A marketing plan makes it easier for people to know about your value proposal, philosophy and even allows customers to discover a need they did not have identified. It is useless to have a store, a product, and a salesperson, if nobody knows that your brand offers the solution to a problem.
Lack of marketing plans or mistakes in their implementation is some of the main reasons why small businesses fail, according to the website, Investopedia.
Regardless of whether your business model involves a sale in physical space or through an online platform, you should consider implementing a marketing plan. In case you do not have a budget for these assignments, you can resort to small business financing, be confident that it will be a profitable investment.
The importance of investing in marketing
A marketing plan is necessary at any stage of your business. If you want to generate sales from day one or increase your customers, marketing will be your best ally.
Nowadays there are many misconceptions when thinking about a marketing plan and the investment that it involves. Here are 4 misconceptions that you must remove from your mind to prevent that the lack of information leads your business to failure.
1. Making a marketing plan is expensive
There are a wide variety of alternatives to implement adequate marketing for your business. The same strategies do not work for all businesses, focus on your company and the tools that best fit your needs. One possibility is online courses, a professional capacitation will allow you to generate your own strategies to make your offer noticeable.
In case you go against the clock in the design of your plan, you can go to companies specialized in marketing. They will guide you through the entire process, from identifying your target market to turning prospects into purchases. This recommendation may imply a greater investment, you can access small business financing to achieve it, no doubt about it, it will be worth it.
2. Marketing = paying for advertising in social networks
Some business owners think that paying for advertising on platforms like Facebook, YouTube or Instagram, is enough to achieve their marketing goals. While social media is an excellent promotion channel, publications without a strategy and market analysis will not give you the results that you expect.
Paying for ads on social networks can be a good idea to attract visitors to your website, however, it will only be useful if you know what market you want to reach. Before getting an advertisement, identify your customers, their tastes, needs, and the way they like to buy. Analyze their behavior and take advantage of the power of social media.
3. Marketing experts are a waste of money
A usual behavior within entrepreneurship is to privilege the operation over the planning. For that reason, when allocating budgets, greater importance is given to buying raw materials, logistics tools, or even furniture, rather than seeking the support of a marketing expert who will allow you to sell more.
A good expert will dive into the heart of your business, to understand your customers and let them know what is the value that differentiates you from the competition, which will bring almost immediate results.
In case you do not have a fund for this investment, use small business financing that you can pay in installments, with the income generated from the implementation of your marketing strategies.
4. Marketing is only for big companies
Our first relationship with marketing is thanks to the great brands that everybody knows. When thinking about strategies for a small company, the worst mistake is to compare it to Coca-Cola, McDonald's, or Nike. Remember that, great companies started in a garage or with a small investment.
If your business is small, you don't need such a wide reach, you can start with your immediate environment, your regular customers, or your followers in social networks. If you make this small segment see you as you see Nike, you can approach small business financing and replicate it on a larger scale.
The most successful businesses are those that make their clients identify with the company and want to be part of a community. Don't let lack of money prevent you from achieving this, resort to small business financing to accomplish it.
The first step is to get to know your client, even if you haven't written it into a business plan, you probably already know what your clients are like. Now it's time to land your plan, outline it, and spoil your clients with the best products, offers, and promotions.
Financial institutions like Camino Financial will give you the possibility to access specialized services for your company like marketing thanks to easy access financing. Could you tell us if you have made any marketing plan, what results have you had?
