Small business marketing package: what does your brand really need?
Claudia Roca
It's quite a challenge, really...
Creating content or a small business marketing package is a job for those who love a challenge.
And here we know that you are one of those entrepreneurs or marketers who are always looking for something new, risky and, of course, know how to take on a challenge.
That's why we will talk about this topic because we know that you are capable of creating a marketing plan from scratch, either for the benefit of your own company or because you have clients on your doorstep that you can't afford to lose.
And you won't need a whole marketing department to achieve this goal, so let's get to work!
With the following tips, you can create your own small business marketing package. Not only will they be useful for small business projects, but they are also extremely useful for creating efficient marketing plans.
What is a marketing plan?
A marketing plan is a document, or series of documents, that describes marketing objectives.
It specifies the organisational goals or objectives to be achieved, along with the mechanisms or strategies to make them a reality. In other words, an action plan with which you intend to achieve each of the organisation's objectives.
However, the marketing plan for SMEs must be designed with great care and precision, as this type of company has two factors against it: visibility and resources.
For a marketing plan to be adequate:
It should include realistic objectives; no pipe dreams.
Because they are realistic, they are measurable. There is often a risk of setting objectives that are very difficult to achieve or that are not measurable with the available KPIs.
The strategies applied should be easily renewed.
In addition, in such a planning you need to consider mechanisms of communication with the audience, either offline or online.
Why marketing plans are so important for SMEs
A marketing plan or marketing package is essential for every company, not only for large, established companies, but also for small ones.
It's like a navigator's logbook, indicating the course to follow or how to be prepared in case of difficulties.
Moreover, this plan is important because:
It measures the efficiency of the company before and during the implementation process. With this measurement, processes that have weaknesses are optimised, making them more efficient.
You will have more visibility for potential customers.
It becomes a guide for action, as the procedures and the achievement of objectives are not rigid but flexible.
As it is a plan, it's flexible in terms of establishing actions and strategies, which are tested or changed for new and better ones, all with the aim of achieving the objectives set faster and better.
It allows you to differentiate yourself from the competition. An important part of a marketing plan is to keep up to date with what the competition is doing. This way you can observe their actions, improving your own to make a bigger difference.
It improves the presentation of statistics, based on real and comparable actions.
What should a marketing plan for a small business have?
A fundamental part of any marketing plan is that it should be very simple. It doesn't have to be complicated just because it needs to explain a number of steps to make a plan like this.
On the contrary, it should be easy to read and interpret, so that any new employee can understand it and identify with your marketing actions, which are summarised in business, objectives and strategy.
1. The right audience
If a large company is always defining its "ideal customer", a small or medium-sized company should do it even more so.
Focus on discovering which buyer is right for your company's needs. It's best to create several buyer persona profiles.
To create this idealised model, you need to know everything about them; from their interests and tastes, to what makes them upset or sad, to what motivates them to buy, their intentions and how they make all those decisions.
Other aspects you can consider that are sure to help you:
Gender of the audience.
Social group or sector.
Places where they frequently are.
Brands they frequently use (in addition to the one you are supporting with the marketing plan).
How the place where they live is.
With all this information, you will know how to direct your messages to capture that much-needed attention. The more you know about your buyer, the better you will be able to achieve your goals.
Although, of course, this is an "ideal" customer. In many cases, you may not be able to answer all the questions you ask with precision, but they will shape the concept and help you direct your marketing strategy.
2. An analysis of the competition
Just as a definition of your ideal customer will help you to better target, knowing who your competition is and what they do will complement this information.
This is known as "market research". With a proper and respectful study of the competition, you will be able to know their reach, as well as what they can do for or against you.
But that's not all:
What does the competition focus on with their target.
What steps they take to approach their audience.
What is their appreciation of themselves.
Channels and platforms to market their services or products.
How they relate to their customers online and offline.
What their “Buyer Journey” is like.
These points will give you a closer look at how your competitors behave within the sector and it will be easier for you to make a difference.
3. The definition of marketing objectives
Now that you know not only the customer but also all those involved in the market segment where you work, it's now necessary to contextualise your marketing objectives.
Why contextualise? Because each objective can be achieved in different ways, each with different means. Therefore, each objective must be adapted to the real possibilities and needs.
When the company has objectives, your marketing purpose is to make them SMART. Don't forget: SMART. The famous strategy that makes them specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and with a time or deadline to achieve them.
To do this you will need to adapt the plan to goals that are achievable in reality, as well as measurable in terms of results.
The fulfilment of these goals should be achieved within a set timeframe, as time will also allow you to compare results.
Among the objectives that can stand out:
To have a greater representation in digital channels.
To make the audience know and feel closer to the brand.
To generate online communities.
To have more interaction with the audience.
4. The budget
In the conceptualisation of the marketing plan, above, you could see two of the difficulties that small and medium-sized enterprises face, one of them being financial resources.
And why is this a difficulty? Because companies of this size can see a package like this as a heavy investment.
Your plan should be as cost-oriented as possible, detailing the amount of resources to be allocated.
Also, remember that a marketing plan is not an expense but an investment, and well applied it will have excellent returns.
5. Definition of channels
The same goes for marketing and the way in which the audience is conquered.
This is defined as the channels of distribution of products or services.
With these channels, the company, through the marketing plan, will be able to discover what its audience uses frequently for content and where it is most active.
There is a large number of channels, both physical and digital, and each one allows the development of different objectives and has specific metrics to interpret the impact of the message.
Moreover, not all channels are suitable for all audiences.
What are the most important and interesting marketing channels? If we only talk about online channels, there is a great variety and they are easier to measure:
A website, where you can promote products or services with useful content.
Blogs, which are widely consulted and very popular with the public.
Social networks, which are currently very popular and widely used, as they focus on visual content and history as the centre of communication.
Video channels, an important strategy to improve communication with your audience; the most famous of all: YouTube
Email, which never goes out of fashion, and with which you can apply email marketing strategies. It is an inexpensive and always fashionable way to communicate and educate your leads.
And of course search engines through their pages. How can they be channels? Through the application of strategies such as the famous SEO optimisation.
But you can't forget the classics: press, radio and television. Although we know that these are high investment channels with little or no impact measurement.
6. Measurement and tracking of metrics
In many of the items above, you've read that measurement is essential.
A marketing plan, especially for small businesses, would not be possible without measuring results.
If you don't measure your actions, your planning won't have the expected results, you won't be able to interpret your audience and you won't understand the business you are involved in...
Therefore, we're going to tell you what you can use to measure and track your campaigns, strategies and others:
Social media metrics, which have either free or paid tools to measure the efficiency of your interaction through these channels. Examples of these programmes are: Hootsuite, Zoho, among others. But if you can't buy programmes, don't worry, because many social networks already have their own metrics ecosystem, especially for small businesses like the ones we are analysing on this occasion.
If you have a website or your business is developed as a site, Google Analytics is great for this purpose. However, there are also other alternatives, such as Piwick, Kissmetrics...
For email, you will need CRMs or relationship managers just because you need them. They are the star tool for designing email marketing campaigns and have everything you need to keep track of them. They have free or paid plans.
And if your strategies have offline channels, the classic surveys will allow you to know the efficiency of your marketing actions.
Are you ready to create your own small business marketing package?
As we told you above, with these tips it will be much easier for you to take control of your projects, because you will have at hand infallible advice to develop plans that give optimal results.
It's all a matter of putting your attention on what can deliver positive results, and focusing on improving the details that may not be working for you.
Design, plan and implement high-level strategies now.
Have any details slipped through our fingers? If so, let us know in the comments - we'd love to read about your favourite strategies.
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