Small businesses have a hard time reaching the right audience and the right market. With the high-octane online and offline marketing campaigns unleashed by big companies, there is very little scope for smaller names to make themselves heard over the din.
There are several issues that small businesses grapple with on a daily basis. A limited budget, manpower constraints, a not-so-visible brand presence and a fierce competitive marketplace are a few of them.
In order to overcome the difficulties and the obstacles, it is extremely important they manage to get the marketing message across to the intended target audience. This ensures the marketing dollars are well spent and there is a good return on investment.
Here are a few tips to help the harried small business owner reach the right target audience with apt marketing campaigns.
Identify Your Target Market and Its Needs
The precursor to any successful marketing campaign is identifying and targeting the right customer base.
This is possible when you do in-depth market research, and conduct surveys and studies into the purchasing patterns and consumption behavior of consumers. Write out a description of the perfect customer you would like to cater to. This will help you nail what you are looking for.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”smedio” suffix=”smedio”]If you are into B2B sales, you will need to analyze the buying and decision-making behavior of your target customers.[/inlinetweet] You need to accurately gauge the competition as well to customize your campaign and make your product stand out.Find the Best Way to Reach out to Your Target Audience
It is not easy to reach out to your target market. There are plenty of others trying to do the same and your prospects already have products to serve their purpose. So how do you manage to get your target customer sit up and take notice?
It is important you look for prospects where they are more likely to be. If your target market comprises of busy professionals in the age group of 25-35, it is better to court them online.
The Millennials have a hectic lifestyle and may not spend time going through newspaper ads or Yellow Pages when they need something. If you have a good online presence and engage your prospective customers via social media sites, you stand a better chance of building brand recall value.
E-Mail Marketing Is Still Very Powerful
E-mails remain a powerful online medium for communication so chart out a good e-mail marketing strategy. There are more than 3 billion e-mail accounts in the world and more than 144.8 billion e-mails are sent worldwide every day.
Statistics show that workers spend up to 28% of their time reading and answering e-mails. We check our mail multiple times in a day and chances are that if you have an arresting subject line and engaging content the prospective customer will go through your e-mail carefully.
Decide on Your Budget
Set a realistic budget that will help you achieve your marketing goals. Thorough research into the buying and spending patterns of your customers will give you an idea of how you need to approach them.
If your company sells sports goods for youth get your advertising online. Create engaging content and build chatter around your brand. Associate with youth sporting events like college baseball and soccer championships. Sponsor youth league events and put up billboards for increased visibility. There is no big money involved but you are right among your target audience.
If your target base comprises senior citizens and retired people, go for printed publications and direct mail marketing that cater to the community. This will save you plenty of dollars and give you great ROI.
When small businesses are trying to get a foothold in a locality or a particular area, it makes no sense for them to run nationwide media or online campaigns. Get your ads out in popular local newspapers and in local directories, and you are bound to see sales pick up.
Door-to-door marketing is also effective if you are targeting local customers, as in the case of a professional cleaning agency targeting a city, a locality or a neighborhood.
Simple and time-tested marketing activity works best for small businesses.
Track and Monitor Campaigns
Small businesses need to be extremely careful while spending on marketing campaigns. In fact, they should not be involved in any marketing activity that cannot be directly linked to revenue generation.
Small business owners need to measure and evaluate the return on investment on every penny spent for marketing. Follow a performance-linked marketing model where you trim and prune the strategy to yield results. This will help you develop a customized and strategic marketing plan going forward.
Word-of-Mouth Publicity Still Works
The best marketing plan and a budget of millions will not do the trick if your product or service disappoints the customers.
Word-of-mouth publicity counts a lot and brings in brand loyalty, trust, repeat customers, referrals, and conversions. So make it a point to keep your existing customers happy.
You need to have polite, responsive and knowledgeable customer service that will keep your clients satisfied, and tackle complaints and issues in a timely and efficient manner.
Peer influence is a critical factor for the generation Z as well, so no matter what your target market is, you better not have any bad reviews for your product. Quality matters a lot, so innovate and deliver.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
You may be itching to grow into a billion-dollar business, but go slow and steady. Don’t stretch yourself too thin and complicate things for your business. Your infrastructure and finances should be able to support and justify your marketing and advertising spending. Don’t be over-ambitious and screw up your balance sheet.
Plan Ahead
You need to have a clear roadmap for your business. Your business plan should take into account the future growth of your company and the corresponding marketing strategy. You need to have a plan in place to garner brand awareness, and build brand recognition and trust. A long-term marketing strategy is important to nurture, strengthen and grow your business.
Conclusion
All business conglomerates had humble beginnings. Long-term vision, proper planning, prudence, confidence and perseverance prove to be the killer combination ensuring success and growth of fledgling business ventures. So chart out your strategy and conquer the market!
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