Four Small Business Marketing Steps You Need to Put Into Check

I think the biggest mistake we make in marketing is making everything so difficult for consumers to understand that they don't get it. Literally. And if they don’t get it, they usually don’t feel compelled to act, buy, etc. ... you see where I’m going with this.

Marketing is about informing consumers about your products and services and telling them why they should pick you over your competitor - it really is that simple.

Are you doing that? If you are not it's time to really analyze your marketing strategy and evaluate the point you’re trying to get across.

I daily watch small businesses try to market like big companies, when in fact they've missed the core components that will get a person to buy their products or services. My first piece of advice is stop trying to compete with the "big dogs" - find your own niche and your own market and become one of the big dogs.

How do you do this? It's by moving a customer from the point of just attracting their attention to inspiring them to actually take action - which is making a purchase from you. There are four steps to doing this.

• Step 1: Get their attention
  You have competition, it doesn't have to be a lot of competition - but you have competition. It is up to you to get the attention of your consumers. Do you know how to do that? You speak to their need. You inform of them of the solution that you provide. If you don't provide a solution – it’s time to get back to the drawing board.
• Step 2: Create a marketing message that speaks to them.
  You know your solution, now you have to create a message that says "I’m your answer." Have you done that with your marketing message? If not, why do you think they will buy your products or services? If you don't inform them about your product who will? Craft your marketing message so it's easy to understand and a consumer doesn't want to walk out of a store without purchasing your product or service and taking advantage of it right away. Your marketing message has to speak about the solution as well as creating an urgency for the need. Have you done that? If not, again take it back to the drawing board!
• Step 3: Evaluate different marketing methods
  You have to evaluate the different marketing methods and really evaluate which ones will work for you. For example do you serve a market that is more drawn to the Yellow Pages or Twitter? Do they spend more time watching television or surfing the internet? Be aware of and informed about different marketing methods and which ones will work with your market. It's not a one size fits all deal.
• Step 4: Use marketing methods that are visible to your consumer
  The reason you need to evaluate the different marketing methods are so you can select the methods that are more visible to your potential purchaser. Why advertise in the Yellow Pages if your consumers are searching the yellow pages? Why spend money on television advertising if they are spending more time surfing the internet? When you select the right marketing methods, you create a placement that your potential consumers will see. When you select the wrong methods of marketing, you might as well throw your money out the window.
• http://marketing.about.com/od/strategytutorials/a/smallbusinessmarketing.htm