Components of Marketing Plan for Small Business and Entrepreneurs
As I did further research on putting together a Marketing Plan for my business I found a great deal of information on the topic. A point that was immediately evident is that whether you are marketing a service or product one of your biggest challenges is to determine how you will reach your customers.
One publication recommended doing a study of what your competition is doing since they would already have done the research to find out what works best.
This reminds me of a study I did several years ago for a business project, which showed that two of the largest national hardware stores in the United States are often built in close proximity to each other. The major chain built a store in an area only after careful study of the demographics, etc. The other chain took advantage of that research and built a store in the area as well.
The following are some offline and online marketing methods that can create growth in your business:
- Blogging
- Article Marketing
- Social Media
- Affiliate Marketing
- Teleseminars
- Press Releases
- Printed Materials – business cards, brochures, and flyers
- Newsletters
- Networking – Attending local events, like the Chamber of Commerce and other networking events in your community
- Customer Service
- Word-of-mouth
- Telephone
The last three are, in my opinion, the most important marketing strategies. Customer service or customer satisfaction means that you take the time to identify the needs of your customers, whether they are online or offline, and satisfy those needs. The result is loyal customers. When you have loyal customers they will spread the word about your business and are willing return to do business with you time and again. It’s much easier to get people to know, like and trust you when they’ve been referred to you by people who already do.
So, which of these will be in your Marketing Plan? My Marketing Plan will primarily focus on Customer Service, Blogging, Article Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Social Media, and Teleseminars.
Many people scoff at the idea of writing things down. However, if it’s not in writing on your computer or on a hard copy, how will you keep track? My recommendation is: Don’t wait until June 1st. Take the time to make a schedule now of how many times per week you will engage in a particular task and set accountability with yourself that you will not go to bed until that specific task is done. While you’re at it, set a time limit. It’s too easy to go on Facebook or Twitter and spend an hour or more.
I’d love to hear about your Marketing Plan. If I can provide you with additional information, please send me a message in the Comments, a DM on Twitter, or a message on Facebook.
Yvonne, your list of marketing strategies is right on the money!
And most importantly, I love how you’ve pointed out the marketing methods YOU are using and it’s apparent you haven’t selected ALL of these methods. I think it’s smart to choose two or three of them (if you’re just starting your entrepreneurial journey) and stick with them until you’ve mastered them and measured your results. After that, you can start adding more methods to your marketing plan.
I find that some entrepreneurs try to do too many things at once and, ultimately, get nothing in return for their efforts. Plus it’s important to choose marketing platforms you’re most comfortable with. Otherwise, you’ll get frustrated and lose your desire to continue on.
Blogging is my all-time favorite platform and I also enjoy affiliate marketing and social media marketing.
Great info here!
1Melanie
Thank you, Melanie, for sharing the marketing methods that you use and I know that the success you’ve experienced so far is due to your excellent use of these strategies. Your blog posts are a delight to read.
2All good strategies that you list Yvonne. Marketing methods, especially now that social media platforms play a huge factor, must have a plan as you point out.
I agree with Melanie to focus in and not try to do everything at the same time. Although, testing different marketing methods is good marketing sense, it can become overwhelming and leave you doing to many things at once and not getting any one thing accomplished!
I enjoy social media marketing, blogging, article marketing and now I am starting to get into video marketing.
Appreciate you sharing your thoughts, advice and tips Yvonne!
3Ditto, Yvonne, and I can hardly wait till your fabulous customer service e-book comes out!
And when it does …
Please let me know what I can do to share your brilliance with my fans, friends, and followers. Be more than happy to spread the word around in the marketplace.
Hugs!
4Melanie
I can tell you, if I don’t write my plan down, I’ll never work it! And, I won’t be able to track my success. That’s important to me too.
I use all the marketing tools you suggest but not all of them every day. One of my favorites is forum marketing. I find that I can engage in a forum rather quickly and build the “know, like, and trust” over a short period of time. I’m also participating in groups more. That’s another cool place to get known pretty rapidly and drive traffic to my offers.
As usual, fantastic post with an awesome list of “what to do’s”!!
5One thing I found that works with all new businesses is to have them understand that they are dealing with logical prospects. For many business owners, they never have customers – people who regularly buy or refer. And some do not want regular customers. So your list is great but look also at your efforts in promotion in terms of the buying cycles for your product or service.
6And always remember that Business is people and people is business.
There is always so much to do, Lynn. I agree we need to test and see which ones produce the best results and give those our main focus, but we have to embrace all aspects. For me, I’d stopped doing Teleseminars but I appreciate that is a very important part of the equation.
You mentioned videos… and I talked about making videos so much that my daughters and their husbands gave me a lovely camera with HD video capability. I haven’t done one yet and I realize that I do not have that on my plan either, so thanks for the reminder. 🙂
7Thank you, Melanie, and I know I can count on you. I’m going to write a post about my new site, but I thought I’d share this information here not just for you, but for anyone who receives these comments.
I’ve launched a new site at http://qualitycustomersatisfaction.com to build a community around customer service and customer satisfaction. Following my decision to enhance the product by adding more information, graphics, etc. I had a discussion with my Mentor. I was reminded of the importance of building a list (one of Lynn Brown’s recent post), or as I like to think of it as a community around that topic. It’s a work in progress, but I’d love to invite you to visit the page and be part of my customer service/customer satisfaction community.
The point is that if you are creating a product, it’s recommended that you build a list in the interim. As Martha said in a comment, her list is gold.
8I’m with you on that. I’m lost without something in writing. Thank you for mentioning forums, Martha. I did not have that in my post, but I do have it on my new Plan I’ve been working on to start June off on the right track. Like you, I don’t attempt to do all everyday. Each of us has to see what works best. I’d left off videos and that’s important, but until I get that organized I’ve scheduled a CinchCast at least three times per week.
9Good point on the buying cycles for products and services, Roberta, but I have a question. If they don’t have or want customers, who is the target of their marketing? And perhaps because customer satisfaction is so important to me, why would they not want to have repeat customers? I’d love to ask you to expand a little more on this point. Thank you for sharing.
10Your customer satisfaction opt in page looks great, Yvonne! Thanks for sharing it with us. And, Yes! Building a list of prospects is essential.
Best of success to you with this endeavor! I know you have a big mound of customer service experience under your belt. And what’s more, providing others with the opportunity to learn from you is awesome. 🙂
11Thank you Melanie for your kind comments. I’m really looking forward to having some fun with this site. I’d love to have you as a Guest Blogger because you demonstrate so well how to communicate with others and create a community.
12Yvonne – count me in!
I would jump at the chance to craft a guest post for you. 🙂
Thank You!
13Melanie
Thank you, Melanie. Hugs and warm appreciation for your support.
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