Marketing is an essential but often overlooked aspect of business. In part, this may be due to some popular myths in our culture.

Have you ever heard, "If you build it, they will come..." (from the movie Field of Dreams) or what about "build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door". These both imply that if you develop a product or service, your job is done and customers will magically appear. Time for a reality check...how will customers find out about your company, new services or products if you don't market? Some businesses rely on word of mouth as a major source of new business, however, for most businesses this is clearly not enough.

Marketing is essential to your success. It can make a new venture succeed and it will make a good business great!

What is marketing?

Marketing is all the activities involved in creating an interest or desire for your product or service. Marketing is a combination of art and science. You can do research and locate data and details to tell what is happening, what people want and how they do things. However, to a large extent, marketing is also part "art" as you try to second guess your customers and the market--and what will or won't work. One of the most fascinating yet frustrating things about marketing, is that there is no one right way to do things. What works for one market or community may or may not work elsewhere. When planning marketing, you may have to use your intuition to evaluate options. Plan for some trial and error experiences. Not everything you try will work. Even so, you should be able to learn something from what didn't go as expected.

Effective marketing on a limited budget

Marketing doesn't have to be costly. There are many inexpensive and relatively easy things you can do to increase sales and customers.

The easiest form of marketing you can do is to nurture your existing customers. The Pareto Principle (80/20) when applied to business suggests that most of your business will come from a small percentage of your customers. It is significantly harder to get new clients than it is to keep existing ones interested. Therefore, an easy and integral part of your marketing should focus on your existing clients.

Treat them with respect!.
Consider your manner and that of your staff when dealing with customers during routine transactions. Are you treating them in a friendly, courteous and helpful manner? What about when they complain, how are their complaints received? Are they acted upon? Do you send them an explanation or a thank you note following a complaint?

What is your image on the telephone?
Are telephone calls handled politely and with attention. If you have an answering machine, what does your message say about your business? Is it a warm, friendly, informative message or cold and alienating? If people leave messages, ensure they are answered promptly. Customers want to know that you think they are important and that they matter to you.

Thank Them!
Some companies have found sending out thank you cards or providing some little token to customers, or at least their best customers, an effective way to generate repeat business.

Business Cards
If you collect the business cards of your customers, do something with them!! Don't just let them collect dust in a file cabinet.

Ask them what they want/need
Encourage them to tell you what they want or think of your service. This can be a great source of information about what else you might offer, or how you could improve your service. Elicit their comments in person, or possibly in brief questionnaires or client profile forms. Depending on your type of business, asking customers to participate in a focus group might be another way to generate ideas for services, products or marketing.

Newsletters
For many businesses, short newsletter sent to customers on a regular basis has been an effective way of keeping in touch, announcing new products or bringing them up to date on news about the business.

If you hate to write, or don't know what to say, this need not be a deterrent. Often you can find comments about products or your industry, or related topics which you can summarize and include in your newsletter.

Keep in touch
If you have a slow period in your business, call up previous clients and check on how they are doing and if they need anything. This can generate sales you would not otherwise have received.

How to Track Trends and Generate Marketing Ideas

There are many formal sources of information on how to market or on markets and trends. Books, magazines, newspapers and trade publications can give you useful data for planning your business and your marketing strategy. Many magazines such as Entrepreneur, Profit and others which focus on small business will feature articles on unique marketing ideas. Television and radio programs about business can also provide "food for thought". Use these ideas, or some of the ads you see to help you generate marketing ideas. Think of saving copies of interesting advertising material or "junk mail", in a "marketing ideas" file. When you have to develop some promotional material you can consult your file for ideas of what to do.

Local newspapers and other media can also be a source of innovative ideas. They will often feature local news ideas, or unique marketing and success stories from elsewhere. The Internet is also a vital resource in this area. There are numerous sites which feature marketing ideas and information. Some sites even offer the opportunity to "Ask the Expert" or dialogue with other business owners in conference or discussion groups.

Generating your own leads

There are also ways that you can identify ideas without any expense and too much effort:

• Evaluate your competition - what are they doing? what aren't they doing that they should be;
  
• Observe or even consult successful businesses that aren't your competitors and try to find out what they do to be so successful;
  
• Think about positive and negative shopping experiences you have had, and work to incorporate the "best" into your business and eliminate any examples of the "worst" from your business practices;
  
• Talk to friends and colleagues about what they need or want, and their horror stories and good experiences.
  

Customers are becoming more demanding and less loyal than ever before. They want to know that your product or service will be of value to them and why it is "better" than everything else on the market from a price, quality or service perspective. Your marketing strategy is your way to convince/inform your customers and potential customers about the value of your business. It doesn't have to cost a lot to develop a marketing strategy. It doesn't have to take a lot of time either. Ideas and resources abound to help you identify and implement creative, effective marketing. But it can be costly, even disastrous to the success of your business, if you don't have one! If you plan it (your marketing plan), they WILL come!

Sources for Marketing Ideas

Crandall, Rick
Marketing your services for people who hate to sell, NTC/Contemporary Publishing, 1996

Cyr, Donald and Douglas Gray
Marketing Your Product, Self Counsel Press

Doman, Don and Dell Dennison
Look Before You Leap : Market Research Made Easy

Fletcher, Tana and Julia Rockler
Getting Publicity, Self-Counsel Press

Lambesis, Barbara
101 Big ideas for promoting a business on a small budget, Pierce Communications, Toronto

Levinson, Jay Conrad
Guerilla marketing, Houghton Mifflin

Trivers, Jonathan
One stop marketing: what every small business owner needs to know, Wiley

Withers, Jean and Caril Vipperman
Marketing Your Service, Self-Counsel Press