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An 8-step marketing action plan for small businesses

The success of a business depends mainly on how the brand is received and perceived by customers. An influential marketing strategy determines the nature and extent of perception and audience reach, especially for small businesses, and hence forms an integral part of its success. The essence of small-business marketing lies in harnessing channels to garner maximum exposure for products or services. Here are some key components and steps for designing an effective marketing action plan.

What does a marketing action plan include?
Usually, a startup marketing plan includes the following:

Brand strategy: This step establishes the company’s identity and stand-out features in the market, which is why it is often considered the foundation of a marketing action plan.
Content: Content in different forms, whether digital or print, sets the tone of the company’s offerings, like products or services, and helps to establish the brand image in the market.
Advertising: This step allows the content to reach a wider audience by strategically promoting it through various channels.

Tips to develop a small business marketing plan

Research the market
It’s important to research the market one is planning to enter thoroughly. This step involves a SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. It may include an analysis of competitor positions, economic challenges, market trends, customer preferences and behavior, technical and production challenges, marketplace opportunities, and much more. These key aspects can provide a solid foundation for informed decision-making and strategic planning.

Define target audience
This step requires businesses to comprehensively understand their potential customers, including their age and income range, gender, location, education, and more. Knowing these aspects can help businesses to distinguish themselves from competitors and understand the kind of audience that the business attracts. To define the target market, one can collect and maintain customer information. The data can help improve products and services to accommodate evolving customer preferences.

Set marketing goals and objectives
Before launching a marketing campaign, setting clear and achievable goals that align with one’s business and financial plans is crucial. These goals can vary, from boosting sales to gaining new customers and increasing brand awareness. Defining these goals upfront can shape one’s marketing tactics and enhance the chance of success.

Assess market competition
Observing their marketing strategies, including communication tone and channels, is important when studying competitors. For example, do they use digital tools, social media, influencers, and celebrity endorsements? This competitor analysis can help position one’s product effectively in the market, stand out from the rest, and identify opportunities for differentiation.

Assess available promotional tools
Currently, there are many marketing tools available for small businesses. Some are free, relatively cheap, and new, like social media and pay-per-click ads. Some traditional methods include billboards, radio, magazines, and television promotions. For small businesses, it is important to prioritize the communication channels since each channel has different demography. Otherwise, one may underutilize the channel potential. Understanding the preferences of a target audience is the best approach.

Product, Place, and Price
While marketing, a business needs to focus on the intangible qualities of its product, not just its physical features. Instead of listing how the product is beneficial, one can enlist what difference it will bring to the buyer’s life. This can also be done by understanding USP. A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) refers to a product or service’s distinct value and sets it apart in market competition. Establishing a USP can create a strong brand identity, foster customer loyalty, and make consumers choose this product or service over other alternatives.
Next, the place refers to the distribution chain. It’s important to ensure that the movement of products is smooth from the manufacturer to the consumer. Any glitches in this process can lead to resource wastage. Secondly, evaluate the website thoroughly by focusing on the customer’s journey from landing page to checkout. A seamless experience here can ensure successful order placements and repeat customers.
Lastly, business owners often set prices based on their perceived product value rather than considering what customers are willing to pay. This can be detrimental to the business. It’s best to assess the competition and compare product values. If one’s product has a superior value than the existing market options, it’s an opportunity to set a higher price.

Develop a budget and customer engagement timeline
Small businesses should allot sufficient funds to marketing since their sales and overall business growth depend on their success. Usually, experts recommend dedicating approximately 10% to 20% of total revenue to it. It’s also important to create a budget with a yearly marketing plan in mind, which can outline scheduled promotions, associated costs, and holiday season hikes. One should remember that a marketing action plan can be flexible and evolve per the business needs.

Begin marketing campaigns
Once the budget and marketing plan are in place, the business can focus on strategizing and executing its campaigns. Depending on the budget, the campaigns can take different approaches, like paid digital advertising, email marketing, public relations or traditional advertising, social selling, and content marketing. These may involve web-based ads or videos, paid social media posts, influencer marketing, radio and TV ads, billboards, person-to-person engagement on social media, blog posts, podcasts, and more.

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