Being a small business owner is a rewarding journey, but it’s a tiresome one, too. With all the daily responsibilities you have, it’s easy to overlook the benefits of a solid marketing strategy. Even if you do spend time marketing - sending emails, posting to social media accounts, blogging - it’s possible that you’re going through the motions without having a clear purpose or direction.
To ensure that you are using your time wisely, we’ve put together the five components of a successful small business marketing strategy. Take the time to go through these components and how they apply to your business.
1. Your Target Customer
The first thing a marketing strategy needs is a clearly defined target customer. If you try selling to everybody, you end up selling to nobody. Be as specific as possible and address the qualities and characteristics you would find in your ideal customer. Some of the things to identify are:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Income
- Hobbies
- Shopping preferences
- Married/single
- With children/without children
- Time spent online
2. Your Category
Your category is a short description of your business. Keep it simple - you don’t need to overcomplicate your category by adding service or product names. For example, if you own a pizza place, your category might be “fresh Italian pizza.” If you run a daycare center, your category might be, “loving daycare provider in Missouri.” The purpose of having a category is so that people can explain what your business does in a few simple words.
3. Your Unique Selling Proposition
Your unique selling point (USP) highlights what makes your company different. It should focus on what your product delivers to the target customer - not a list of features. Think about how your service helps people to have better lives. Are they able to earn more money? Save more time? Be more efficient? At WSI Star Web, we don’t just offer digital marketing services. We help clients increase their visibility, gain more customers and increase sales.
4. Your Competitors
Consumers will almost always compare your product to your competitors’. To ensure that you're a step ahead, do some research on who your competitors are. How can you compete against them? It’s best to find something that your product can do that theirs can’t. Highlight the importance of this feature and what could happen by not having it.
5. Your Key Benefits
What are the things you do differently and better? Make a list and rank each item on this list. When you have the top two or three things that you do best, include them in your sales pitch and on your website. Again, don’t over complicate this, as people want a general idea of what makes you different.
Are you just starting out with a small business marketing strategy? Let WSI Star Web Solutions give you a hand! We frequently work with small businesses and help them jumpstart their marketing strategies. Our only word of caution - be prepared for more traffic and sales!