As if managing a small business wasn’t complex enough, the scope of marketing has changed along with the evolution of the Internet. There is a lot to learn and plenty to keep us challenged. We’re also competing very heavily with the cost of manufacturing.
The essential elements of marketing are to have your customers continue to be aware of you, while potential customers learn that you are available and have something they want or need. That sounds pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? Once they are aware, your marketing message needs to be so inviting and compelling that they will come to do business with you rather than the business down the street.
Small businesses can compete in a marketplace full of big competitors, but we don’t want you to kid yourselves. It is really hard to stand out in a crowded marketplace where you are competing with huge companies that have big budgets and to do it in a big way, but it can be done, and this course will show you how.
Marketing and Sales
Marketing is not the same process as sales, even though the two are often referred to in the same sentence. Sales are the process that moves a customer through purchase, follow up, and then back to purchase again. Marketing is the communications, advertising, and public relations efforts you make to bring people to you as they make their buying decision.
Sales are about conducting a transaction where a customer purchases a product or service. Marketing is the story that catches the prospective customer’s attention. Marketing tells why the $200 pair of shoes fits and feels much better than the same type of shoes bought at a big box store for $40, even if they are virtually the same shoe. Marketing explains how the vacuum cleaner with the HEPA filter will remove all the pet dander from your carpets, and is appealing to someone who doesn’t even have a pet. Marketing can be the make or break the story of your business.
The Best Marketing
The best marketing is not about our products or services and their features or benefits. The best marketing isn’t even about our companies at all—not our unique selling points or our competitive advantages over other companies. Instead, really good marketing is how what you offer your prospects and your customers will change their lives for the better.
The average person doesn’t give a darn about our products or services, except when our products or services can help them. If you can show your potential clients and your present clients how doing business with you will make them happier, richer, wiser, or healthier, then they will be interested. But don’t fall for the old myth that building a better mousetrap will bring the world to your door. There are lots of better mousetraps out there. However, if they are too expensive, or if the world doesn’t hear about them, we may just continue to use the mousetraps we already have and feel comfortable with.
While it is important that we direct our message to our target market, it is even more important to figure out what to say and how to say it so people listen and are moved to buy. We should spend enough time getting our message right so it will persuade others to want what we are offering. Once we have it right, we will want to repeat that message again and again, so people will hear it, remember it, and act upon it.
Glossary of Terms
Market Segment
A clearly defined subgroup of customers or potential customers with common characteristics relevant to the marketing of your product. (Example: Two couples with expendable income of $40,000-$50,000.)
Mission Statement
A short statement of the philosophy and fundamental nature of your business. It answers the questions: “What business are you in?” and “Who do we serve?”
Objectives
Concrete, measurable, realistic targets that you want to achieve. (Example: “Increase sales of highest priced widgets by 10% vs. previous year,” not “Increase sales.”)
Plan of Action
A clear road map for carrying out all the tactics necessary for the marketing strategies in your plan. It specifies who, when, how long, and what budget or other resources are required for each tactic. It also coordinates them in chronological order where necessary.
Strategies
The general approach you will take to achieve an objective. (Example: “Increase widget sales through sales calls, direct mail campaign, and sales incentives.”)
Tactics
The specific actions, decisions, and resources required to implement your strategies. (Example: “Tactics for Sales Calls. Hire full-time sales person in first two months of planning period; develop creative visual aid and large-size demonstration widget for sales calls; buy the list of purchasing agents at companies within 20-mile radius of us.”)
Targeting
Channeling marketing efforts and resources to specific market segments that have the highest payoff potential.
Standing Out from the Crowd
You may notice that a lot of companies support local charities, causes, and sports teams. Big companies do it too, of course, but for a small company, this can be a significant factor in their promotions. Think of the local coffee shop, or restaurant, or auto mechanic who has pictures on their walls of all the children’s sports teams they have supported over the years. They might also have pictures of children receiving ribbons and awards, playing in tournaments, or getting sponsored to go to camp.
How much do those stories say about the business when you compare it with a business that has a row of “Chamber of Commerce Member” stickers on their window or business card?
Defining Marketing in the Small Business Context
Marketing Challenges
The essential elements of marketing are to have your customers continue to be aware of you, while potential customers learn that you are available and have something they want or need. That sounds pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? Once they are aware, your marketing message needs to be so inviting and compelling that they will come to do business with you rather than the business down the street.
Small businesses can compete in a marketplace full of big competitors, but we don’t want you to kid yourselves. It is really hard to stand out in a crowded marketplace where you are competing with huge companies that have big budgets and to do it in a big way, but it can be done, and this course will show you how.
Marketing and Sales
Marketing is not the same process as sales, even though the two are often referred to in the same sentence. Sales are the process that moves a customer through purchase, follow up, and then back to purchase again. Marketing is the communications, advertising, and public relations efforts you make to bring people to you as they make their buying decision.
Sales are about conducting a transaction where a customer purchases a product or service. Marketing is the story that catches the prospective customer’s attention. Marketing tells why the $200 pair of shoes fits and feels much better than the same type of shoes bought at a big box store for $40, even if they are virtually the same shoe. Marketing explains how the vacuum cleaner with the HEPA filter will remove all the pet dander from your carpets, and is appealing to someone who doesn’t even have a pet. Marketing can be the make or break the story of your business.
The Best Marketing
The best marketing is not about our products or services and their features or benefits. The best marketing isn’t even about our companies at all—not our unique selling points or our competitive advantages over other companies. Instead, really good marketing is how what you offer your prospects and your customers will change their lives for the better.
The average person doesn’t give a darn about our products or services, except when our products or services can help them. If you can show your potential clients and your present clients how doing business with you will make them happier, richer, wiser, or healthier, then they will be interested. But don’t fall for the old myth that building a better mousetrap will bring the world to your door. There are lots of better mousetraps out there. However, if they are too expensive, or if the world doesn’t hear about them, we may just continue to use the mousetraps we already have and feel comfortable with.
While it is important that we direct our message to our target market, it is even more important to figure out what to say and how to say it so people listen and are moved to buy. We should spend enough time getting our message right so it will persuade others to want what we are offering. Once we have it right, we will want to repeat that message again and again, so people will hear it, remember it, and act upon it.
Glossary of Terms
Standing Out from the Crowd
You may notice that a lot of companies support local charities, causes, and sports teams. Big companies do it too, of course, but for a small company, this can be a significant factor in their promotions. Think of the local coffee shop, or restaurant, or auto mechanic who has pictures on their walls of all the children’s sports teams they have supported over the years. They might also have pictures of children receiving ribbons and awards, playing in tournaments, or getting sponsored to go to camp.
How much do those stories say about the business when you compare it with a business that has a row of “Chamber of Commerce Member” stickers on their window or business card?
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