Marketing need not be VooDoo to the Small Business Owner. Nor should Marketing be COMPLICATED, confusing or guesswork.
As a Small Business the available funds for Marketing are often LIMITED so we are then tempted to spend all of it on one campaign, are not convinced it was WORTH the money and then take a whole year or more to pluck up the COURAGE to spend it again.
Marketing is Simply about CONNECTION.
What I prefer is a MEASURED, consistent approach based on fact rather maybes.
Here are a few things to consider when approaching Marketing:
- What can I afford to spend CONSISTENTLY? (even if its $50 a month)
- Who (EXACTLY) am I targeting. The clearer you are here the GREATER the chance of success.
- WHERE are these people likely to hang out? Are they online folk, traditional media such as magazines or newspapers or passers by your store?
- What message will they WANT to hear? e.g. Can you identify a problem they are likely to have and provide a product or service that will help resolve it?
- What can I MEASURE so I know if its been successful or not? Did it bring more potential customers and did they SPEND? Ultimately you need a greater return than the spend i.e. if I spend $50 I would expect it to return $60 or more. HINT: If you can consistently bring in more than you spend, spend MORE.
