Marketing and Small Businesses

Many people nowadays believe that marketing is only suitable to big companies, there is a false opinion that small businesses can thrive in today's economy without a marketing plan.

Well this is totally wrong; every business needs a great marketing strategy. And of course every business needs a great marketing plan that's tailored specifically to their business.

To market your business properly, you need to understand the basics of marketing... and it's not advertising. The basics of marketing are covered by the "5 P's", which are "product, price, plan, placement and promotion.

We'll discuss the "5 P's" of marketing for your small business:

1) Product.

This is ideally a product or service the market wants or needs. As a general rule for small businesses, the marketing of a "wanted" product or service should be more aggressive than the marketing of a "needed" product or service.

2) Price.

It is not about low price, it is all about reasonable price, your product or service must be sold at a price that your target customer will believe is of good value.

3) Plan.

Marketing for any business needs to have a solid and well thought out written plan, it should include:

· Sales goals.

·         Dollar amounts, # of products sold, etc.

· A profile of ideal customers.

·         Demographical distribution? Age? Gender? Income?

· Your "Unique Selling Proposition".

·         What makes your product/service unique? Why should someone buy your product/use your service instead of others? This is a very important part of your plan that you can use to create your "Brand".

· Your competition.

·         Where are they located? Do they have more or less services than you? Is their price higher or lower than yours? Do they have a competitive advantage over you?

· A budget.

·         For traditional advertising (web, radio, print, television), and also for other non-traditional marketing such as hosting events, sponsoring local sports teams, etc.

· Competitive strategies.

·         What will you do if your competitor beats your price? Or four more competitors open within the next year?

4) Placement.

Where will your products or services be available? Is it at a brick and mortar store? Is your product available on-line? Is your product being distributed to stores? How can you make sure your product or service is readily available to your target market?

5) Promotion.

This is the creation of appropriate and consistent consumer perception of your product or services using a variety of methods including social media, websites, radio, print and television. Use your "Unique Selling Proposition" that you came up with in your marketing plan and ensure it is used consistently across all your promotional products. For instance - your business card, website, web advertisements, brochures or flyers should all carry the same professional looking logo and/or slogan. Radio, television or printed ads should focus on your "Unique Selling Proposition", even when you're advertising some sort of sale.

In summary, a solid marketing plan is not just for the big companies with huge budgets, it's a sound basic business principle that even the smallest of businesses can take advantage of.