“I love small businesses. The hard work, dedication and sheer determination of most small business owners is awe inspiring. However, most of them are so busy working for their clients and customers they rarely take time to think through their marketing efforts strategically.

My goal in blogging for Patch is to help small to medium-sized businesses market themselves more effectively, with ideas for both the big picture (strategy) and individual activities (tactics). Both your strategies and tactics need to be working in harmony to have the biggest impact.

I’ve seen many small business owners take a “ready … fire … aim” approach to marketing their company. Some advertising here … a newsletter there … coupons here … website there... They practice “marketing by dart board” in many cases. They toss out a variety of different marketing tools in hopes that some of them will catch the customer’s eye.

There’s a better way.

It makes sense for all businesses to market strategically, but this is particularly true for small businesses. You don’t have the time, money or staff to waste on a shotgun approach. Your marketing efforts should be carefully thought out, ensuring you get the most “bang for the buck.”

When I say “marketing strategic planning,” I mean sitting down and actually taking time to plan out your marketing activities. You should analyze your current customer base, as well as the prospects you’re trying to attract. Who are they? How can you best reach them?

When I conduct marketing strategic planning sessions for my clients, one of the most important questions I ask is “what are the needs, problems and concerns of your customers?”

You have to be able to answer that question quickly and accurately. How does your product or service solve their problems? Can they find another solution elsewhere? What would make them use the other provider? Price? Convenience? Status or prestige? Location? If you struggle to answer these questions, take a break. Do some analysis of your past sales patterns. What does the data tell you?

Even better – contact a representative sample of your current customers. Ask them each a couple of questions. Why do they do business with you? What benefit do you bring to them? Why are you the vendor of choice for their needs? Most customers will be delighted to help you, and appreciate that you took the time to ask.

Only after you have a clear picture of your target audience’s needs, wants and expectations should you discuss tactics. If your audience isn’t on Twitter, for example, is that where you should be spending your time? Social media is a wonderful tool, but not if your efforts produce little return on your investment.

By taking the time to do marketing strategic planning, you significantly increase your chances of marketing success. In the months ahead we’ll look at other ways to plan strategically, as well as explore different marketing tactics you can use to effectively reach your customers.

Please let me know what questions you have about marketing strategic planning, or marketing in general.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Marketing freebie: Be sure every communication you send has at a minimum your email address, phone numbers, website address, and links to any social media sites you use. I received an email today announcing that the sender was moving to a new location. Unfortunately, they left off their website address from the email. My desire to learn more about their business came to a screeching halt. Don’t make your customers work to communicate with you. Chances are … they won’t.”