BCE of NC Information Center
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Marketing for Small Businesses How do we market our products to maximize our sales? As some of us have come to understand, marketing costs often puts small business owners in a make-or-break situation. Everyone knows we need to have good marketing and sales abilities in order to become successful. But letting people know about everything we are able to provide means we need to know who our customers are. We need to understand them so well we can tell them what they need and want before they realize they do. But what does “marketing” really mean? To many of us who are so busy we tend to forget to grab lunch, marketing implies the advertising and selling of a product(s) or idea(s). While this is often a microscopic view of our business, we also understand the need to take time to view the “big picture” by considering all aspects of our business in relation to the competition, customers, and latest business trends. Some people might define the key to successful marketing by asking: “How do you let people who might be interested in buying your product, know how unique your product (or idea) is from those provided by the competition?” This is a tough question to answer. Let’s ask a few questions about our business:
OK. We feel we provide something “different” from our competitors, and that will make our business succeed. But what makes us unique? Some business owners borrow a good idea from another company, and that’s OK. For example, there are always needs for a good hair salon. However, if we analyze the successful salons, we discover they emphasize something special, something unique. Perhaps they make themselves different by providing lower prices, welcome walk-in’s, or offer frequent coupons in the local newspaper. Successful businesses find ways to make their products stand apart from the competition. If our business provides a product instead of a service, we can make our business unique by manipulating our pricing, packaging, or shipping to give the impression of a difference. We can focus on what our clients want and need.
How do we target our customers? Do we know who they really are…what type of business they have? Do we have “demographics” detailing more personal information about them (such as average income, education, occupations, family makeup, where they live, etc.)? What about their hobbies? The more information we glean about our customers, the more we can anticipate their needs and customize our products to suit these needs. Plus, this knowledge helps us realize how to reach our customers via advertising and promotions. There are two ways we can categorize customers.
· Niche
Marketing Next week we’ll continue our discussion of these two classifications of our customers by delving into more specifics about Niche and Segmented marketing, then asking more questions about our business.
Sources:
CCH Business Owners Toolkit
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