Think the most effective marketing is done by big companies with
bottomless pockets?
Think your business is too small to bother with doing anything
as intangible as marketing? Think again.
In fact don't even think about marketing - just think about good
basic business because that's really what marketing is all about.
And that's why small businesses are sometimes doing some of the
best marketing without even realising it. Conversely, often large
businesses have such complex structures and organisations that
the basics get forgotten about.
There are only 6 functions of marketing - if you are doing all
of these then you're doing marketing, and probably doing it well.
Miss one or more elements and it will almost certainly affect
your marketing effectiveness - and very importantly, the return
on your marketing spend.
The
following sections take you through an overview each function
in turn and include access to a more detailed self-assessment
checklist to see how many of the marketing boxes your business
ticks.
Research
There
are 3 things any business should monitor: its customers, its competitors
and the market. Changes in any one of these areas can give you
a competitive advantage, or could damage your business. What is
the most common failing in terms of research? - not using the
information. Businesses gather information, read it quickly and
forget it even more quickly. There is only one purpose of research
and that is to help you make better more informed decisions.
Check point:
Are you covering the 3 bases - customers, competitors and the
market?
Do you use the information you collect to make better informed
decisions?
Segment
& Target
This
is the marketing equivalent of divide and conquer. One of the
most common mistakes that small businesses make is to take a mass
marketing approach. This is not only ineffective, it's costly.
One size no longer fits all, and customers today expect personalization
and choice.
It
doesn't matter how you segment your market so long as it does
one thing well: it must bring together people who share common
needs or aspirations that your products and services can answer.
Once
you are clear about the different customer segments out there,
you have to decide which ones to target first. Set 'attractiveness'
criteria - growth potential, best fit, ease of entry etc. then
evaluate the segments against those criteria.
Check point:
Are you clear about which types of customers you're targeting
and why?
Position
Take
the test… if you (or any of your employees) met a key prospect
in an elevator, could you say, in the time it took you to go from
the 5th floor to the bottom floor, say 20 seconds, why he should
choose you over your competitors? You have this time to convince
the customer that he should keep talking to you.
Of
course you can't explain your whole offering in that time - but
you should be able to highlight your differential i.e. what makes
you different from the rest, your strength, your uniqueness.
Check point:
What's
your 20-second positioning?
Marketing Mix
OK.
So you're clear about which customer segments you want to communicate
with and the messages you want to give to each. But how do you
turn that strategy into action and how do you communicate it to
the staff? The shorter and clearer your marketing plan is, and
the more is communicated, the better.
The
trick is combining the 4Ps (product - what you offer, price -
what you charge, promotion - how you'll communicate it and place
- how you'll distribute it) to develop the best 'marketing mix'
for each of your target segments. Tweaking these elements can
give you a clear competitive advantage in any segment.
Check point:
So, is your marketing plan clear, concise and does it cover the
4Ps for each of your target segments?
Implementation
lIt's
not all about ads and mailers. There are 5 communication tools
at your disposal: Advertising, Sales Promotion, Sales Force, Public
Relations and Direct Marketing. Like any set of tools, it's all
about how you use them.
Communication need not be expensive. In a world of multi-coloured,
glossy communication, sometimes a personalised letter with the
right message can be more effective and certainly more cost effective.
Don't
underestimate the power of PR. Seen by the customer as being unbiased
and more credible than other communications, if you are not taking
advantage of this most potent of all communications you're missing
a big opportunity.
Check
point:
Are
you using all the communication tools effectively?
Control
Are
your marketing communications as effective as possible? Are you
getting the maximum return on your marketing budget? Controlling
marketing is about two things: firstly, marketing effectiveness
(number of leads generated, number of visits to the web-site etc),
and secondly, and most importantly, business impact: how many
of those leads are being converted to sales and what's the value
of that incremental business? This is the only way you can really
say that it's worth doing more marketing. Remember, if you can't
measure it - you can't control it.
Check
point:
Are you measuring both the effectiveness of your marketing and
the business impact?
So, does your business tick all the boxes? Get these basics right
and you can sit back, relax and dream of bigger things!
Additional
Resources
Marketing
Action list
Recommended
Books
"The Principals of Marketing", by Philip Kotler
& Gary Armstrong
Publisher: Prentice Hall
"Principals and Practice of Marketing", Publisher:
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co
Recommended
Magazines
Marketing,
Published weekly by Haymarket Business Publications
"Marketing Week", Published weekly by Centaur
Publications
Recommended
Websites
http://www.MarketingProfs.com
Marketing know how from professors and professionals. Marketing
articles and tutorials
http://www.marketingsource.com
The Marketing Resource Centre - A resource and reference web site
to help small business with Internet marketing, advertising, etc
