Mention marketing to small business owners and they think of direct mail campaigns, advertising and trade show participation.
Those activities are, indeed, examples of marketing, tactical marketing, and may be important tactics for certain types of companies. Tactics are designed to create demand for a company's services or products and they often seek near-term results.
So it's not surprising that many small companies engage in marketing tactics. It's understandable, but it's often a mistake because tactics usually deliver only a modest return on investment, or perhaps none at all, unless they are driven by strategy.
Small business owners rarely hear about strategic marketing, but it is very important to the success of their marketing tactics and, ultimately, to the long-term success of their companies. Strategic marketing deals with issues like the company's position in the marketplace and its differentiation from the competition.
Since strategy guides tactics, a company needs to work on strategic issues before it engages in marketing tactics. If, for example, a company hasn't identified a target market, then it doesn't know where to direct its advertising.
If it hasn't developed a competitive advantage, then money spent on marketing materials that promote a “me-too” product or service will frequently be wasted.
How can you start working on strategic marketing issues? A good approach is to answer three questions about your company, your customers/clients and your competitors. These questions are simple to state, but quite difficult to answer.
The first question is: What is distinctive about your company's product or service vs. the competition? In answering this question, you have to go deep into your company's identity.
The second question is: What is your company's target market? You need to identify and thoroughly understand your target market.
The third question is: What value does your company alone deliver to its target market? Answering this question is critical because it concerns the special connection between your company and your target market.
These three questions must be considered together because they are all closely related. For example, what is distinctive about your company's product or service is generally distinctive only for a particular market and sometimes only for a limited time.
Similarly, determining what unique value your company delivers to its market requires understanding your competitors' positions in that market.
There is no doubt that thinking about strategy is hard and perhaps isn't as fun as tactics like writing the text for a Web site or attending a networking event. But working on strategic issues, or failing to work on them, has direct, practical effects.
Small business owners ignore those issues at their peril.
For more information, contact John Rodolff at (619) 563-1841 or [email protected].
Those activities are, indeed, examples of marketing, tactical marketing, and may be important tactics for certain types of companies. Tactics are designed to create demand for a company's services or products and they often seek near-term results.
So it's not surprising that many small companies engage in marketing tactics. It's understandable, but it's often a mistake because tactics usually deliver only a modest return on investment, or perhaps none at all, unless they are driven by strategy.
Small business owners rarely hear about strategic marketing, but it is very important to the success of their marketing tactics and, ultimately, to the long-term success of their companies. Strategic marketing deals with issues like the company's position in the marketplace and its differentiation from the competition.
Since strategy guides tactics, a company needs to work on strategic issues before it engages in marketing tactics. If, for example, a company hasn't identified a target market, then it doesn't know where to direct its advertising.
If it hasn't developed a competitive advantage, then money spent on marketing materials that promote a “me-too” product or service will frequently be wasted.
How can you start working on strategic marketing issues? A good approach is to answer three questions about your company, your customers/clients and your competitors. These questions are simple to state, but quite difficult to answer.
The first question is: What is distinctive about your company's product or service vs. the competition? In answering this question, you have to go deep into your company's identity.
The second question is: What is your company's target market? You need to identify and thoroughly understand your target market.
The third question is: What value does your company alone deliver to its target market? Answering this question is critical because it concerns the special connection between your company and your target market.
These three questions must be considered together because they are all closely related. For example, what is distinctive about your company's product or service is generally distinctive only for a particular market and sometimes only for a limited time.
Similarly, determining what unique value your company delivers to its market requires understanding your competitors' positions in that market.
There is no doubt that thinking about strategy is hard and perhaps isn't as fun as tactics like writing the text for a Web site or attending a networking event. But working on strategic issues, or failing to work on them, has direct, practical effects.
Small business owners ignore those issues at their peril.
For more information, contact John Rodolff at (619) 563-1841 or [email protected].