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“Strong Marketing Plan Series: Step 1: Market Research”

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businessmen-1005545__180_IIIn part one of our Strong Marketing Plan Series, we will explore market research—what it is, why it is important, and how you can conduct it to help your small business. To achieve sustainable business growth, you must first get to know your customers, your competitors, and your industry. Market research is the process of analyzing data to help you learn which products and services are in demand, and how you can gain a competitive edge. Many people fail to include this important step in their marketing strategy and dive head first into creating content. It is natural to be eager, but without market research you run the risk of creating the wrong content. As an entrepreneur, you don’t have that time to waste.

 

By incorporating these 4 dos and don’ts into your marketing plan, you will gain valuable insight that will help you identify business risks, trends in your industry, and sales opportunities.

 

1   Do: Size Up Your Competition

Before you can play the game, you need to know who your opponents are and how they operate. This can be as simple as running a Google search for popular terms in your industry or searching “top 10 (insert your niche) blogs”. You can also turn to social media and learn who the prominent businesses and influencers are in that space. Who are people following, engaging with through comments, or re-tweeting? Many industry leaders are writing e-books. Visit the Kindle section on Amazon and search with key words to discover which authors are most popular. Keep track of what you learn about your competition on a spreadsheet.

 

2   Don’t: Assume Your Customer’s Needs

As a business owner, you are a problem solver. But before you can provide your clients with a solution, you need to know what they need help with. To do this, refer back to your list of competitors. Dig a little deeper and visit their websites. What customer problems are they solving? Do they have a list of FAQs? Do the majority of their blog posts address a specific challenge their customers are facing? What are they selling and at what price? Add this information to your spreadsheet. As a result of this research, you may opt to add additional services or change the way you deliver your product. As your business grows, you will have ample opportunity to get creative with product development. However, to ensure success from the start, market something that you are confidant people want.

 

3   Don’t: Recreate The Wheel

Trade groups, business magazines, academic institutions, government, and other third parties gather and analyze research data about business trends. Internet databases are chock full of information related to your location and industry. In addition, you may already be collecting analytics that you aren’t aware of. If you have a Facebook page for your business, you have access to helpful data about who is clicking and when. The same applies to your blog. Comments are indicators of engagement, but you can also learn a ton from the back end of your platforms. For example, if you embedded an infographic with tracking capabilities, you can monitor every time it is clicked, viewed, shared, and how long each online user viewed it. This wealth of knowledge will afford you a greater understanding of what makes your target market take action. You can then adjust your content accordingly to make it even more relevant.

 

4   Do: Get To Know Your Customers

While secondary research is critical, it is also important to go straight to the source. This means conducting qualitative primary research such as interviews, surveys, questionnaires, or focus groups. Once you have a group of willing participants, you can design and questions that inform your business plan. You might choose to incorporate questions about a person’s demographic, buying habits, what they dislike about similar products on the market, or what problems motivate them to purchase a product.

Once you have done your market research, you can incorporate it into your marketing plan. You will no longer be throwing a dart while blindfolded, hoping to hit a target. Instead, you will have incredibly valuable information about who your customers are, what they want, and how they are likely to purchase your product or use your services.

Have you been surprised by something you’ve discovered in your market research? If so, please share in the comments below!

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Could Your Business Be Failing Due to Branding?

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Not like many

Owning your own company is an exhilarating experience for many people. You have finally put your ideas into fruition and you want to get the most out of your company. The only problem is that you fear your business may fall victim to the same thing that many small businesses have succumbed to: that no one will remember it and it fails. Did you know that one of the number one reasons that small businesses (or any business, really) fail is that they don’t have a good brand? Effective branding is one of the most important things you need to do in order to keep your business running full steam ahead.

The first thing you need to do is conduct  in-depth marketing research. You need to find out what other companies like yours are doing to make themselves known. Customer preferences and tastes will vary depending on where you open your business and knowing what sets you apart and how to combine the two will put you ahead of the other companies in the area.

Next, you need to offer customers something that is unique, that stands out, and sets you apart. What is it about your proposed company that you can offer to clients that others cannot or what can you give your customers that other companies seem to have a hard time offering? Once you find that unique niche, you can work on the next steps.

Now, you need to choose a brand name that not only stands out but that sets you apart. You want to choose a name that reflects what you feel customers’ needs and desires are, but you also want it to convey your company and what you intend to come from your company. You want a brand name and a message that clearly states what you are about. Consider the industry that you are breaking into and work from there. Are you working in the art industry? Then you don’t want a name that sounds boring. Are you in the legal industry? Then you don’t want an artsy kind of name. Giving your company a name that hones in on what you offer is the best way to start. The key though is to make it unique to you!

Once you establish a name, you need to establish communication with your intended clientele. Did you know that about 85% of communication is non-verbal when it comes to running a small business? Communication is about more than just words. You communicate through emotions, so try to invoke emotions. For example, if you own a resale shop for toddler clothing, you wouldn’t paint the girls section blue, you would paint it pink. You want to set direction and focus through more than just words.

Now that you have established communication, you want to establish consistency. Doing the same thing over and over that works will keep people coming back.  Deliver the best customer service time and time again. Have a great resolution center or procedure that others cannot compare to. Keep things new and lively. It will push you far above the rest.

Making The Most Of A Business Coach

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A business coach is one of the most important things you can have when you are trying to grow your business. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in – strategy & growth need to be top focuses, and often, you cannot do it alone.

Here are some tips to ensure you make the most of a business coach. It’s always a good idea to find someone who has experience. You should also be sure you are establishing a strategy early on.

At B3 Consulting, we have worked with 100+ businesses in a wide range of industries and are in different levels of entrepreneurship. Choosing a business coach is not something you want to take lightly.

Below are three ways to make the most of a business coach.

Be Open to Ideas

Be open to the ideas that they share. They are the coach and you hired them to learn from them. This means you have to be willing to take their ideas and turn them into strategies that are going to help you and ultimately deliver business growth.

Explore New Options

It’s always important to explore new options. We have created all sorts of new ideas for search engine optimization, improved customer engagement, and changed employee infrastructure. If something has not been working for you, there is no reason to keep following that route. Your coach is going to look at the big picture – something that you cannot do because you are too close to it all. They are going to show you new ways of doing things and this can be just what you need to be more successful.

Take Notes

You probably aren’t going to have a business coach in place all the time, throughout the duration of your business. This means you want to listen to what they say and understand the reasons for why they suggest different things. Pay attention to the analysis so that when you hit another bump down the road, you can remedy the situation on your own. When you have plenty of notes from the consulting sessions, it can ensure you know how to tackle problems that you run into.

Not all business coaches are created equally. When you decide you are ready to make a difference and get professional help for building strategies designed to take your business to the next level, you want to hire someone who can truly make a difference and help you achieve your goals are.

Don’t hire a coach and then not be willing to listen or make changes. You want to reach goals and grow your business to be bigger and better. Make the most of your time with a coach by choosing the right one and being open to the suggestions.

Still not convinced about the benefits of business coaching?  Remove the risk and sign up for a FREE 30-Minute coaching session!

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