You’re running a small business. What marketing skills do you need to succeed?

Complemento este apartado con 2 habilidades de marketing cruciales para la formulación de estrategias basadas en datos: 1. Conocimiento del mercado y competencia: Mantenerse al tanto de las tendencias, comprender el comportamiento del consumidor y conocer a la competencia es importante para diferenciarte y posicionarte efectivamente. 2. Analítica de datos: Interpretar y utilizar datos para decisiones informadas en marketing, identificar áreas de mejora y medir el rendimiento de las campa?as por canal. Muy necesario capturar esta información en un CRM para facilitar la creación de campa?as personalizadas y enfocadas en la conversión de leads a clientes.

Unfortunately most small businesses don’t have budget, time, or experience to research the market. The good news is that there is a relatively inexpensive and quick way to do it. Ethnographic research. Get out in the field and observe how your prospective customers solve the problem your solution solves. You’ll be amazed by how many *alternatives* they have to solve their problem they you hadn’t thought about.

"Don't go off a gut feeling. Research, Emphasize and Analyze." True, but easier to say than to do, especially if you're a small company. One great option if you have a bit of time but no inhouse skills or budget for research, analysis or even strategy is to get in touch with university course/program coordinators. Lots of bachelors and masters are looking for companies that are open to have a team of students work on an issue that they've been having. It helps your company AND people who are eager to apply what they have been learning !

1. With platforms like Instagram and TikTok driving consumer engagement in India, understanding how to create compelling content and engage with followers is essential. Take inspiration from brands like Nykaa, known for their vibrant Instagram presence and engagement with beauty enthusiasts across the country. 2. Producing high-quality content that resonates with the diverse Indian audience can help build brand awareness and credibility. Look to successful content creators like Bhuvan Bam, who leverages humor and relatable content in his YouTube videos to connect with millions of viewers.

You need to know how to listen to what your audience wants to hear. What's important to them. That will inform everything that you do.

With experience in large brands and startups, I can emphasize the importance of having a brand bible for any new company. A bible serves as the foundational document that outlines and defines the essence of the brand identity, including its values, voice, visual elements, and positioning. Here's why it's the most important thing you can start with: Establishes Consistency, Defines Brand Identity, Guides Decision Making, Facilitates Growth, Enhances Brand Recognition, Builds Emotional Connections, Saves Time and Resources. Having a Vision that states where you are headed, and having a mission that explains how you will achieve that vision, and having core values to cling to are vital for all brands, especially start-ups!

When it comes to long term planning for marketing we take a short term view (3 months) a medium term view (1 year) and a long term view (3 years) to ensure we start to do our marketing efforts with future goals in mind. For instance, if retail sales aren't in your short term plan you won't spend $ towards that channel.

Running a small business often means you don't have time to do everything. Using different software tools can help speed up the strategy and planning process. ?? Use project management tools to plan your content Asana and Trello have built in marketing calendars to help you plan and prioritise your content. ?? Use design tools to speed up content creation Tools like Canva have pre-designed templates and the ability to plug in your brand colours with their Magic Ai tool to speed up content creation. ?? Be realistic with your budget If you don't have money for paid ads, look at where you audience is and what content they interactive with most. Don't expect big results straight away with no budget for ad spending.

When you're a small business, you won't have the time or resources to do everything that large businesses do. Which means you really need to make choices regarding what matters and what doesn't. And strategy is how you should make those choices. So you'll need to know this.

Vocês percebem que para vencer precisamos de um bom planejamento, de uma estratégia, e claro da execu??o dela, ent?o aliado a isso é necessário um conjunto, habilidade e pessoas capacitadas e persistentes, que acreditem na vitória, costumo dizer que acreditar já é 50% da vitória, e a vitória em si é de um acredita mais, sem desistir.

As a former small business owner, I will tell you that your highest priority is to understand and communicate your value proposition. What sets you apart from your competition? Why should customers buy from you? Your value prop will inform every single single piece of literature, your website, digital files, advertising, trade shows, etc. Your value proposition will guide you to "your" customers and help you make decisions on where to spend your marketing budget. Craft a short, easy to remember value prop and let it inform all of your future marketing decisions.

When you're a small business, you'll often need a convincing reason for prospects to choose you instead of just going with one of your big competitors. Persuasion will mostly be about that. It won't be about "communication."

Communication is a dialogue, not a monologue. I will ask business owners, "How well do you know your customers?" "What are the different reasons they buy from you?" "What other companies do they consider when making a purchase?" The more you know about your customers, the more you communicate with them, the better your chances for success. On social media, where are the important conversations taking place? Don't post on FB if everyone is on Instagram. Also, have an "A" list of the top people in your ecosystem. Use social media to stay on their radar screens in a non-invasive way. Emails, texts, and phone calls can be "invasive" communications, but most people like recognition when they post online.

You will also need to communicate and persuade your internal shareholders and people in charge of the budget of your strategy and the ROI expected. Having a clear strategy will help convince those in leadership positions who may not have any marketing background or understanding of marketing value in general that your strategy is worth trying and will benefit the company.

As an additional strategy for #3 - Communication and persuasion - use speaking engagements as a marketing and thought leadership tool. Even a small business owner can take advantage of the power of speaking engagements. Pitching yourself to speak at a local or regional chamber of commerce or a local chapter of an industry association, for example, will create immediate exposure for you and your business to demonstrate your expertise on a topic, without giving a "sales pitch." And the advance promotion of the event with your name listed as a speaker will result in exposure to many people with the added multiplier effect that social media can yield.

Do something different than your competitors. If everyone is running Facebook Ads, you go on YouTube. Don’t be scared to do something different. That’s how others will notice you and you are gonna stand out.

Absolutely! In the realm of small business marketing, creativity and innovation are your secret weapons. It's all about standing out from the crowd, capturing attention, and solving your customers' needs in unique ways. Think of it as painting a canvas with your brand's colors. Creativity allows you to craft compelling messages and visuals, while innovation helps you discover new avenues to reach your audience. Tools like brainstorming and prototyping are your artistic brushes, helping you bring your ideas to life. By nurturing creativity and embracing innovation, you can create memorable experiences that set your business apart and keep customers coming back for more.

If you know your niche, the audience and what is being done already, look for what is different about your product/service and focus on that and how it can serve the end user better or differently. Always seek the "blue ocean" with less competitors around. Also, don't be afraid to fail, just get back up and try again -most of your competitors wouldn't bother.

Ein Tipp der gut für mich war ist, man sollte sich im Marketing trauen- aber man muss authentisch bleiben. Nicht jeder Trend passt gut zum branding oder den company values. Was bringt viel Reichweite, wenn die Community irritiert ist oder die Firmen Werte nicht mehr teilen kann. Daher sollten klare Ziele und Grenzen festgelegt werden, die als Marketing Kultur in die Kampagnen eingehen. Das bedeutet aber nicht das ein gewisser grad an Risiko eingegangen werden sollte.

Immersive Customer Experience Workshops At a recent workshop, we embodied various customer personas, simulating their journey using our product. This role-play technique unearthed unique insights and fostered empathy, leading to more tailored marketing strategies. Interactive Content Hackathon Our team organized a hackathon solely focused on creating interactive content. The use of tools like Adobe XD for prototyping brought abstract concepts to life, paving the way for groundbreaking campaigns with immersive user experiences.

While ideally you always want to be solving a problem when starting a small business or filling a gap, it does not really matter what you are selling if you have people supporting you. Collaborate, build relationships, find a network to build a supply chain up and down the ladder and once you are in the conversation with others, it will be much easier to grow. Relationships move businesses forward, not perfect products.

Thinking outside the box is a great way to approach problem-solving and creativity! It involves looking at situations from a different perspective, breaking free from traditional or common practices, and exploring unconventional ideas. When you think outside the box, you open yourself up to new possibilities, innovative solutions, and exciting opportunities. So, don't be afraid to challenge the status quo, embrace creativity, and think differently to achieve your goals!

When you’re small you don’t have the money, time or resources to compete how everyone else is. Be willing to collaborate when you can with other people. Build a referral network, join local business groups and build relationships with people that can laterally help you build your client base. For example, if you are a financial advisor- partner with estate lawyers, go to local businesses in your city and share tips to business owners and provide value to them, offer to speak to parents in your community and focus on how you can build relationships to collaborate together.

You can think that you know the best but there will be always someone who can give you a different opinion. Don't hesitate from sharing, collaborating and listening different ideas. These will only add you more value. Don't hesitate from partnering and sharing your revenue if you know it will also help your business. I did the mistake of trying to keep all the revenue for myself but let me tell you, It doesn't work. You can't expand your business without sharing or partnering when needed. Did you know that at one point Jeff Bezos sold 22% of Amazon to 22 different people for 50,000$ each ? Each of those shares worth around 19 billion $ today. It may seem much but without those investments, there would be no Amazon.

L’Autre est la clef pour réussir, puisqu’il permet d’avoir un regard différent de celui que nous pouvons porter, il apporte une valeur ajoutée, il permet la remise en question, il est l’expertise complémentaire. Il est nécessaire de mettre en place du participatif (exemple : brainstorming) afin de créer une synergie (1+1 = 3), permettant de pousser le projet à son paroxysme.

One thing I've noticed in my years as a marketing consultant is that everyone thinks they're a marketer! A business owner will hire an accounting to manage their finances, a lawyer for their legal needs, etc. But when it comes to marketing they don't think there are any special skills required. While I'd agree that it is easier to learn than law : ), I believe the biggest fundamental that people need (and is often overlooked) is marketing math. What are the key metrics that are important for your business? How will you set yourself up to measure them? What does success look like? If you're going to do it yourself, then educate yourself.

A lot of brands that have made big, were once small but did not necessarily follow the 4-5-7P's of marketing. Different stages of business have different needs. I think a couple of marketing skills needed for someone who's running a small business: 1. Being open to feedback. Goes a long way. Whether to test product market fit or to test communication or designs. 2. Adaptable & agile. Whether to make changes to product basis feedback, or to capitalise on trend(s) relevant to your product/service. 3. Thinking out of the box. Don't just think conventional. When you are small, the budgets are not huge. Which means you go-guerrilla Or stuff that may seem small but are impactful. 4. Good at starting conversations. This is a must.

Keeping track of the key performance indicators like website visitors, abandoned shopping carts, number of views on a video and the comments and other interactions is vital for your success. Once you see something "working" pr giving your the results you want then you must "double down" on that type of marketing material and then watch more closely to make sure that the positive results you've seen continue. At that stage you're into a loop of discarding what is not so good and doing more of what worked for you and continually reassessing the results.

Para poder evaluar hay que tener muy claro que vamos a evaluar. Toma el tiempo necesario en definir “Objetivos” que luego puedas “medir” Por ejemplo, no sacamos nada con definir como objetivo :”vender mas” lo correcto seria: “Vender un “x”% mas que el “a?o” anterior. Es decir $ xoxoxo .- mas. Solo con objetivos así de específicos podremos medir, evaluar, aprender y dirigir. Los “objetivos” son claves en la estrategia

Many of "the rules of marketing" are written by the Fortune 500 for the Fortune 500. If you're a small business that wants to succeed, you'll often need to think more in terms of guerilla tactics. So don't confine your reading and learning to what college kids would read. Think broader.

Even though our family business is over 187 years old I tell the next generation to: “Think like a start-up!” No matter what age your business is or whatever stage of maturity it is at, you need to start with your passion and find that fire in your belly that made you start it in the first place. Some say the emotional energy that comes with owning your own SME can cloud your judgement with too much subjectivity but you can turn this energy into a force for good. It’s a secret superpower that Fortune 500 employees can’t possibly possess because they won’t have the same level of emotional investment or employee engagement that we find in many owner operator SMEs especially family firms.

Emphasize Solution-Oriented Marketing: Focus on conveying the problem your product solves to your targeted audience. Avoid selling the product directly; instead, highlight the solution it offers. This can also be done through an SMS or Maybe a flyer in the newspaper can serve the purpose.

1. **Market Research:** Understanding your target audience, their needs, preferences, and behaviors. 2. **Branding:** Creating a strong brand identity that resonates with your target market. 3. **Digital Marketing:** Utilizing various digital channels such as social media, email, SEO, and content marketing to reach and engage customers. 4. **Traditional Marketing:** Employing offline tactics like print ads, direct mail, and events to reach your audience. 5. **Advertising:** Effectively planning and executing advertising campaigns across different mediums. 6. **Public Relations:** Building and maintaining a positive public image through media relations, influencer partnerships, and community engagement. 7. **Sales Skills:**

As a small business, understanding the fundamentals of marketing are all you need to point in the right direction. Who are your customers? What problems you solve? What emotions do they have? Are they looking or not looking? Understanding these will help you craft your message and offer and where to put it to attract customers. Marketing is value creation through communication. To do effective marketing, one must be able to communicate with their target audience effectively. 1. Know your customers problem and how to speak directly to their pains, challenges, hopes, and desires. 2. Research and test where that message is most effective. 3. Scale what works and always try new things.