How many marketing wins did you record in the last 12 months? How many losses? Are you even keeping score? Most small businesses don’t. They only find out what the score is when it’s too late. Every sporting contest and game has some sort of scoring system. In business, money is it! Not market share or web traffic or appointments booked…it’s the revenue you generate from your marketing and sales activities. Everything else is what you do to reach the goal line and score. First, let’s look at what at the difference between a win and a loss in marketing game. Simply put, a win is when you generate more revenue on a marketing play that you spend to execute it. A loss occurs when you spend more to execute your play than you take in. A marketing play is any organized communication tactic you launch to generate a response from your market. This can be in the form of a direct mail letter, a post card, an email blast, a newspaper ad, or a promotional event you held. To be a valid marketing play, the tactic must have the goal of eliciting a response from the target market. Things like business cards, brochures and websites are only supportive elements of the marketing plays because they don’t directly sell to the prospective viewer. They are passive in nature and only there for communicating an image. Remember, scoring is only determined by the money you bring in. The difference between and “W” and an “L” may seem obvious. You want to have more wins than losses. Anything else and you are soon out of business! What's The Score Of Your Marketing Game Tracking your wins and losses is easy and takes very little effort. If you haven’t been keep score you are missing a value component of your marketing arsenal. Measuring the results of any of your marketing is crucial. As a small company, you don’t have the massive budget of a GM, Coke, or Budweiser. These companies throw around dollars and have very little actual practical data that tells their marketing plays actual work. To keep score, all you need to is to evaluate a marketing play that you executed recently. Add up the total gross sales that resulted from the play. Next, add up the total cost of the marketing play including the design, production, delivery, and cost of goods that you sold. Then subtract the costs from the sales for your total of the revenue generated.
If it is a positive number, you have earned yourself a Marketing Win!
If it is a negative result, you unfortunately have a Marketing Loss.
However, even if you experience a marketing loss, you can still gather
very valuable information. It’s similar to any game; a loss is an opportunity
to learn from your mistakes. Successful teams and entrepreneurs examine
what didn’t work as carefully as what did work. The key is to make adjustments
for the next marketing play you will execute.
Need to learn how to play the small business
marketing game?
Click here! Winning the Game Requires Mastering the Fundamentals Every game has fundamentals that must be mastered. In baseball, it’s hit, throw, run, and catch. Basketball requires you to dribble, pass, shoot and rebound. The game of football demands you to run, throw, catch, block, tackle, and kick. Each game has its unique rules and playing philosophies. Marketing is no different. Small business marketing looks easy when it's done well. You probably see this in your marketplace all the time. One of your key competitor's marketing is impressive and they seem to get more business than you. It makes you feel envious and think, 'Why does their marketing work and mine doesn't?' The answer is not what they are doing; it's what you're not doing...marketing clearly and consistently. The good news is that effective marketing doesn't require some magical potion or a mysterious formula. All it takes is an understanding some fundamental concepts, a few sound marketing strategies, and continuous execution of a plan. Here are some key concepts that you must know. Small business marketing...
Think of Marketing as a Must-Win Game Let me tell you the one thing I know about you ---the fact that you are an entrepreneur means that you are competitive. Like most small business owners, you love a good challenge and excel at the games you play. You takes risks and you hate to lose. Now, take that same passion and zeal and translate it into your small business marketing. When you think about it, marketing is a must-win game you play everyday. Just like any game you have an objective - attracting prospects; a playing field - your marketplace; opponents - your competition; and scoring plays - making a sale. Winning only comes when you score more sales than your competitors! Planning, strategy, execution, commitment and perseverance are fundamentals that games and marketing share. If you lack in any of these skills you will not reach your full entrepreneurial potential. Many outstanding products and services have been abandoned because companies didn't understand that you must compete to win the marketing game. Having quality products and superior service are extremely important, but if nobody knows about them how can they buy them? For most small business owners the biggest problem is not knowing how to produce what they sell, it's attracting qualified prospects that will buy. As a marketing coach, I have found that marketing your small business is the only way to overcome this problem and achieve long-lasting success. But you are already aware of this because you're actively searching for marketing ideas and resources and found this site! The only solution is to educate yourself about marketing, create and follow a solid plan and to work on your marketing everyday. Ben Franklin once said, “There are two ways to acquire wisdom; you can either buy it or borrow it. By buying it, you pay full price in terms of time and cost to learn the lessons you need to learn. By borrowing it, you go to those men and women who have already paid the price to learn the lessons and get their wisdom from them.” You have come to the right place to increase your wisdom! As a marketing coach I have studied and implemented the best marketing practices of all those who have paid the "full price."
Need to learn how to play the small business marketing game? Click here! What results you can expect when you play to win? Only dictating the game on your terms! This means the competition is following you and you set the tone of the game. You are the market leader and they become the envious follower.
Build Your Marketing on
Many small business owners fail at marketing because they simply don't have a clue what they are doing. They are excellent at producing and delivering their products and services but they don't know how to communicate why someone should buy it. A lack of understanding of the fundamentals of marketing is a big reason entrepreneurs fall short. Frequently, they will copy the marketing of others in their industry because they believe that' what works. Or, they try hit-or-miss marketing by placing poorly designed ads in the yellow pages or their local newspaper hoping for a response. This usually fails miserably because they have no strategy or plan in place to test or measure their marketing investment. When they get no results they lose faith in the marketing process. Simply, getting listed in the yellow pages or running a one-time newspaper ad is not marketing; it's throwing away money. Here is a partial list of the fundamentals you must learn to become successful at small business marketing:
To understand these marketing fundamentals better, download your FREE copy of "7 Winning Marketing Strategies to Brand Your Business" by clicking here.
Successful Small
Business Marketing is What is your current branding strategy? Don't think you have a brand? Guess again! Your company already has an established a brand.
Your brand began the moment you registered your company name and opened the doors for business. From that point on anyone who has come in contact with your company has experienced your brand. For better or worse, you are constantly projecting who you are, what you do, and what value you offer. Every time someone sees your logo, hears your name, or reads your message they are forming an impression about you.
Yes, dear entrepreneur, your business is always being judged!
You small business branding takes place all the time! You may not be marketing all the time, but you are perpetually branding your business by your appearance, attitudes, actions, and interactions with the market.
Many marketing "experts" believe that branding is not necessary for a small business. They think that branding is only needed to create an "image" for a business. They couldn't be more mistaken.
Here is a concept you must understand: The purpose of branding is to create sales for your business! If your branding doesn't lead to sales your wasting your marketing dollars.
Need to know more about the relationship
between branding and marketing, learn more by clicking
here.
Develop a Small Business Marketing Plan to Win Creating a small business marketing plan is one of the most crucial elements of your success. A "winging it" strategy is a dangerous method of marketing your business. When you create a marketing plan you will be able to compete at a high level. You will be entering the game fully prepared and ready to battle. A marketing plan is not a bunch of slick jargon stuck in a binder which collects dust on a shelf. It's the guide you use to direct all of your strategies and the plays you use to execute to grow your small business. Your odds of winning the game significantly improve when you take the time to create a plan. It's not that difficult and it doesn't need to be complicated. Not sure how to create a marketing plan? Find ideas, techniques, and samples here.
Marketing Strategy: Your Key to Victory
On a scale
of one to ten, having a good business
What's your marketing strategy to brand and market your business? Are you aggressively taking on your competitors? Or, are you more stealth by marketing under the radar? Do you have a competitive advantage which you can exploit? Or, does your competition have a weakness that opens the door of opportunity for you? Your strategic plan needs to consider all of the factors, conditions and elements your marketing will face. When successfully implemented within your plan, you marketing strategy will be the force that helps you win the game. Learn powerful and effective small business marketing strategies by click this link.
Need a Marketing Expert to Help Guide You? Like I state before, most businesses fail because they simply don't market themselves because they don't know how. Where do you stand at this present moment? Is you small business marketing performing for you and generating profits? Is it bringing you the quality prospects that you need to be successful? Do you have a marketing plan in action and are your marketing strategies resulting into sales? My goal is to help as many entrepreneurs as possible to market their small business successfully and win their game. As a marketing coach, I can teach you how to effectively brand and market your business. I believe in creating only marketing that attracts qualified prospects, communicates your unique value, and converts them to loyal, buying clients. I coach you through the process by using proven marketing strategies and techniques. My approach is not "magical" or full of "secrets", only sound marketing principles that you can easily implement into your daily business activities. When we working together, we'll develop a dynamic, systematic marketing program that will sell more of your products and services and position you as a market leader. Here's only a portion of what you will learn ....
The bottom line is: you will learn how to market your business to make more profits! Isn't this something that your business needs? I look forward to hearing
from you soon! Ron Abbott, P.S. I should also mention, here at Rabbott Creative, 95% of our business comes from client referrals. Your satisfaction with our work is our #1 priority, and I personally guarantee that you will receive great value from everything you get from me! P.P.S. Since I look into every aspect of your marketing, I can do ONLY a handful of sessions each week. So don't delay...
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"Most
small businesses fail because they simply do nothing to market themselves!
marketing
strategy rates about a fifteen! 