Strategic Marketing for Start-Up Businesses

There are so many things to consider when setting up a business, it can be pretty daunting, especially if its your first (like mine!).  Are you a sole trader or a limited company, should you be VAT registered, do you need funding, should you work from home or from rented workspace?

Of course, all of these elements require careful consideration and form an important part of the business plan.  Just as important, however,  is the market in which your company will operate and often this is an area which is taken for granted or even overlooked.  Here is a brief summary of how to put together a strategic marketing plan for your company…

Research your market

Who are your customers/stakeholders?  Is there a requirement for your products/services? Where are you customers and who are they? Who are your competitors?

Undertake a SWOT analysis 

Define any potential strengths andweaknesses within the business and identify the threats and opportunities facing it by external elements such as social, environmental, politial, technological, economical factors etc.

Create a Mission Statement

A mission statement should be no longer than one or two sentences and should sum up your company’s main goal(s) and how this will be achieved.  For instance a law firm’s mission statement might be as follows:

“Our Mission is to  provide individuals and small businesses in the UK that have been injured or wronged in terms of personal injury, with the most effective ethical representation possible.”

Identify your marketing objectives

The marketing objectives should be derived directly from the business objectives.  Marketing objectives can relate to profitability, market share, growth, survival, branding and promotion.

Marketing objectives must be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed.

Develop a marketing strategy

How are you going to achieve your business and marketing objectives? Consider each element of the marketing mix – product, price, place, promotion (and people, physical evidence and process if your business provides a service).

Planning how to promote yourself and your business is vital. Do you have a budget to spend on activities such as advertising or exhibiting and will this be the most effective way of getting in front of your customers? If you have a limited budget or no budget at all, consider online social media marketing as a way of getting your name out there, although this can take up more time.

Produce a budget and schedule of activities 

Costs should be detailed throughout the financial year to establish what is required to successfully set up the business and more importantly, to sustain and hopefully grow your business.

Monitor and evaluate

Put measures in place in order to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.  For example, if you decide to exhibit at an event, record the number of visitors to your stand, how many leads you received and the return on investment i.e. profit made from the show after the totel costs of exhibiting.

Will you be able to achieve your objectives or do you need to make some changes to the original plan?

And finally…..enjoy and good luck!