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There is no more important time in the lifecycle of a small business than at start-up when marketing strategies have to be in place and executed. Many view marketing as an optional application of resources. But it is critical because this activity positions the brand in the mind of buyers so they understand and believe what the brand can do for them to solve problems or address issues. It starts the sales cycle.
Philip Kotler at Northwestern University defined marketing as everything that an organizations does from the time it perceives the need for a product or service to position itself in the mind of buyers so they see no suitable substitute. An ice cream shop opened in our community last season. There are at least five other purveyors of ice cream within two miles.
They needed to communicate with potential buyers why they should be selected over the existing businesses that ice cream aficionados were already frequenting. Without creating a marketing presence they were just another business “hoping” to succeed. And “hope” is not a strategy. Part of business planning is to understand what the competition offers, what they are saying about themselves and what they consider are their differentiators. From there you can develop your own marketing strategy to position your small business to stand out from the competition. So what kinds of marketing should a start-up consider?
Build the website strategy. A website is the “front door” of a small business. Buyers Google their need, locate options and the buying process begins by clicking a website that appears to have a solution for the buyer’s pain. But don’t wait until you open the doors of your business to create the story that will be the foundation of your website.
All of your digital marketing activity will be centered around your website. And, it doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive. You can actually do your initial website yourself. Our first website was designed by our brother-in-law. It wasn’t until our 10th anniversary we hired a web designer to “professionalize” it. The first task is to advise potential buyers you are “coming soon.” This can be a landing page — one page announcing your entry into the market and leave a lingering question so the viewer wants to know more.
Create a Brand and Customer Persona. You don’t want to be one of the 21% of new start-ups that fail in the first year (U.S. Department of Labor) because they don’t research their potential market fully, create adequate brand awareness and therefore enough demand / revenue. During the planning phase defining the target customer persona is the first step, then assigning a value proposition to each segment. Many small business fail to validate that there is enough market to support their small business.
With five ice cream shops in a 2-mile stretch along Route 28, the question was: are there enough customers to support them all? To develop a customer persona, Fit Small Business defines the task in five steps: (1) Define the traits of your ideal customer, (2) Gather information about current customers, (3) Segment your customers into profiles, (4) Build unique buyer personal profiles and (5) Set sales and marketing strategies for each customer persona. You also want to make sure when networking you gain word-of-mouth benefits of meeting new people and jointly sharing newly found information and data.
Create anticipation in the market. Using blogs, infographics and videos that are industry specific are good ways to create a “buzz” before the official business launch. Building an online presence takes time and using blogs or a video series will position the enterprise in your space where existing competition is hard to overcome. By offering free information and advice before the launch of your business, you will be ahead of the game in positioning yourself with potential buyers.
This is also a time to employ the live media to position press releases to create anticipation of your opening. Think in terms of who can be employed as an influencer in the niches that you are serving? Where? Select the platform that serves your industry segment. Second, see who the influencers are and then connect with them to share your data. Once it becomes mainstream, host it yourself.
Brand your business. After you have created and tested your name and then designed and tested your logo, you need to think about business cards, mission and vision statement, and core values that will ultimately be encapsulated in business collateral materials (pdf & print brochures and fly sheets). You also might want to consider transforming some of the collateral materials into a direct mail postcard campaign to give buyers a tangible memory of your enterprise.
Employ non-digital techniques. All too many fledgling businesses rely way too much on digital marketing techniques. Don’t forget traditional techniques: trade shows and events and press kits, radio and local TV. Participating in start-up trade shows and events brings you one step closer to close since it is one of the only ways we can make personal and direct contact.
Using fairs and events puts you in a position to network and build relationships. Attending fairs and events is good, but becoming an event sponsor is also a way to build awareness. Getting the attendee list with your sponsorship allows an extension of time and resources to build stronger relationships. Another format that brings great results in the prelaunch period is to conduct workshops and webinars that makes you a knowledge leader — a go-to source for buyers in search of more detailed information.
Although not as easy to execute your launch marketing plan as write about it, you have created an initiative to launch your new business and brand.
Contributed by Marc L.Goldberg, Certified Mentor, SCORE Cape Cod and the Island, www.score.org/capecod, capecodscore@scorevolunteer.org, 508/775-4884. Free and confidential mentoring and workshops/webinars. Source: Fit Small Business, Audry Rawnie Rico, July 31, 2023, NYC, NY
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