Our fourth Mentoring Breakfast session was recently led by marketing expert, Minal Patel. With over 15 years of experience, Minal is dedicated to providing small business owners with clear and jargon-free strategies that can help them deliver their message effectively to their audience.
During the session Minal provided some practical advice about three ways in which business owners can build an effective marketing strategy.
The session was filled with fantastic discussion, including whether businesses should focus on single or multiple social media platforms when building an audience, how to best use email marketing and even some marketing must-reads were suggested!
Thanks for a great session Minal!
In order to create an effective marketing strategy, you need to:
1. Understand your customers' needs, especially in the current changing marketplace
Understanding the mindset of your customers has never been more important than it is today. By truly knowing what problems and business issues ‘keep your customers up at night’ you can understand how best to communicate your message. It is also important to acknowledge that within the current uncertain business landscape your customers’ needs may quickly change.
As well as conducting market research yourself by speaking to your current customers, there are several national and local organisations, such as Small Business Britain, who regularly conduct independent research on a much larger scale to better understand these problems either nationally or regionally. Tapping into these secondary resources can help you to get a better understanding of your audience’s current concerns.
2. Stay visible and ensure your marketing cuts through the noise
Consistency is key when marketing your business. Not only does it help you to keep your audience engaged but it also ensures that you stay front of mind. Minal suggested that by working in targeted campaigns you can set goals and be specific about what you would like the outcome of your marketing to be; everything then becomes measurable!
As well as this, Minal explained that understanding where your customers find you is incredibly important. Regularly tracking and analysing where your customers come from can help you in knowing where best to put your marketing efforts and can help guide your overall marketing and business strategy.
3. Make the most your marketing budget
No matter how little, every business has a marketing budget! Minal’s advice: even if it is 2% or 20%, have a fixed percentage of your turnover that you dedicate to your marketing. By having a clear list of your regular marketing related costs, you can better understand what is working most effectively for you.
Even with a limited marketing budget there are so many fantastic ways in which businesses can stay visible without spending a penny. These include local and national directories, social networks and Google My Business.
Visit WebsitePublished: 16 November 2020