Simple Rules for Marketing Your Business

 Marketing your business is one of the most important things you can do to ensure its success. Therefore your marketing plan must be carefully developed and you need to develop a cost around the activities you plan. Your potential clients need to know about your products or services, as well as about the benefits they offer. This may sound self-evident to you, but many entrepreneurs who are specialists in their own fields find themselves stumped when it comes to marketing. Here are some basic principles and guidelines to follow when putting together your marketing plan section:  

Define Your Business Clearly
Before undertaking any form of marketing, it’s important that you have clearly laid out what your business is about. In the feasibility section we asked a few questions around this issue. Here are a few more to help you bring things into focus:

To define your business clearly, ask yourself:

• What are our key products and services?
• What are the benefits of these to existing and potential customers?
• Are our products or services unique in any way?
• Is our location unique in any way?
• Are our times of business different to those offered by our competitors?
• Do we offer any special technological competencies?
• Do we offer any specific lifestyle benefits and/or conveniences to our customers?
• Do we offer any unique innovations?
• What are our strengths and weaknesses?

Know Your Customers
This is one of the most important aspects of marketing, yet it is often overlooked. Too many businesses focus on selling existing product rather than on meeting evolving customer needs and, in an increasingly competitive business environment, this isn’t always effective. 

It’s important to take into account whether your customers and potential customers have particular needs or specific likes and dislikes. For example, if you own a shoe store, you need to know whether your customers want exclusive imported one-offs, elegant local shoes or discounted lines. The influence of geographic location on customer needs also needs to be considered. Surfboards aren’t a big seller in Johannesburg, for instance.

Also don’t forget that customers have actual as well as psychological needs and the solution you offer to both of these should ideally be present in all of your communications. For example, it would be beneficial to communicate that a range of healthy ready-made meals not only takes care of family suppers for stressed working moms, but will also make them feel secure that they’re providing nourishing meals for their families.  

You can get to know your customers better by:

• analysing and discussing your sales figures
• analysing and discussing feedback from the sales team
• doing in-store or mailed customer surveys
• commissioning formal market research
• watching out for developing trends in the media, in your area and in your industry
• taking note of competitor activity designed to meet new or developing needs

Advertise Where it Counts
Advertising is expensive, but effective when used correctly. When advertising in any form of media, it’s important to do it regularly, to be consistent in your message and to advertise in the right media for your business.

Large retailers have long understood the benefits of regular advertising supplements in their local and community newspapers, for instance - supplements that their customers have come to expect and depend on. Similarly, advertising in trade publications works particularly well for entrepreneurs who want to reach a well-defined trade audience.

When planning to advertise:

• Define your advertising objectives and plan your advertising accordingly (for example, define whether you want to advertise seasonal specials, launch a new product or promote a specific benefit).
• Select your media carefully - or get a professional company to assist you in doing so.
• Design the best advertisements you can afford to produce – or get a professional company to assist you in doing so.
• Focus on a small selection of media and aim to advertise there regularly in order to maintain a good
  awareness of your products or services.
• Keep your message clear – a good general rule to remember is “one ad, one thought”.

Speak to Your Customers Directly
Nothing works better than taking your message directly to the people most likely to purchase from you, whether they’re consumers or trade customers.

Some of the most effective ways of doing so include:

• direct mailers
• leaflet drops in targeted areas
• inserts into targeted community and local newspapers
• eye-catching posters on-site or in targeted areas
• e-mail communications
• regular newsletters
• interesting and informative sales kits to use when meeting with trade customers

For companies that don’t have existing mailing lists, mailing companies often offer a list rental service that provides targeted lists of potential sales candidates. Remember that the average response rate to direct mailers is about 3%, so take this into account if you’re planning one. 

Take Advantage of Trade Shows and Local Events
Trade shows provide an excellent opportunity of reaching a large number of trade customers in a short space of time. Select one or two events a year and select which products you wish to market at these. Choose the best location for your stand that you can afford and make sure it looks good. And remember to have plenty of take-away brochures, leaflets and business cards for those who show interest in the stand.

For consumer businesses, local events like spring fairs, sporting events and fêtes can offer excellent opportunities. As for trade shows, choose a few good local events in which to participate and do so every year, preferably working around a new theme each year.

Develop Seasonal and Special Promotions
Most customers, whether consumers or trade clients, tend to purchase in cyclical or seasonal patterns. So, at the beginning of every year, it’s advisable to work out a seasonal promotional calendar that’s appropriate to your business. If, for example, you own a commercial bakery, offer special products to your retail clients for sale on occasions like Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Similarly, if you’re a retailer, seasonal promotions attract customers by appealing to their specific needs at a specific time of the year. Always try to come up with unique and interesting ideas to cut through the general promotional clutter in both the trade and retail environments.

Be Consistent
Above all, it’s important to be consistent. The marketing and media environment is very cluttered and, for this reason, it’s important to be consistent in both promotional message and look and feel. If you’re an independent entrepreneur and not part of a franchised chain, it’s worth investing some money in designing an eye-catching logo, interesting packaging, impactful signage and a good basic range of stationery and posters.  As they saying goes, a picture says a thousand words.