Failing to plan is planning to fail. I hate that business cliché, mostly because it’s true. Unplanned marketing activity is particularly likely to see a resounding failure, and an expensive one too.
However, putting together a marketing plan for a small business is not rocket science. Clarify your thinking as well as getting a profitable platform for your company by beginning with some dos and don’ts.
• Do set a budget; don’t start with it.
• Do have a set of aims and targets, expressed numerically; don’t say “as much as we can get”.
• Do specify who is going to fulfil each part of the plan; don’t drop it all on one person.
• Do aim to negotiate and cut out waste; don’t just go for the cheapest option.
• Do agree targets with staff; don’t force the plan on anyone.
Then ask yourself some key questions. How many sales did you make last year? What are the maximum sales you could achieve? What would be a realistic target between those two figures, or could you grow the staff to fulfil the higher figure?
Can you grow sales of high margin product to raise profitability without increasing unit sales level? If so, by how much? How many additional customers do you need to recruit to achieve the uplift? How many are available in your existing trading area? What added costs will be borne if you extend that area?
Do you have the sales skills to fulfil your target? What will it cost to solve any shortcomings?
These are the toughest questions to answer. Until you have, it’s all theoretical. My recommendation not to start with a budget stems from this - until you’ve defined your targets, you don’t know what you need to spend to achieve them. Maybe you don’t need to spend as much as you first thought, or maybe you need to spend more.
The best tip for any small business is to use existing resources and any low-cost or even no-cost solutions, but don’t expect to get away with zero expenditure. Marketing spend looks like a very attractive cost to cut in tough times, but that has negative results - and quickly. Companies that thrive in hard times often increase their marketing (which they may achieve without spending more) and in the process their “share of shout” rises.
So among those no-cost and low-cost techniques, you can find some major value. Work email harder, but be clever about it. A contact of mine sends emails to new enquirers every day for a month. Having been on the receiving end, I can promise it wasn’t annoying because each mail was different, pertinent and interesting. Follow that route.
But then your plan needs to commit money to the business. What techniques do you focus on? This is a matter of personal preference, as well as considering what works. If, for instance, you hate all aspects of direct mail when you’re on the receiving end, you’re not going to use it enthusiastically yourself.
I recommend a regular appearance in the trade press or a local newspaper. This could be every week, but not necessarily. A bigger, better ad once a month is as likely to elicit response and will cost less overall. Talk to the advertising sales manager and drive a hard bargain - you plan to be a regular customer. Find out if they have a feature on relevant topics in the pipeline and make sure you’re in it. Ask about special positions; they’re more expensive because they work better.
Think about Yellow Pages. When people are looking for a supplier - either private individuals or businesses - they very often start here. Take a big advert in colour and aim to dominate the relevant section of your local book. Have the ad produced professionally - the ones that aren’t say something negative about a business.
I’ve read that direct mail is dying thanks to digital alternatives. My postman disagrees. But planning direct mail is tougher than press media. Cost in professional design and print, and remember to factor in spend on postage and envelopes and to check mailing costs.
If you take all of these things into consideration, it should create a strong platform on which to build your marketing plan and promote your business.
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