Every small business is interested in creating an effective marketing strategy. The most effective marketing strategies are those that are targeted toward a specific audience, focused on key benefits based on the audience's point of view and interests, and delivered at an appropriate time – when the audience is most likely to be attentive to and interested in the message being delivered.
Specific Customer Targeting
Effective marketing is targeted to a specific, not a general, audience. For example, you might target younger, affluent women, or you might target women with children, depending on your brand's benefits. Your might target the bargain-conscious demographic, or instead go after consumers who are willing to spend more for the best products in each category. You might target new homeowners with little lawn care experience, or serious DIYers who know how to perform more complicated yardscaping tasks.
Focus on Benefits
It can be difficult for small business owners to view their business and their products from the outside in, but that's exactly what they must do if they hope to be successful in their marketing efforts. Marketers need to learn about and consider audience needs and concerns, and identify potential objections that they can work to overcome in their marketing efforts. In doing so, they can identify key benefits to focus on that will be attractive to the target audience.
For example, instead of focusing on the ingredients of your toothpaste, you would focus on telling parents that your toothpaste prevents cavities in children. Instead of telling consumers about the technical aspects of its automated braking system and air bags, and automaker would create advertising messages around the safety of its cars. Many food makers sell convenience for home cooks as opposed to the specific ingredients in the dinner package. Other food marketers sell the benefits of health or local sourcing.
Timing of Your Messages
A message about female incontinence delivered through a poster on the inside of a restroom door stall is hitting an audience at just about the perfect time. The same message delivered on an overhead announcement at a mall would probably not have the same impact.
Effective marketing seeks to reach audiences when they are most likely to be open and attentive to the message. Because small businesses can't afford to use every type of marketing channel, they need to think carefully about their delivery mechanisms – newspaper, radio, TV, social media, and others – and consider whether messages are being conveyed in the right place, at the right time.
Free social media tools like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter let you take advantage of immediacy to take advantage of trend, events and other time-sensitive issues that can help improve your messaging, points out Inc. magazine.
The Other "3 Ps"
Don't forget that marketing is made up of the "Four Ps" of product, price, place and then promotion. Different parts of marketing impact each other, so your planning should be a team effort among your accounting, sales, product develop and marketing departments.
Look at your competition and customer research to find out what features your customers want in products like yours. Look at the effects of raising and lowering your price on margins, sales, perceived value and gross profits. Make sure you examine the overall impact of each potential distribution channel you can use to sell your product.
FAQs
The four Ps are a “marketing mix” comprised of four key elements—product, price, place, and promotion—used when marketing a product or service.
What are the 4 of a good marketing strategies? ›
The four Ps are a “marketing mix” comprised of four key elements—product, price, place, and promotion—used when marketing a product or service.
What is your marketing strategy answer? ›
A marketing strategy is a long-term plan for achieving a company's goals by understanding the needs of customers and creating a distinct and sustainable competitive advantage. It encompasses everything from determining who your customers are to deciding what channels you use to reach those customers.
What is the most important thing in marketing strategy? ›
Knowing your target customer is the single most important job of any marketer, and it's a job that never ends. While it's something you should work on every day of the year, it's critical to document what you've learned about your customer over the course of the year.
What are the three best marketing strategies? ›
These three--customer acquisition, customer experience, and content marketing--are perhaps the most important marketing strategy areas today. Use these tips to make the most of them for your company. 1. Acquire great customers for life.
What are 6 main points of marketing strategy? ›
The building blocks of an effective marketing strategy include the 6 P's of marketing: product, price, place, promotion, people, and presentation. The effective integration of the 6 P's of marketing can serve as the foundation for an effective growth strategy open_in_new.
What are the 7 market strategies? ›
Product, Price Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical evidence are the 7 Ps of marketing mix. The same mix can alse be considered for online marketing mix as well. Below we are discussing each P and how it contributes to effective marketing strategies.
What is the strongest pillar of marketing? ›
There are two key marketing pillars required to drive efficient growth: content and experience. Read on to see exactly why without investment in these two areas it will be tough to develop a repeatable, scalable motion. this year than the last – according to HubSpot. Content is more imperative than ever.
What are the key pillars of marketing strategy? ›
In conclusion, a successful marketing strategy is built upon three key pillars: target market identification, value proposition development, and effective marketing communication. Understanding the importance of each pillar and integrating them into a cohesive strategy is crucial in driving business success.
What is a good sales strategy? ›
Generally considered one of the most effective sales strategies, value-based selling focuses on how a product or service will benefit the customer or resolve a problem they're experiencing.
10 Tips to Build a Winning Marketing Strategy With Real-World...
- Define your marketing objectives: ...
- Know your target audience: ...
- Analyze your competition: ...
- Choose the right marketing channels: ...
- Create valuable content: ...
- Utilize search engine optimization (SEO): ...
- Leverage social media: ...
- Monitor and measure your results:
While the primary goal of marketing is to generate revenue, marketing achieves this desired state through a unique approach as compared to other business units such as sales or customer service.
What are the three most important things in marketing? ›
For all its complexity, at its core, marketing revolves around four things: product, price, promotion, and place. Tactics and channels change, but these are the concepts everything else revolves around, and they're principles that never change.
What are the 7 marketing strategies process? ›
Since then, the theory has been expanded into the 7 P's of marketing. Which are: Product, Price, Promotion, Place, People, Packaging, and Process.
What are the 7 marketing and sales strategies? ›
As you can see, the 7 Ps (product, price, promotion, place, people, physical evidence, and processes) create a guide to marketing that allows you to better reach your customers and make sales. The 7 Ps are a marketing mix of proven strategies that work for small or large companies alike.
What are the 8 marketing strategy? ›
The 8 Ps of marketing is product, price, place, promotion, people, positioning, processes, and performance. The goal is to get them working together for your marketing mix. If you can you'll have a much better chance to attract and convert your potential customers. There's no shortage of marketing advice out there.
