Marketing 101 for Small Business Success

Introducing your small business to new customers and clients can be a challenging, but very rewarding experience. The right marketing strategy can lead to business success in both the short and long-term, and the most effective strategy can take some time to develop. Marketing your small business effectively involves a multi-faceted approach; from coordinating media materials, launching a website, or focusing on an advertising medium such as print or display ads, you'll need to outline the best resources for your budget and project goals.

Marketing your business, company, or brand may not even mean finding your customers. Although a direct marketing approach works for some industries, it may not be effective for everyone. Instead, you want to present your company in such a way that the customers are naturally attracted to the idea, offer, or the brand itself. This will offer the long-term benefits of creating a customer or client relationship that outlasts an outwardly direct, or imposing, approach.

A basic marketing plan will identify two key elements:

1) The company's Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

2) How to get people to notice you

The USP outlines exactly what makes the business different from the competition, and what it is selling. Although this sounds simple, many new businesses have a hard time identifying specifically what it is they're selling. Even if it's a service, it's important to identify what this is comprised of, and how this benefits the customer.

Outlining how to get people to notice is the next step. The business will need to define where your customers are, and what they are doing. This will eventually lead to the target market, and finding the right customer will become easier over time. Then, getting them to notice the business aside from the competition will involve the marketing campaign. From direct mail to a TV broadcast, each business will benefit from each medium with varying results. The key marketing mediums to reach customers include:

• Print advertising: magazines, newspapers and local newsletters
• Media material distribution: business cards, brochures, postcards, posters, media kits
• Word-of-mouth: ‘buzz' campaigns such as parties, social networking, receptions, sponsoring events
• TV and radio: partnering with local stations for campaigns and press releases
• Website: launching the site, linking with key industry leaders, creating an online social buzz, developing banner ads
• Visual recognition: bus or train advertising, outdoor ad placements, logo items such as t-shirts, umbrellas, or other company apparel

Small businesses have the advantage of appealing to local customers and clients. The company can network with key leaders in the community, set up partnerships and alliances, and co-market with similar businesses in the same industry. This isn't a strategy that large or corporate businesses can take part in as easily, so it does offer unique networking potential for a startup or new concept.

In addition to business-to-business networking, a small business can be successful with connecting with potential customers directly. A well coordinated direct sales effort can bring lucrative results in the short term. Local customers and clients may be more receptive to a fresh, young, and new business in the area. They will be able to recognize the business easily, meet with owners or managers right away, and may be more likely to refer friends and family.

However, the small business does encounter some disadvantages on initial startup. This includes a lack of name recognition and brand awareness. It can be difficult to stand out from the crowd of well-established businesses, and this is where the USP will be even more important. A small business can also be confronted with limited acceptance of the brand, company, or idea. It's here that a compelling marketing campaign can help to persuade new customers and gain customer confidence.

Here are nine additional key ideas and campaigns that can help any small business launch with success:

1. Be direct about it! Target your customers and clients with a list, e-mail database or other direct mail campaign that will reach them immediately. You'll need to build a list of customers, and this can easily be done with a zipcode search service online. Sign up for a bulk order of names, and distribute your advertising campaign. Costs are minimal, and the return on your investment can be high.

2. Create your customer and client list. Whether you're collecting information from your website, or having customers sign up for more information, this is an excellent way to get an idea of who your customers are. Corporations invest large amounts of money simply researching and finding out about their customers. The small business can collect and track this data very easily, and the long-term benefits include having a direct connection available whenever the next marketing campaign is ready to launch.

3. Create an e-mail list. Customers and clients can always opt-out of newsletters, e-mail alerts, and other updates from the company. Getting an e-mail newsletter together is an effective way to reach the customer on a regular basis. If you set up an auto responder system on your website, it makes it even easier to send a message with minimal effort.

4. Invest in a website. The value of an online presence for any business is immeasurable. More people learn about a new business online today than ever before, and establishing your web presence as soon as your business name is settled is an easy way to generate interest. Your customers can learn about every facet of your business from an online presentation, connect with you through e-mail, and even watch your business grow and develop-all with minimal effort!

5. List your business. Find out how much the main YellowPages advertising costs, and which segment of your demographic this gets delivered to. If a physical publication doesn't work, an online listing can reach thousands of potential customers. Yahoo! listings, YellowPages.com, and many search sites specific to your industry are great ways to increase business exposure. Including a link to your website is the most efficient way to drive traffic for more information.

6. Review television and radio options. Even though all small business budgets may not be able to accommodate TV or radio advertising, a meeting with an account executive will help you find out if this is a good fit your company or marketing message. Getting the key contacts with the media through advertising is also a good networking opportunity!

7. Buy ads on Google or Yahoo! If your website can accommodate on-page advertising, joining a Google AdSense or Yahoo! advertising program may help boost your search engine rankings, as well as extending outside of your physical neighborhood for exposure.

8. List your business on Google Maps. This is often overlooked by small businesses, but it's an easy, convenient, and free listing on one of the top search engine's tools available. People can locate you instantly, and it may also help with search engine rankings. Think of it as putting your business on the city atlas.

9. Keep it consistent. Brand marketing is a powerful method to gain customers in the long-term, and an effective approach will define a company's image with colors, logos, and creative items that can trigger a response from customers. Consistency in all efforts includes making sure media materials, sayings, and the central messages are cohesive and maintain the core theme.