Want to create a killer marketing strategy but unsure where to start?
Creating a marketing strategy as a small business can be both daunting and challenging. There is a lot to learn and a ton of mistakes you can make when you’re just getting started.
If you’re struggling to come up with a strategy, discover some simple steps you can follow below…
How is your business currently performing? This is the first thing you need to look at before you create a strategy. Without having a clear understanding of where you are starting from, you won’t be able to set effective goals to progress in your business.
Some of the main things to look at include:
Really analyze your small business so you’ll be able to set an effective strategy to push it forward.
How much money do you have to dedicate to your marketing strategy? While you will obviously want to save as much money as possible, you will need to spend some money on your strategy if you want it to be effective.
Figuring out how much you should spend can be difficult. On average, new businesses spend from 12% to 20% of their revenue on marketing. For existing businesses, this drops from 6% to 12%.
The reason new businesses need to spend more is because they haven’t generated a consistent stream of customers yet. When you establish yourself in your niche, you’ll find customers come to you organically. However, in the beginning, you need to seek them out.
All good marketing strategies have clear goals that they are working towards. What are the main goals that you want your marketing to achieve?
It could be that you are aiming to build up brand awareness, or you may want to directly increase sales. Write down your most important goals right now, then break them down into smaller tasks.
The goals that you set should be specific, realistic, and easy to achieve.
A key element of any successful marketing strategy is understanding your audience. You need to know:
These are just a small number of things you need to know about your audience. The more you understand them, the more targeted you can make your marketing strategy.
The next step is to identify the marketing tactics you are going to use. A good marketing strategy for a small business includes a variety of methods.
The tactics you choose will depend upon the goals you set yourself earlier. For example, if your goal is to increase web traffic, you could utilize SEO or paid advertising. If your goal is to increase brand awareness, you could build up your blog and set yourself up on social media.
Look at the pros and cons of each tactic and consider your budget. Select which tactics to start with, and ensure they are easy to track.
By now, you should have a solid marketing plan in place. All that is left to do is set a timeline and then get started.
Look at the goals you have set and start planning deadlines for each one. Then, get to work following your strategy, remembering to track your progress to see what is and isn’t working. As you go along, you will likely need to tweak your strategy as you figure out what works.
So there you have it – 6 steps to create a small business marketing strategy. It may take time and effort to create a strategy, but it will really pay off in the long term if you remain committed.
