Practical Marketing Essentials for SMEs

The missing link between having a great product or service and earning great profits is also one of the hardest to get right: effective marketing. Without a reliable way to get your message out to your potential clients and customers, chances are your small business or medium sized enterprise will struggle to earn the revenue it deserves.

So here are some tested marketing tips that your business can use to get more customers in the door.

Set Your Goals

Before you start printing flyers or setting up a Facebook page for your business, you need to really understand what it is you want from your marketing. That includes how many people you want to reach in a set time, like every week or month, how many of those people you think will contact you (ideally) and of course, how much you are willing to spend.

In this way, you can simply and quickly get some idea of measurable goals that are also realistic – and realize that you probably won’t be able to get your business in front of 10,000 people in your area with a budget of $100.

If you have no idea how to begin planning, researching on the internet about advertising rates for local newspapers and radio is a good place to start.

Get Personal

Research shows that people are more likely to respond to marketing material when they feel it has been personalized to them. For example, a real estate agent will get many more replies when they include the greeting “Dear Resident of St Kilda” rather than “Dear Homeowner” on letterbox communications.

Of course, a greeting such as “Dear Resident of Coolmore Street” will be more effective again. This approach can take more time, but it is well worth it when it comes to getting a response from those you are trying to start a conversation with.

Be Clear

No matter how funny, clever, insightful or personal a piece of marketing is, it will fail if it does not contain the most important thing: a call to action. Continuing our real estate example, the call to action might be “call us today for an obligation free home value appraisal”.

A clear direction about what you want to the target of your marketing to do is essential, otherwise you might have spent a lot of time and money for no reward.

Have a Roadmap

The goal for any piece of marketing is a new inquiry from a new potential customer. But that is not the end result. You should have a process in place that tells your employees about your current marketing campaigns and how they should respond if they get a call as a result of it. You could also bolster this by authorizing employees to offer additional discounts or incentives to new customers to help “close the deal”.

It can be quite awkward for a new customer if they start the phone call or interaction with “I saw your flyer / ad in the paper / heard your radio commercial” and they are met with blank looks. You want your potential customers first interaction with you to be a positive one, and this awkwardness is easily avoided.

To find out how we can help you plan for the future through clear, professional and tailored financial advice, simply give the Scott Partners team a call and book an appointment with one of our friendly consultants!