![\"Mary](\"http:\/\/www.financenewmexico.org\/userfiles\/Schmidthead.jpg\")
Mary Schmidt, Marketing Advisor, The Loan Fund<\/p><\/div>\n
Marketing means more than coming up with clever, eye-catching ads. If you don\u2019t also ensure that your target market sees and remembers your ads and if you don\u2019t deliver on what those ads promise, you\u2019ll find yourself investing large amounts of money trying \u2014 and failing \u2014\u00a0to attract and retain customers.<\/p>\n
Because marketing encompasses everything you do as an entrepreneur, a marketing plan \u2014 and a budget to support it \u2014 is essential to your success. This is especially true when economic times are tough for you and your customers: The less money your customers have to spend, the more they insist on value, not pretty words. But where and how does such a plan begin?<\/p>\n
Marketing is defining business goals.<\/strong> Before you start getting quotes for \u201cbranding,\u201d marketing campaigns, Web sites and brochures, clear your mind and desk and write down the three most important goals you need to accomplish in the next 30, 60, 90 and 365 days. Keep the list simple but specific. \u201cGet more customers\u201d is too broad: What kind of customers? Where will you find them? For what products or services? How will you keep them? How will you know if you\u2019ve reached your goals? Once you\u2019ve determined your goals and how to measure whether you\u2019ve reached them \u2014 X number of new customers for X product in X location by X date \u2014 you can think about how to budget for all that marketing stuff. Marketing is your people. <\/strong>In determining your goals, consider investing in your employees, the people who keep your customers coming back to you every day \u2014 or send them running off to more responsive or more knowledgeable competitors. You may need to invest more in employee training or implement a merit-raise system for your front-line workers (backed by that training) based on customer retention or individual customer revenue growth.<\/p>\n Marketing is your customers \u2014 new and existing. <\/strong>Too many marketing campaigns focus only on getting new customers at the expense of existing ones. (Doesn\u2019t it make you nuts when your phone or cable company, for example, offers a great program for new customers?) If you keep in touch with existing customers even when you\u2019re not selling them something, you\u2019ll be on their minds and they\u2019ll tell others about you. You\u2019ve got their names and know what they bought from you. Show your appreciation by spending some money on an event, game tickets or flowers on a birthday, and you\u2019ll stand out.<\/p>\n Marketing is your phone system.<\/strong> One of the most common complaints about businesses of all sizes is that they don\u2019t answer their phones or return phone calls. (One vendor actually told one of Mary\u2019s suppliers, \u201cI\u2019m too busy to give you a quote.\u201d) Being responsive to customers doesn\u2019t require an expensive telecom system or call-tracking software, but it does require self-discipline and commitment. Nobody should ever be too important to answer the phone. And everyone in your company should know about special offers, company news and how to address customers\u2019 concerns and problems. If you answer a call within three rings, you\u2019re a marketing standout. Track calls using a form next to each employee\u2019s phone: Who called? When? Why? Where did they hear about your company? Tracking calls is particularly important if you\u2019re investing in PR or advertising and want to evaluate whether your efforts are bearing fruit.<\/p>\n Marketing is your production process.<\/strong> Let\u2019s say you sell a lot of your product. Are you prepared to effectively and consistently deliver quality? Do you know how you\u2019re going to ship products and how much it costs you? How will you handle returns? All the advertising in the world won\u2019t compensate for delayed orders, shoddy products and sloppy customer service.<\/p>\n Marketing is everything you do. And your customers will tell you how well you\u2019re doing it. <\/strong><\/p>\n Read more about The Loan Fund<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n By George Kenefic, Director of Enterprise Empowerment and Mary Schmidt, Marketing Advisor, The Loan Fund<\/p>\n <\/a>Download 28_Everything your Small Business Does is Marketing PDF<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" General advice on marketing is provided. Continue reading
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