisms indicate that your hunches were not adequate, modify your activities to obtain better results.
