When it comes to marketing your business, there is no timetable to adhere to, no rules in order to make things easier for yourself. You have to work on your own, at your own pace in order to get it right.

Generally though, you need to consider what you would like to achieve with your business in three years time, compared to where you would be if you didn’t employ a marketing scheme.

There are several possibilities when it comes to approaching budgeting however, there is no right or wrong answer. What works for one business may not work for another and vice versa.

Generally, the approach budgeting, including using a percentage of sales; the same spend as last year if the business is not new and therefore has no records to base this on; having similar budgets to spend as your competitors in similar fields; and of course, the ‘what can we afford’ approach.

In the words of the former public relations chief at Apple Computers, when it comes to factoring the marketing budget into the business plan, she recommends working from the bottom up. “If you can’t afford a marketing budget you have to ask yourself, how viable is your product?”

Top Tips

So, here are some top tips in order to make sure your marketing is successful. The general gist is to stay organised and focused. A muddled, half-hearted approach won’t cut it.

1) Firstly, start with clear and precise objectives – where do you want your business to be three years down the line?

2) What is your target market? Who do you aim to sell your product or services to?

3) Decide on your platform. This is what brand and values you want to transmit.

4) Do you have a promotion strategy? If so, make sure you have it planned out in good detail and that it is likely to work.

5) Set yourself a budget and make sure you don’t exceed this amount.

6) Devise yourself a schedule, again, all about being organised and making your you are on target.

7) Work out how you are going to measure your strategy. For example, this could be measuring increase in sales; coverage in the local press etc.

8) Make sure you monitor and evaluate your results. This is the only way you can make sure your marketing scheme is working, taking out the aspects that aren’t so successful, and possibly adding more resources to aspects that are working well.
What do you think?

Do you have any other suggestions to help small businesses market themselves effectively? Let us know here.

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