How to Market Your Business - Getting Customers to Come to You

You have the best product, the best ideas, the best employees, and you are the best business owner in the whole universe!  You know what?  You still need a marketing strategy to succeed.

A marketing strategy is a road map for growing your business.  You need to know where you want to go, where you are now, and how you are getting there.  A well put together marketing strategy will tell you what you need to do and even what obstacles you may be able to circumvent. A marketing strategy will tell you the important information you need to know to get customers, set your pricing at the optimal level, who competition is, and other pertinent information to gain access to the market of people your are trying to reach.  A marketing strategy will help your business prosper by answering the questions as to who your buyers are, where they are, what  needs your product or service fills, why they need your product or service, how to appeal to them.  Knowing your customers is the way you will make your business grow. By attracting them to buy from you in the most cost efficient ways, you will see more profits and greater satisfaction from your efforts

So the first question you want to ask yourself as you create products and services that will appeal to your prospective customers is : What is the unfulfilled need that your business offers. When you fill the needs of your customers they will flock to buy from you. The topic of marketing is a very big topic and covers many aspects of business. For now we will be covering just an overview. Specifics of marketing can be found in other articles I have written.

Important things to know about marketing

• · marketing is continuous and ongoing forever in your business
• · Get to know your customer
• · focus on the customer
• · does the location of your business support your business?
• · can you reach and market your business to a specific group of customers?

Marketing to a specific group of people is called niche marketing. An example of niche marketing may be applied to a business that sells sneakers. They may want to market their sneakers to a particular buyer, let’s say people who are runners. This company would target their advertising, and sneaker design to runners, as opposed to people who play basketball. A smaller, more targeted niche may even be runners who are under 24 years old.

There are several steps to achieving niche marketing:

A.    describe your customer – be as descriptive as possible – where do they live – what are they like – how old are they – are they male or female – what is their income level
The more you clarify and zero in on who your customer is, the easier it becomes to find them, to satisfy their wants and needs and to advertise to them.

B.     Always try to look at your business from your customers point of view. You will make more money and get more business when you understand the needs of your customers. Identify what their desires are by researching as much as you can about who would be buying your product or service.  Know their wants and needs and make sure your business fills their concerns and desires.

C.     Formulate your ideas to fit the needs of the people who will be patronizing you.  Look at the short and long term needs of your customers and of your business.  Blend the answers so that your business can satisfy the needs of both your consumer, and your business. It is very important that your business fit the needs of its customers.  This will have a great impact on your profits and on your competitive advantage against other companies in the marketplace.

D.    Evaluate the obstacles you can anticipate.  If the obstacles seem like hurdles and you may not be able to get beyond them, you may want to re-assess the direction of your business. Make sure your niche market is big enough so that you can make a profit.  If your niche market is too small, the cost of doing business, may not yield enough profits.

E.     Sometimes it is advisable to test market your product before you set it all up.  Test marketing may involve giving away  something free involving your business, so you can get a good idea if you your product or service will be a success.

F.      Bring your product to market!  Now you are ready to be in the real world.  As you begin your business, as your business grows, and as your business matures, these steps will be continually at work, so that you keep your “eye on the ball” – your customer’s needs.

Periodically, perhaps every 4 or 6 months, ask yourself these questions:

• · Who is your customer?
• · Who is not your customer?
• · Does your product or service satisfy the needs of your customers?
• · How can you improve on this?
• · What is your competition doing?
• · Are you appealing to the right market?
• · What are the trends going on within the niche market you are attracting?
• · Are there areas you can expand into?
• · Are you passionate about what you are doing?
• · Compare where you are, to where you expected to be

Most of your efforts in thinking about consumers who will be purchasing from your business could be concentrated on making sure you know what is important to the people who buy from you. Your advertising efforts can be aimed at educating prospective buyers about why they should buy from you, and why you are better serving their needs than the competition.

The objective of your marketing strategy is to get the users of your product or service to choose you over all the other businesses that are trying to attract the same people as you are. The basics of your marketing strategy is to know why consumers would choose you. What can you offer them, and how will you build a relationship over the long term with them?

A well thought out marketing strategy will bring greater prosperity to you and your business.