Like everything in life, always have a plan. (and a backup plan just in case!) Winging it when it comes to marketing is not going to work out great and may lead to you wasting money on inefficient methods that may not give you the ROI you are hoping for. Take your time and go through these steps to develop a plan/outline of how you are going to approach marketing your business. Every business is different, so you cannot just copy and paste. What works for other businesses may not work for yours. Its going to take some time, and self-reflection to build your marketing plan. So here are the 4 steps to take when devising your plan:
1. Your Company’s current situation: It’s honesty time. Take a look at your business, are you making a profit? Breaking even? This will not only help you with your budget but also you start to gain insight onto if your current business plan is working or not. Where is your business now, and where do you see it going 6 months to a year from now? Be honest with yourself, even if you are seeing a profit there is always room for improvement. And remember one of the biggest mistakes you can make in marketing is being stagnant. In the digital age, marketing methods and tactics are changing all the time. The marketing strategy you had last year may be outdated already.
2. Define your target market: Close your eyes and think who is your ideal customer? What’s their age, gender, hobbies etc. You may say “I want everyone to be my customer” but in reality, you’re not going to draw in every single person in your town to your business. So, who would you think is a typical customer that you could see coming into your store? A local hardware store may say their target market is “Men/women, age 25-60, they’re homeowners and/or professionals in the construction/renovation business” while this still may be a bit broad, it can narrow down who you are marketing towards. Attempting to market towards everyone will have you reaching some potential customers but also reaching people that will never consider or need your product or service. Again, it comes down to knowing your business, who is it for and what problems does it solve? The answer to those questions will help you define your target market.
3. Define your goals/tactics: Be realistic with your goals, do not put pressure on yourself to try and reach unattainable goals. Marketing is a never-ending process, so take it step by step. Realistically what is your main goal for the upcoming months, or year? It could be something like just building brand awareness by gaining followers on social media, an increase in website traffic, or increasing in store sales. Not every piece of content that goes on the internet is going to go viral, but that does not mean the ones that don’t are useless.
4. Set your budget: This is the difficult time for most businesses. How much are you willing to put towards your marketing? You’ll need to devote a percentage of projected gross sales to your annual marketing budget. Now you may think that social media is free and you can just do that, which is a great start. However, growing your audience through organic channels only can prove to be quite a difficult task. There are so many tactics available to reach your audience nowadays, there is always a strategy to fit even the tightest of budgets.
A marketing plan is a valuable tool for any business but is extremely important for small to medium sized business with a limited budget. You want to make sure your marketing budget is being properly utilized through the right channels to reach your target market.