Get Your Marketing Right: 6 Ways
 By B.J. Addington

Marketing is one of the first items on the to-do list for startup businesses. But it’s hard to do it right. It takes number crunching and planning and measuring.

Marketing is all about getting the right message to the right customers at the right time. A lot can go wrong. Still, you can succeed by following these time-tested strategies.

1. Make a budget
Don’t ask yourself how much money you need for marketing. Ask yourself how much your small business can afford to spend on marketing.

The answer will determine how much marketing you can do, what kind of marketing you can do and how long your marketing campaign can last.

2. Know your customers
If you don’t have any customers yet, then know who your prospective customers are. And know everything you can about them:

• Where they live

• What they read

• Where they go

• Who they talk to

• What other products and services they buy

• How much money they make and how much they spend

• How old (or young) they are

The more you know, the better you can target your marketing to them.

For instance, if most of your prospects live within a five-mile radius of your small business, then business signage might be an effective marketing tool. Small ads in a neighborhood newspaper might work too.

Or maybe you cater to customers in a large urban area, customers who go to the movies often. Perhaps inexpensive in-cinema ads would work for you. A series of billboards might work too.

3. Choose your weapons
Marketing weapons run the gamut – from Yellow Pages ads and sales letters to magnetic vehicle signs and home-delivered flyers.

Each strategy offers strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons. Your job is to find the ones that work and that you can afford.

To get some ideas about creative ways to market your small business, check out these free AFS articles:

• 4 Affordable Ways To Advertise Locally

• Rev Up Sales With Vehicle Wraps

• How To Write Effective Sales Letters

• Everything You Need To Know About Pay-Per-Click

4. Choose your message
The purpose of your marketing message is to attract customers. So focus your message on how your products and services can benefit those customers.

Is your service faster than competitors’? Tell customers that you can save them time.

Is your product exactly like a competitor’s, and priced the same too? Then tell your customers that they’ll get personal service at your business. Tell them that you’re open later in the evenings for their convenience. Tell them that your shop offers easy parking.

5. Market consistently
No matter how much money you can afford to spend on marketing, don’t blow it all on one big thing. Instead, pace your dollars. Spread your marketing out over six months or a year.

Rather than one big ad in the Sunday newspaper, opt for running a small ad every week for a month.

Rather than paying for 1,000 flashy four-color brochures that will only last for one month, spend the same amount of money to get 4,000 two-color pieces that you can use over a four-month period.

Instead of mailing first-class sales letters, try using less expensive postcards and mail to the same customers several times.

By marketing consistently, you build awareness in prospects’ minds. They see your ad several times. Or they receive your postcard twice. When those prospects are ready to buy, they’ll think first of your business.

6. Measure results
There’s only one way to know if your marketing is working: Measure the response.

The easiest way to measure is simply to ask customers how they heard about your business. Every time someone calls your business or comes by, ask the question.

Did they see your ad? Did they receive your direct mail postcard? Keep track to know which marketing tactic works best for you.

You can also offer a coupon in your ads or direct mail pieces. Tell customers to bring in the ad for 10 percent off their next purchase. By collecting those coupons, you’ll see which ones are working best.

As you track response to your marketing, make adjustments. Drop tactics that aren’t producing resulting and funnel that money into strategies that are paying off. (Posted December 2006)

>>Back to Startup Success