In many cases, it’s not how much you money you put towards your marketing, it’s the time and effort you spend in creating an effective marketing campaign. Spending a lot of money to reach groups that are most likely not interested in purchasing the products and/or services you have to offer doesn’t make a difference, and not much sense. But taking the time to research key markets, or trying out certain markets for a shorter period of time can help bring in more customers and help you save money as well. Because there are many types of marketing methods available, it is also important to find methods that will be more effective for the type of business you own. Following up and following through effectively will help you put your money where you will get the most productivity.
Every business owner needs to have a business plan, and in every plan needs to include your marketing budget. This also requires you to spend time investigating different marketing methods. It should also outline the steps you will be taking to market your business. If you have a traditional storefront business that caters to those mostly living within a five or ten mile radius, a website may be worth the investment. But if you want to ship items to those living in areas far away, then research the possibilities of internet marketing. If you have an internet business, don’t put your eggs in one basket. In other words, diversify! Experiment carefully with pay per clicks, banners, and articles, but be sure to place them in targeted areas.
If you happen to have more money to spend in marketing, you can try different methods both online and off to see which are the most successful. Many businesses take on both in order to reach as many of their targeted audience groups as possible. The Internet is becoming more popular when buying products and services, so investing in an online marketing campaign may increase sales. Having a better understanding of who your target groups are will enable you to make these decisions.
In order to determine if a marketing campaign was successful or not, you will have to track the number of customers who enter your store and website and buy for at least two months. Then you can have evidence to see if sales have increased because of your marketing campaign. If you’ve been in business for a few years and have been tracking your profits, you should also compare seasonal times during the year to see if your marketing has had an affect on sales.
Marketing is not an exact science. You’ll have marketing campaigns that are more successful than others. Trying new methods is the only way to know for sure if they will benefit your business or not. Knowing your market, understanding customer buying patterns, and maintaining excellent customer service are all ways that you can increase sales and remain profitable. Having a large marketing budget is not a guarantee that sales will increase.
If you have recently started a business, try to market your business in inexpensive ways. You can take out small ads in local newspapers, build a website and include articles and product descriptions, and generate a buzz by telling everyone you know that you are open for business. Also look for free advertising, as they are everywhere on the internet, but require more time. But as soon as they start building up, you will create a gold mine. Once your business grows, then you can expand your marketing efforts.
Tara Brown is the owner of ExecutiveHomeBody.com and writes on a variety of subjects related to leadership and home business. To learn more about starting your own business, visit:
http://www.ExecutiveHomeBody.com
I agree with you. The problem is often that if you have “too much money” to spend on advertising, you become less aware of what really works. Because you just buy advertising all over the place, and especially from newspapers/magazines and websites that “everybody” reads.
It’s not effective marketing, and it might not work that well either… but if you have too much money, you will get a lot of sales even though your marketing sucks
Jens P. Berget
March 29th, 2008