Does My Small Business Need A Marketing Strategy?
There is no denying it, the answer to that is yes! Although this blog focuses on start-ups and small businesses. It is essential to remember that a marketing strategy is an essential component for all businesses’ success regardless of their type, stage, and size. We cannot operate or hope to survive without having a marketing strategy considering the competition we face.
What is a Marketing Strategy?
It is defined as a company’s overall plan for reaching out to potential customers and converting them into buyers of their goods or services. When developed effectively, a marketing strategy facilitates accomplishing your small business objectives. Therefore, contributing greatly to the performance and success of your small business. As you develop your brand along the way, the positive effects of marketing will become clear. Such as increasing your exposure among various audiences and obtaining a competitive edge over your rivals. In evidence, research has reported that marketers who document their strategy are 538% more likely to report success than those who don’t.
Read on and discover why developing a marketing strategy is your best chance at success.
Outlined below are the top four reasons:
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It provides you with a guide
The best thing a marketing strategy can do for your small business is to give you a general framework to work from. When it comes to the direction your firm is going in and how it will get there. A marketing strategy puts you and everyone on your team on the same page. Everyone is given the exact instructions on what to do to meet the company’s business goals.
Some basic components that must be included in your marketing strategy are:
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- Situation Analysis (Market Position of your Company) – strengths and weaknesses, Unique Selling Point (USP)
- Target Customers – Demographic, Geographic, Behavioural Segments (Who are your best customers?)
- Specific and Realistic Marketing Objectives – Establish achievable goals (What is it that you want to achieve and by when?)
- Timeline of Your Marketing Implementation – Marketing strategies to make your marketing goals happen.
- Marketing Budget – Outline the total investments you are willing to make to achieve your goals.
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Focuses on what is important and tracks your progress
As mentioned before, a marketing strategy provides a direction on how the marketing tactics needs to be implemented to meet the company’s objectives.
With a marketing strategy, you will have a handy reference tool to help you remember the best opportunities for your company. Utilizing the right marketing techniques and technologies to promote business expansion will keep you on track.
A marketing strategy ensures that all operations are in line with the strategic marketing tactics that are written in the plan.
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It helps you budget
A marketing budget is one of the main components of any solid marketing strategy, as stated above.
Having a defined marketing strategy ensures that your budget is planned and allocated effectively. Your company can effectively determine the type of budget to set aside for marketing activities, and the number of resources required to meet your marketing objectives. As a result, having a marketing budget allows you to plan and manage your resources efficiently.
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It measures your marketing performance
As you included goals in your marketing strategy, you’ve given yourself a standard to evaluate your success. A marketing strategy outlines what “success” means for your company and enables you to assess whether you were successful at the end of the campaign.
Subsequently, it is easier to maintain financial restraint, manage cash flow, monitor ratio of sales to marketing expenses, and assess the impact of your marketing initiatives.
Using the relevant marketing metrics – a marketing strategy becomes a “living document” for tracking the effectiveness of sales strategies, customer retention, and product development.
- Some examples of common marketing metrics based on the marketing funnel include:
- Awareness: Reach, Impressions, Cost per Mille, Ad recall Lift
- Consideration: Clicks, Click-through Rates, Engagement Rate
- Conversion: Cost per Acquisition
Now that you are familiar with the importance of having a marketing strategy, it is time to take the next step forward. It is entirely possible to create your own marketing. However, It is advisable to obtain expert assistance for individuals who need more marketing knowledge and experience to prevent costly errors. For more information, contact us today and get in touch with one of our marketing experts to help you start planning your marketing strategy. Our team will guide you through the process, answering your difficult questions, and taking an impartial look at your business.
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