In today’s age of behemoth corporations steadily grabbing every conceivable business space, small business owners need to fight hard and fight smart. A clever marketing campaign can become the winning sling shot in this David vs Goliath business battle. Every business, no matter how small or large, needs to have a marketing strategy that clearly identifies the customer base, their preferred modes of communication and their purchase decision-making process.
And even nonprofit organizations need to have solid marketing. In fact, when developing a nonprofit business plan, it’s imperative to determine the best marketing strategies to attract donors, staff, partners and clients.
Understanding your customers should be used to inform your marketing endeavors so that you target the right people using the right channels. Consider your marketing strategy as a broader war plan and a marketing campaign a small battle undertaken periodically when the need arises.
Here are some simple steps for successfully launching a marketing campaign for your own small business:
#1 – Identify Your Objective
Before you start working on your marketing campaign in earnest, seriously think about what you are trying to accomplish through this campaign. Consider what you aim to achieve at the end of this campaign and then set an objective goal that addresses that aim. It would be even better if that goal is quantitative so that in the end you can actually calculate whether the campaign was a success. This will help in planning your future campaigns and save you a ton of resources in the process as well.
Your marketing campaign objectives can be one or many, depending on what your current business situation is. You might want to retain your loyal customer base, try getting new customers, increase sales of an existing product/service or promote a new product/service. Setting a clear objective will help in creating a better marketing campaign.
#2 – Set a Budget
After settling on an end goal, your next priority should be setting a budget. Without a clearly agreed-upon budget, expenses usually tend to spiral out of control. It is easy to get sucked into a project, and before you know it you end up spending more than you can afford. In addition to setting a budget, be sure to use additional tips to save your business money.
#3 – Identify Your Audience
Identify the type of people you need to target for your campaign. Detail their essential characteristics like age, gender, income etc. so you can tailor the campaign to their unique tastes and attributes. This will ensure a more meaningful intersection between your target audience and your marketing campaign.
#4 – Content and Channels
Your target audience should also inform the content of your marketing campaign and the channels you use to reach out to them. For example, if your target customer base is young, the content can be in video or blog form, or even interactive images, for greater success with engagement. It is also wise to use social media to connect with a young target audience. Likewise, your content and mode of communication will change if your target audience changes. If instead, your target audience is from an older generation, then having a product catalog will resonate with them more, thus increasing your chances of a sale. For those interested in having a company catalog printed, you can look here to find a company that can help with that. The important thing to remember is that marketing to people using the form and medium that most resonates with them will yield the highest results for your campaign.
#5 – Observe and Analyze
Once the campaign is launched, keep an eye on it. Observe how your target audience reacts to and interacts with it. This will help refine your future campaigns. Compare the recorded results with the objectives you had set in the beginning. Analyzing the results will clarify what you did right and/or wrong and what you need to do differently the next time round.
A well-crafted and -executed marketing campaign can sometimes become the only difference between a booming and a failing business. As a small business owner, you cannot afford complacency. So, follow the steps given above to see your business strengthen and grow.