Home > Uncategorized > The Importance of Marketing Strategy for Small Business

The Importance of Marketing Strategy for Small Business

Marketing strategy is the most important aspect of any business. It’s more than just selling a product or service, it’s about branding and messaging to connect with your target audience in the best way possible. Marketing strategy is also about understanding what makes you different from your competitors and leveraging that difference to attract customers. This blog post will cover how marketing strategy can help small businesses achieve their goals and grow sustainably.

What is marketing strategy and how does it relate to your business?

Marketing Strategy is the process of planning and executing a course of action to achieve specific goals. These are some things you should consider when starting your marketing strategy, so that you can more effectively market your product or service to consumers.

What are my goals?

Who is my target audience? 

What is my message to attract prospective consumers?

How much time do I have to dedicate towards marketing activities? 

How much should I spend on marketing?

What are my goals?

Most businesses have no idea what their marketing goals are, which makes it hard for them to measure success.  You are not alone if you find you are struggling to decide what your marketing goals should be.  A good start is to consider using the following common goals:

• To increase brand awareness
• To generate high-quality leads
• To grow and maintain thought leadership
• To increase customer value

Who is my target audience?

Your target audience refers to the specific group of consumers most likely to want your product or service, and therefore, the group of people who you should aim your marketing activities at. The target audience may be defined by age, gender, income, location, interests or a myriad of other factors.

There are 7 ways to determine your target audience:

• Analyse your customer base and carry out client interviews
• Conduct market research and identify industry trends
• Analyse competitors
• Create personas
• Define who your target audience isn’t
• Continuously revise
• Use google analytics

What is my message to attract prospective consumers?

The core of your marketing strategy is a message that expresses the essence of why a customer buys your product or service. They are often used to generate demand, build brand awareness and sell.  An example is “You’ll save so much you’ll think you won the lottery.”

The 7 Components of a Brilliant Marketing Message

• They get to the point.
• They take the customer’s viewpoint.
• They use familiar language.
• They feel informal.
• They say something original.
• They need no further explanation.
• They make you smile.

How much time do I have to dedicate to marketing activities?

You know that marketing activities are important, but often you don’t have the time to figure out what they should be.  But if you do nothing, your competitors will eat your lunch!

There are 3 options to consider:

• Do it yourself
• Hire someone to do your marketing in-house
• Employ a marketing consultant or agency to manage your marketing

How much should I be spending on marketing?

We’re the first to admit that finding a balance with marketing your business is a constant challenge. Small businesses don’t have the endless budgets of say a Coca Cola or McDonald’s; your budget comes with limits.

For small businesses, your investment has to pay off, almost in real time. What’s even scarier, you’re spending your money on the hope of future results, nothing is guaranteed – which is where many business owners get scared off.

But let’s face it, if you want to survive and outlast your competitors, the saying is true: “you need to spend some to make some”.

In reality, your budget should be relevant to your revenue, so let’s start with that.

Here’s a general rule of thumb:

• Up to 5% to 7% of your total revenue: You are maintaining your existing sales.
• Up to 7% to 10% of your total revenue: You are growing your business and being competitive.
• Up to 10% to 15% of your total revenue: You are dominating, being aggressive and seeking brand saturation.

Remember, that this is all relevant to your competitors’ spend too. You won’t be dominating if you’re spending 15% of $200K and your competitor is spending 15% of one million dollars.

If you need help with marketing strategy, let us know. We’ll work with you to create a plan that supports your goals and time constraints. Have any of these questions been relevant for you? How much time do I have to dedicate towards marketing activities? What is my message to attract prospective consumers? What are my goals? Who is my target audience? How much should I spend on marketing or advertising in the first place if it’s not clear what kind of return on investment will be generated by spending money on ads/marketing campaigns/etc.? Let us answer all of your burning questions so that you can get started building your marketing strategy today!

GO BACK