Few Marketing tips to know when you start a small business
This is definitely a challenging subject for the first article I have ever written.!
Marketing and small business have been away for such a long time that I felt it is important to bring some tips to the new entrepreneurs who have decided to set up their companies. Being one of them, I know it is not easy to invest in Marketing and when you create your company, it can be the last thing you think of. This is a big Mistake!!
First of all, let’s explain or recap what is marketing… This word is always tainted by significant prejudge. When people think of Marketing, they usually see the devil boy that try to sell them more products with best margins possible. Even if the purpose of a company is to make money, that is not completely true… Often, small companies do think they will put their hand in something bad… But for real, what is marketing then?
If you use Wikipedia, the definition that comes out is that marketing is a tool communicating the value of a product, service or brand to a customer, for the purpose of promoting or selling that product, service or brand.
Marketing is most of the time assimilated to advertising. This is just the visible part of the Iceberg. Marketing is not only about telling a story about your brand (yes a company can be a brand). Marketing is here to help any company from small businesses to global businesses to gather information in order to understand who is the client (it is what we call a benchmark) and what the company offers. If, as a company, you do not listen your customer/market, you have a very high chance of not to reaching your objectives… Plus, you will lose time, energy, people…
Small businesses are very specific as they lack of something biggest company do have: money. You will seldom find a small business that could afford a marketing team or a marketing man. Then is it done? Is it a vicious circle? Absolutely not. “Difficult” never meant “impossible”!!!
Marketing can help small businesses to grow by providing easy developable solutions.
- Understand what is you market
This is the very first tip I would give to any one who wants to set up a business. Having an idea is a great thing, but you need to know who might want to buy it… What are your points of differentiation (Pod)?What makes you unique on your market?
Do not use too much money on this part. You will better do it yourself and will definitely get better understanding on what your product will be used for. Your market will tells you exactly what potential customers think of the product, what they will do with it. Your biggest strength is that you are a small company meaning you can adapt very easily and very quickly. Be innovative, be proactive, be entrepreneur!
If you are lucky enough to start your company with employees or if you already have some, ask them (anonymously is always a better mean) what they think of the company, the market and what they would like to improve. This is a good way to know whether your team is following you or not… Then no matter what is the answer, adapt yourself and provide powerful meanings to your team!
If you hired a company dedicated to the Market Insight, read thoroughly the data collected. Do not put the report on the side of your desk. If you did it yourself, take some days without looking at them and get back to them with a fresh look. But get back to them really!!! All the most innovative / Disruptive CEO read and learn from their customer. If you think of Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, he reads a lot and help his team do it too. It gives you creativity, new ideas, and you will always learn something.
2. Be creative
At this stage, you have understood your market. Cool… Now what?…. having the data is a great thing but now you need a strategy. What is your next move? The world is so big that you can’t just speak with no strategy. Your voice will be toneless. Don’t be depressed! Again, a strategy is the best thing you can set up!
- Identify the people you want to talk to. Segment the market
- Identify what angle to tackle in order to speak to them. Is it about technology? Is it about telling a story around your brand?
- Identify the media they are using so you won’t spend too much money on media that are useless to your activity
- Once you know all that, you will build your message. Who are you? What are your competencies? Where do you perform? And most of all, what is the added value to your customer?
Be as creative as you can in your story. But be careful to never lose your objective.
3. Occupy the field!
As you do not have much money being a small business, network as much as possible make people talk about you (ie: go to seminars, conferences; present your product, your service, your brand, etc.)
Be an opinion leader in your area. YOU had the disruptive idea! You changed something to add value to an existing product, service, brand. Show off!
This is almost free (you still have to travel) and you will meet lots of people with whom you can discuss.
4. Never forget your customer
Working in a small business is a daily challenge and thinking of using marketing is not always the first thing you think of. It is absolutely understandable. Just think of small tips that will save you time and energy. Having a small business is a long run and you need to save as much energy as possible.
In a world that is getting more and more connected every day, you are in the best shape to be part of something very big. Use marketing to show who you are and what you do. This will help you reach your expectations.
Never forget that your customers are the ones that make you alive. Do everything for them. Learn as much as possible from them. Be innovative, build happiness and they will stay loyal.
These small tips might look obvious, but most of the time small businesses are just too busy to even think of using them. Marketing is a great tool to use and I would recommend to all new entrepreneurs to use this tool as much as possible. You do not necessarily have to invest in a full-time team. A consultant can sometimes really help you step back and think of your customer.
Be open to new solutions and always try to learn from your failures/mistakes!
Thanks for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed it. Please make as much commentary as you want; I am very open to it.
