7 Steps to Creating a Successful Small Business Marketing Plan

Small business marketing is all about determining the needs of your target market and then providing solutions to meet those needs. These 7 steps are aimed at entrepreneurs starting a small business and those who want to create a successful small business marketing plan for an existing business. Most small business promotions focus on how great their products and services are. Instead, you should educate your target market consistently and start building a relationship that will establish your credibility and trust. It is important to develop a marketing mindset. “Think Marketing” your products and services all of the time. It is very important to consistently market your products and services. Don’t fall into the trap of stop and go marketing. Some small business owners only market when sales are down. You can’t have a successful small business without having a successful small business marketing plan. Effective small business marketing is the way to growth and profits. If you’re a small business owner or you want to know how to start a small business in the future, this simple 7-step plan will help you understand your business and your target market. How to Start a Small Business Marketing Plan: 7 Steps Begin the process by answering these questions: 1) Who -- Who specifically is your target market? Who is your ideal client? What research can you do to find out more about your target market? 2) What -- What products and services do your ideal clients want and need? What does your product and service do for your ideal client? What problems does your product solve for your customer? What are the solutions that your ideal client is looking for? What is your area of specialty that will differentiate you in the marketplace? What are the industry trends? What type of message will your ideal client likely respond to? What are you ultimately selling? For example: Are you selling eye glasses or are you selling vision? What is your unique mix of products and services? What is your pricing strategy? 3) Where -- Where is your ideal client? Where is your customer located geographically? Where will you position yourself so they can easily find you? Where are the best places to get your marketing message to them? Will you speak to groups, hold seminars, or write a blog, newsletters or articles? 4) When -- How frequently does your target market need to hear your marketing message? When are they most likely to buy your products and services? 5) Why -- Why are you in business? Why do customers or clients buy from you? Why should they choose your product or service over your competition? 6) How -- How does your customer buy your product or service? How are you going to reach potential buyers for your services and products? How will you communicate your marketing message? How will you provide customers or clients with the information they need to make their buying decision? 7) Marketing Mindset – Practice mastering a Marketing Mindset and you will be on the path to a profitable small business. With these 7 steps, you can take action towards starting a small business marketing plan that targets new customers.

“Marketing is about testing and evaluating your return on investment. But it’s primarily about helping people get what they want.”

Master these small business marketing steps and you will be on the path to more profit and success as a business owner.

How to make your internet business compete with big established firms

Competing as an internet business with big online names such as Amazon and large traditional businesses that now have internet operations can seem like a daunting task, and one that you will never succeed in. But never fear. Every business no matter how small has to start somewhere. In fact, if anything, competing online with big competitors is probably easier than offline.

Here are some points that needs to be considered when trying to win customers to your online business:

Offer niche products

If you can offer something different to your competitors or add value in some way then you have a better chance of people shopping on your site. Many smaller online businesses offer niche products or offer ’something different’ in the way of value to attract customers.

Competitive pricing

If you can offer products or services to match the price of big established firms then there is no reason why you cannot compete. Pricing is probably the biggest factor in gaining/losing customers.

User-friendly interface Make sure you have a shop design on your site that is extremely attractive for customers to browse. Do not pack a page with too many pictures of products. Make sure you have a very adequate product description accompanied with a nice picture. Also, do not cram the pages with too much information.

Have a search box on your site so people can enter a product they are looking for rather than having to click on too many links to find the product they re looking for.

Description of products

A thorough description of products is vital because it has to act as a way of replacing the ability to have close up look and touch of the product that would be possible if they were at an offline store.

Search engine optimization

This is a very vital ingredient for small internet businesses because it is the source of much of the free traffic that they will generate. Optimizing the site and pages will increase you page rankings and increase the flow of traffic. Remember, no matter what page they arrive on, if they like the products and value then they will stay and return in future.

Advertising

If you have an advertising budget then you could carry out Google Adword, Overture campaigns to get directed traffic. These will come to your store having clicked one of your ads so they will have read the ad and liked something about it or it could be that you have bid enough for it to appear on the top of the listings.

Payment options

You should always provide all secure payment options as different customers will use different payment methods thats conveniant to them.