Owning a small business is like planting a garden and either watching it flourish and thrive, or wither away to dust and dried weeds. In order to have a good garden you need to know what plants you would like and learn how to best meet their needs. Having a marketing plan will do just that for your business.
Consider the four P's of marketing as a guide to what is important.
- Product- This category includes anything that you need to charge for. It could be a service or something you rent or products on your shelves. Determine what your products are and list all of the benefits to the customer. Consider if there is room for improvement.
- Price-Look at the price that you offer for your goods and services. Check with your competitors to see if your prices are comparative to theirs. You want to be as competitive as possibly while still making a reasonably sized profit.
- Placement-Where would your customers most likely be when they come across your products, how will they be making their purchase, are you selling directly to customers or wholesale only, do you intend to market in specialty stores. All this considered are your products where they need to be to be the most effective.
- Promotion-Here is the big part to any marketing plan. You need to look at things you are already doing and whether or not they have been successful. Recognize if some things need to change or if you are not using all of the many market outlets that are at your disposal. Such as internet, billboards, print ads, fliers and posters, contests, etc.
Creating a marketing plan that is clearly outline will help your small business growth and thrive and will ultimately lead to a more fruitful bottom-line. |
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