Small business owners have difficulty finding effective simple marketing techniques - usually because the 'simple' isn't! As usual, that doesn't become clear to you until after you've bought to 'simple' tools. Simple and easy isn't all of the time. Many business owners understand that marketing is critical to successful business. It's knowing how to find effective marketing tools and techniques.
It's very basic, really. Marketing is: 1. Finding a target audience. 2. Finding out what the target audience wants 3. Giving them what it is that they say they want
The benefits of marketing escapes many new and small businesses. I was guilty of not knowing and it cost me a lot of stress and a lot of money lost. Like many new businesses, I did it backwards: instead of finding a target audience, finding what it is they want and giving it to them, I started a business and then tried to find customers.
Marketing 101 suggests that you find your audience before you develop products and services. The beauty of this gem is that it actually helps you to find out from future customers what they want and how much they are willing to pay. It simply doesn't get much easier than that - of course, once you know!
In a nutshell, that is what defines good marketing. Understanding why to market is clear to understand. Keeping your name in front of your customers builds their familiarity with you. When we buy from McDonald's, Nike, Microsoft, etc. we usually do so due to familiarity. Such large businesses know the what, the why and the how of marketing.
Big business spends hundreds of millions of dollars on their marketing research. Obviously, small businesses dont have the advantage of hundreds of millions. But, we do have the advantage of using all of the high priced research of big business. For example, I study and replicate the marketing strategies of McDonalds in my small business efforts.
My small business marketing messages are upbeat, consistent and exciting. McDonald's doesn't even tell us that they sell hamburgers. Almost all of their marketing messages offer to "help" us (not feed us). Such simple marketing techniques have made them the #1 hamburger seller in the world.
Learning and knowing the basics of marketing is critical to successful marketing. Being clear on the what and the why of marketing is another part of the small learning curve. Knowing how to market is what I consider the most critical component of successful marketing.
Effective simple marketing techniques have been hard for small businesses to find and to trust. But, if I have any advice to offer small business owners to avoid stress and embarrassment, I strongly urge them to do all that they can to learn the 'how' of simple marketing techniques.
Once again, I modeled my marketing efforts after McDonalds. There is a marketing rule that says customers must see your marketing message seven to nine times before they make a decision to buy. A business will have to promote their marketing message 27 times in order for their potential customers to see the messages seven to nine times.
Of course, the number of times of message promotion varies from business to business. The lesson here is the constant and consistent promotion of your marketing message. Building relationships with your customers and potential customers improve with such marketing messaging. This is a basic marketing technique that works with any size business.
Marketing basics are just that: basic. But, it is critically important for every business owner to clearly recognize the need for marketing. And they must also know that effective marketing is not always the most costly marketing. Once you know the basics, for example, you can test all of the hyped easy-to-use simple marketing tools and know whether it will work for you or not.
Don't get confused about marketing and how simple it is to learn. Visit Kalem's site about simple marketing ideas before you start your business and you are guaranteed not to lose the money that so many small business owners do before they start. Go here to visit and learn simple marketing techniques will make the difference in your business.
Orignal From: The 3 Basics of Marketing and Simple Marketing Tools
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