Market Your Business

The marketing section of your business plan remains second in importance to the operations section. As we discussed last week, without sales and marketing you make no money, but without operations you have no business. Today, and for the next 3 weeks, we will discuss how to generate revenues and sales through good marketing plans.

Sharon’s Story

Sharon and her partner opened the perfect toy store. They envisioned selling delightfully unique toys with an old world feel of quality and fun. They shopped wholesalers from around the world to find just the right toys. They leased the perfect location on one of the busiest roads in town. Their store shared a strip mall with a very popular grocery store, several restaurants, and a health spa that attracted people who would buy high-end, quality toys. They decorated their store beautifully to highlight and exhibit their fine toys.

Unfortunately, they had not paid as much attention to their marketing plan. As Sharon shares today “We proved that if you build it, they will not automatically come". Sharon and her partner could not attract the people to come see the beautiful toys in the delightful store they built. Many of the people who came to look loved what they saw, but did not buy enough toys to break even. The few clients that bought toys did not come back to the store or tell others about it sufficiently to maintain sales. While the community Sharon chose possessed enough potential clients, with sufficient wealth for fine toys, they population did not spend money well. As one marketing expert commented “You don’t do a ‘free pie’ coupon in that community. All they only order the free pie”.

Sharon and her partner tried lots of promotions and sales. Nothing generated the traffic to the store they needed. All too soon, this perfect toy store closed its doors. The community lost a wonderful business that could have delighted thousands.

Marketing Defined

Multitudes of definitions exist for the concept of marketing. Some simple. Some complex. I prefer this one. “Marketing is the process of identifying, attracting, converting, and retaining people to your product or service”.

• Identifying=Market Research. We discussed this in my “Can Your Business Succeed” and “Who is My Current or Potential Client” blogs. The better you research your market including clients, the better you can deliver what they want.
• Attracting=Bringing Clients to Your Product or Service. You must devise the right marketing message first. Then, you use a variety of methods to attract clients: advertising, cross-promotions, public relations, client referral, coupons, mailings, and more. Too many business implement methods before they create the right message for their marketing. As a result, they spend a lot of time, money, and effort broadcasting a message that does not attract the people they want,
• Converting=Sales.  While many marketing experts and companies separate sales from marketing. Others, including me, prefer to keep them together. We view sales as part of the marketing process, not a separate function. Marketing success can only be measured by sales.
• Retaining=Clients Returning to Purchase More. Studies prove it costs less to retain a client than to create one. Yet, too many business owners neglect their existing clients to attract new ones. You will not make this mistake after following our concepts.

Sources of Marketing Help

As always, the SBA, SCORE, and SBDC’s offer training, coaching, and materials to help you market your company. Excellent books also offer sound ideas and share best practices. I share but a few: Seth Godin’s many books include the classic Purple Cow. Free Prize Inside, Permission Marketing and others. In addition, I enjoyed Al Ries and Jack Trout’s books The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, and The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. In addition, Paco Underhill’s works including Why We Buy gives great insight into why your clients make retail and other purchases. Finally, I really resonate with Bryan Walden Pope’s plan The 7Pillars of Successful Marketing. I find they provide a comprehensive framework for million dollar marketing for much less.

The marketing section of your business plan remains crucial to your success. Marketing (which includes sales) remains the only profit center of your business. Until you attract, convert, and retain clients to your product or service, you make no money. For that reason, we will spend several weeks on this section.

We will examine The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing next week.

Here’s wishing you more money and better living