Small business marketing should be approached with a marketing concept that consists of four components: market research, marketing strategy, target marketing and market mix.

Market Research

A good marketing plan cannot be accomplished without solid market research. However, many small businesses don’t have the financial resources to do thorough market research, so this step is often skipped.

One simple and fairly inexpensive way to do market research is to ask current customers to fill out a questionnaire. This questionnaire should include questions that allow customers to make an honest assessment of the business, the products, and customer service. A small business can’t improve its service if it doesn’t know how it is perceived by the customers.

Market research also allows the small business to determine who its customers are, what kinds of trends are afoot that could affect sales and what is happening on the local economic front that might reveal opportunities or problems.

Market Strategy

Market strategy addresses the best methods used to promote the business to the target audience. Approaches such as direct mail, web sites and promotional items come into play. The market strategy is often geared toward customer needs that are not currently addressed within the market place. The strategy typically follows the idea of how the small business can best get its name and services in front of potential customers.

Target Marketing

Because small businesses often work within a tight budget, having a target audience is essential. This ensures that the marketing efforts are reaching the people most likely to use the business’ services, rather than others.

Target marketing can focus on a geographical base or a customer base. Geographical marketing targets all people in a specific area who will be inclined to use the business services based on its location. Customer marketing targets the people who are most likely to use the product or services the business offers.

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is just as the name implies. It mixes various marketing strategies to develop a plan that will best work for the business. It takes the offered products and services, designs the best promotional tool, determines the pricing that should be used for marketing purposes and, finally, analyzes the best way to distribute the product.

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