The core of an effective marketing plan is the same for all businesses: a tightly defined target market, a competitive advantage and a convincing message. Today's companies must also develop a Web site and social media strategy. While small business owners may not have the financial assets of Fortune 500 companies, they can still use these strategies to grow their companies and profits.
Know Your Target Market
Clearly define the customers who are most likely to buy your product or service-their ages, gender, geographic location, likes and dislikes. The more you are able to define your target market, the easier it will be to find and convince them you have just the product they need.
Your marketing goal is to aim accurately and make the bull's eye of your target as large as possible so that you can consistently hit it. If you are selling ice-fishing huts, for example, you could advertise on the New York Times Web site where you will reach hundreds of thousands of people. However, hundreds of thousands of Times readers will not be interested in buying ice huts. You could reach your target market more efficiently by advertising your ice huts on a Web site promoting Lake Winnipesaukee's ice fishing derby.
Competitive Advantage
The next thing to consider in your marketing plan is how to build a competitive advantage. What will make people want to buy your widget more than the ones your competitors are selling? Price? Quality? Design? Customer service? If you are a small business owner, be careful about answering, price. Big companies often have a competitive advantage here because of their size. They can buy materials in greater quantities and produce their widgets more cheaply than smaller companies.
To build a profitable company, you must offer something that your target market wants, can't find elsewhere and values more than what your competitors are selling. This is your competitive advantage. Apple customers love the design of iPhones and iPads so much that they are willing to wait in long lines and shell out megabucks to buy these products rather than buy cheaper, comparable products more conveniently.
Compelling Message
Once you have figured out who wants to buy your product and why, you can craft a compelling message. You can tout your competitive advantage to your customers. Caf Indigo in Concord, for example, has successfully promoted its award-winning organic carrot cakes to Whole Foods, a grocery chain that sells organic products throughout New England. People who shop Whole Foods are more inclined to buy organic cakes than customers buying from traditional grocery stores. In this case, the compelling messages about the carrot cake were organic and award-winning.
Engaging Web Site
If you want to grow your business, you must build an engaging Web site. It is the way customers find you. If potential customers can't find you on the Web, they will move on to the company they can find.
Building an attractive Web site can make a small business appear large and credible. Initially, it doesn't need to cost much more than your time. If you Google How to Build a Web site, you'll be amazed at the number of sites that will come up. Many of these offer attractive templates and thorough instructions. There may be a small cost attached with buying a domain name and hosting a Web site, but few other expenses. A self-created Web site is fine for when you're just starting out. When you grow larger, you may want to hire a professional Web designer to add more functionality to your site.
Social Media
How can social media help your business? It's a question new and well-established businesses are busy trying to figure out. Christine Halvorson of Halvorson New Media LLC has written and designed a new e-course, Social Media for Small Business for the NH Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC) that answers this question. The major social media tools are Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube and LinkedIn.
The potential reach of these tools is astounding. Citing recent research, Halvorson points out that Facebook alone has 500 million users and that social media is the number one way people spend their time online. Moreover, she states, It's not just for the young. The average Facebook user is 38. Twenty-six percent of adults ages 65 and older use social networks.
Using social media to find customers can prove to be a gold mine for local service professionals such as attorneys, plumbers, electricians, counselors and dentists. Most people find service professionals through word-of-mouth recommendations. And social media is all about friends recommending friends.
Once again, the cost of building a social media strategy can be mostly time. The NH SBDC's e-course, Social Media for Small Business, offered at www.nhsbdc.org, explains how to get up and running. To make your plan pay off, however, you will need to consistently use the tools.
These five strategies can make up a winning marketing plan for your company. If you know your customer, have a true competitive advantage, craft a message that effectively sells your competitive advantage to your customer, design a Web site to enhance your company's image and consistently implement a social media strategy, your small business will grow as you draw in more and more customers.
Janice Gregory is associate state director at the NH Small Business Development Center. She can be reached at 603-227-0417. For more information, visit www.nhsbdc.org.
Current Issue - May 2024