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5 Simple Solutions to the Most Common Marketing Issues for Small/Medium Businesses
It's difficult to balance all of the activities required to operate a small/medium-sized business, and unfortunately, marketing is commonly pushed aside in favor of more short term, pressing deadlines. The challenge of staying on track may seem overwhelming to many owners and managers, but they are usually missing just a little bit of organization. Here are 5 simple solutions to help you fight the 5 biggest problems that we see over and over again with small- and medium-sized businesses.
1. Keep Your Planning Simple
Problem -
Anyone who has ever tried to tackle a formal marketing plan can tell you it's no simple task. (click here for a sample plan from quickMBA.com) It can literally take months of constant work to develop a formal plan from scratch, and then keeping it up to date can be a full time job. Because most businesses find the formal plan daunting, they do nothing instead.
Solution -
Skip parts. Yes, I am actually advocating that you skip parts. While it is no doubt a great thing to have the formal plan, a portion of a plan is better than none at all. Jump ahead. If you know your competitive landscape skip it. If you can think your way through a SWOT analysis skip it. Unless you need a written plan to communicate these items to multiple employees, a board or the bank, what's in your head will do just fine. You can always go back and add bits and pieces as time permits.
2. Hold Someone Accountable
Problem -
Most small businesses don’t have a dedicated person whose sole responsibility is marketing. Most effective marketing activities require long term planning and implementation, so it isn't a surprise that more urgent, daily deadlines and tasks get put in front of marketing.
Solution -
Make one employee responsible for completing your marketing tasks, and write meetings and reports into their job description. Then schedule regular meeting times and activities once/month (or once/week if you can manage) and require regular reports to a manager (or even to yourself). Simply filling out a one page "report" once a month will help ensure that your activities move forward on a regular basis.
3. Stay Focused on Your Goals
Problem -
Rather than thinking through basic goals, most businesses shoot from the hip and jump on marketing activities as they come up ( or more accurately, as the sales reps call). The result is onesy-twosy advertising that may seem great in the short term, but it costs more and is less effective in the long term. Start to view these great “opportunities” for what they actually are - distractions.
Solution
This problem requires the most time up front, and should be tackled once a year (at least).
There are five steps:
1) Write down the 3 most important goals for the business and set them aside.
2) Write down each product/service on its own sheet.
3) Brainstorm various target markets for each product/service.
4) Brainstorm various activities for each target market.
5) Now, revisit the goals and determine which of the marketing activates is/are the most important.
The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate how easy it is to get sidetracked. Most people will spend a great deal more time on activities that interest them most or activities that are easiest. But only in rare instances are those items the most important. It is critically important to keep your marketing activities checked against your goals.
4. Record Your Current Activities
Problem -
Most businesses don't have a written plan and don't track any of their marketing activities. The result is that they must reinvent the wheel every month and every year. If your business is already operating, the basis of a marketing plan is right in front of you!
Solution -
Just start "recording". Keep a one-page list of opportunities that you undertake. Write down the date, the activity, an estimate of the time & money spent, and any results that you are able to track. Keep it simple so that you actually do it, and remember to keep it separate from "ideas" and "brainstorming sessions".
If you write down everything that you do for an entire year, you have the basis of your marketing plan. With just this much information, you can begin to plan ahead, budget, and anticipate the next year. Also, don't forget to write down free and unplanned marketing opportunities like PR, sponsorships or recognition for an award. You might see that certain unplanned activities paid off more than those that were planned.
5. Use Evaluation to Plan Ahead
Problem -
Most small businesses don't have any kind of formal evaluation and planning procedures. Without assessment, decision-making is typically based on emotional reactions. Was the newsletter effective? Well, it took a long time! Should we do the event again next year? Well, everyone seemed to enjoy it! Without tracking, there is no way to accurately judge the effectiveness of your marketing activities.
Solution -
An annual review of previous year's activities along with annual goal setting will help set the stage for the next year's planning. This can be very simple. If you’ve already been recording activities simply give each activity a letter grade (A-F) for its effectiveness. Make a list of your most successful activities, and put them on the calendar for the upcoming year.
You want your marketing efforts to be consistent and effective. The ideal situation is a full time, dedicated employee or outsourced firm that can be held accountable for your marketing activities, but not all businesses feel that they can afford that luxury. If you can take a minimal amount of time to get your marketing efforts scheduled and recorded, you will quickly see results that might lead you to take your marketing even more seriously. Rather than setting your sights on the ultimate, formal plan, start small and grow with each success. When you see the real dollar results, you will find it in the budget to outsource or hire for your marketing needs.
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