How to Develop Your Small Business Marketing Strategy Elements

Developing and following a small business marketing plan is an essential task that must be continually undertaken. Marketing strategy elements that encompass shifts in market conditions, the economic outlook, or a significant change in what customers are looking for are signals that what worked in the past may not work in the future, thus requiring revisions in how a product is marketed.

Once your small business marketing plan is drafted the information in it is 'carved in stone'. Your marketing strategy elements must remain flexible to change with these, and other, internal and external factors. Developing marketing strategy elements for your small business marketing plan will keep you focused and your message consistent as changes occur.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Research
• Dedication to follow your marketing plan.
• Flexibility to change as needed.

1. Step 1

   There are eight marketing strategy elements that your marketing plan must contain to succeed.
   
   Who Is Your Real Customer - As a small businesses you may be inclined to take on any type of customer just to make a sale and lose sight of the prospects that have the real potential to become a long term customer. This is not a growth marketing strategy. Your best strategy should be to try to address customer needs which currently are not being met in the market place. A small business cannot be all things to all people and must analyze its market, know it's own capabilities, and focus on the 'real customer' it can serve best.

2. Step 2

   Establish Small Business Marketing Goals - This is your road map of where you are now and where you want to be one, five, even ten years from now. When you have a marketing strategy and clear set of marketing goals there will be little to stop you. Writing down goals you want to accomplish is essential to the drafting of the rest of your marketing plan. If you do not know where you are going, how are you going to get there?

3. Step 3

   Differentiating Factors - A small business needs to be unique in the marketplace. This is an essential small business marketing strategy. Uniqueness can be a make-or-break marketing element in today's business world. How will you set your small business apart from your competition? What are you offering that your competition is not? Can you define a difference in how you are delivering your product/service?

4. Step 4

   A Clear Target - The two things a small business owner is always short on are time and money. When you miss your target market you are wasting both. A small business marketing strategy requires you to become an expert at target marketing. For your marketing tactics to be cost effective pick a target audience or your niche and focus on it exclusively. By marketing to your target audience, who you know already have a need for your product/service, you have already increased your small business marketing campaign' s likelihood of success.

5. Step 5

   Strong and Consistent Message - Smart marketing means effective communication. When you communicate well you make sales but when you cause confusion, such as changing your message too often, you fail. It's that simple. Creating a communication strategy for a consistent and strong marketing message is critical to your success.

6. Step 6

   Brand Your Small Business Identity - As a small business you may think you are not big enough to need a branding strategy. Nothing can be further from the truth! A Small business needs an identity that is part of a focused marketing strategy. Take time to decide how you want the market and your customers to perceive you and know your positioning in your competitive field.

7. Step 7

   Strong Small Business Positioning Plan - Small business success is achieved, or not achieved, based on how your clients and prospects perceive you and if you can help them. They decide what is in their best interest and if your product will benefit them. Position your small business with a marketing strategy that will be the best choice with the lowest risk they have in their buying process. Ensure that your company's inside reality is what your customer's outside perception of your company is.

8. Step 8

   Small Business Financial Projections - Break down by product line, for one to three years, the returns on the marketing investments you plan to make. After each marketing campaign decisions are made and implemented you need to evaluate how well they performed. Set standards of performance and evaluate results against them.

9. Step 9

   A small business marketing plan is a continuous process of testing and adjustment. It represents flexible ideas that will guide your marketing decisions. Keep your eye on these eight strategies to stay focused and consistent as your marketing plan is drafted and updated.

author: George Larson