Plan Today to Market Your Small Business in 2014

Update the business and marketing plan. Your plan should not be a repeat of 2013’s. You should constantly be asking your prospects and clients how they heard about you. Use that information to feed the plans for the future. What tactics will you try in 2014 and how will you measure success? Incorporate deadlines in your plan, both your internal ones and those from outside partners and media.

• Change at least one thing. If you rely heavily on one tactic, change things up and try something new. If you spend most of your time on Facebook, try Twitter or Pinterest for a month or two. If you use direct mail most of the time, consider a series of online ads. It’s important to try new things, even if you fail some of the time.

Speaking of new things, I found a helpful blog post. It’s called “Developing a Marketing Plan for the New Year—Change is Good” and was written for companies in the landscaping business, but it has some marketing suggestions that apply to all of us because it taps into customer thought patterns and trends.

1. Discount shop. Coupons and discounts are worth trying. People are paying more attention to these print materials when they arrive in mailboxes. Plus, you can add value by offering free or upgrade items or future services. Always be professional, informative and use good design.

Go smaller. Although it might seem logical to focus on large projects and quick profits, smaller, entry-level options can bring in more clients and increase spending among people who might not be prospects otherwise.

1. Eat at home. In other words, think about value. Provide the business case for going out and doing business with you. Illustrate how prospects will ultimately save money with your products and services.
2. Family Time. This point is about knowing your audience. Package products and services that make sense for your customers, their interests and how they will use them, versus just promoting the items you most want to sell.
3. Do it yourself. I don’t mean your marketing (as I have commented many times the need to work with pros if you are not a full-time marketing person). Rather, tap into the desire of your prospects to either save money or get the satisfaction of doing something themselves. If you can help them by providing both complete services and a range of flexible options, you might open additional doors.

As Pam Greiner notes, planning for the new year should revolve around one word: value. “Whether it is your knowledge, your skills, or your services, showing your value to your customers and how you can add value to their lives . . . is very important.” Above all, before you consider the marketing plan “done” for the new year, make sure you build in times to review periodically throughout the year to ensure you are on track and achieving your goals. Are you gearing up for marketing in 2014 already? If so, what is the most important work to get done now before the end of the fourth quarter?