Over the months we’ve discussed the importance of promoting and marketing your business especially in relation to your online activities. Marketing is essential for any business and especially for small and fledgling businesses.

There’s a line in the film Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, “Build it and they will come.” It refers to the ghostly voices heard by an Iowa farmer asking him to build a baseball pitch in his cornfield. Luckily for the farmer, he built it and they came. It’s a pity the same isn’t true in business. Build it and they won’t come unless you tell everyone about it.

Companies like Kellogg’s and Coca Cola market themselves in a huge way. But why, surely they’re so well known that they don’t need to? They obviously don’t think so. If they sat back on their laurels others, who did market themselves, would replace them in people’s minds.  Marketing is what keeps them in number one spot.

Before you start on your next campaign to build business or develop a new website complete this checklist. If you can’t give solid answers then you probably need to give your project more thought otherwise you might waste time and money.

Who is your target market?
You can’t target everyone so be specific with who you are aiming for.

How will you reach them?
Based on your target market’s profile, what is the best way to communicate with them?

Plan your offer
Why should they buy from you as opposed to one of your competitors?

What does your target market want?
Do they want what you offer and what benefit will it bring?

What will stop your target market from buying
How do you overcome that?

When will they buy?
Most people will buy later, what can you do to speed it up?

Will they spread the good word?
Be sure to make them feel good about buying from you.

Have you got the budget?
Calculate the costs of the campaign and compare to your projected extra business. Is it viable?

Develop a documented marketing strategy
Using the information you obtained from above develop a detailed strategy that pulls all the different components together. Detail how you will implement this strategy.

Set goals and review your strategy
Set yourself objectives and monitor the results. Then review the strategy and leverage the most you can from what works well. Keep a look out for new marketing opportunities.

If you need help with your online presence then please contact us for a free consultation.