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Marketing Budget
Briefly discuss how much money you intend to invest in marketing as
percentage of your projected gross sales. You can break it down on a
monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Ideally, you will have already
determined the amount of your marketing budget when you created your
business' various financial statements.
Your Marketing Budget
Briefly discuss how much money you intend to invest in marketing as
percentage of your projected gross sales. You can break it down on a
monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Ideally, you will have already
determined the amount of your marketing budget when you created your
business' various financial statements. The figure you choose will
depend greatly on your type of business and your goals. It can be
anywhere from 5% to 50% or more. If you're a heavily marketing driven
venture - a company selling products through direct mail and direct
response advertising, for instance - then you will likely allocate more
than a company that will build its client base through networking and
relationship marketing.
Here are a couple of other things to consider when you're creating your
budget:
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By
putting down a figure, you are committing yourself to supporting
your marketing program. You will know how much you can afford to
spend on different forms of advertising, PR, and other tactics.
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Be
sure to keep track of how effective each marketing tactic is. You
want to get the maximum return on your marketing investments.
Effective Competitive Analysis
For your small business to succeed, you need to know almost as much
about your competitors as you do about your own company and customers.
Unfortunately, many small business owners make the mistake of waiting
until a competitor has opened up shop across the street and is cutting
into profits to find out who and what they're up against.
A competitive analysis allows you to identify your competitors and
evaluate their respective strengths and weaknesses. By knowing the
actions of your competitors, you will have a better understanding of
what products or services you should offer; how you can market them
effectively; and how you can position your business.
Competitive analysis is an ongoing process. You should always be
gathering information about your competitors. Look at their Web sites.
Read their product literature and brochures. Get your hands on their
products. See how they present themselves at trade shows. Read about
them in your industry's trade publications. Talk to your customers to
see how they feel about competitive products or services.
Click on the steps below to learn more about how to analyze your
competitors:
Step 1: Identify your competition
Step 2: Analyze strengths and weaknesses
Step 3: Look at opportunities and threats
Step 4: Determine your position.
Step 1: Identify your competition
Every business has competitors, and you need to take the time to discern
who your customers can approach to get a product or service that fills
the same need as yours does. Even if your product or service is truly
innovative, you need to look at what else your customers would purchase
to accomplish this task. For example, you may be opening a Website that
offers online Bingo. Your competition would be other Bingo sites, other
Web gaming sites, the Bingo hall down the street, and any other
businesses that are competing for the same leisure-time dollars.
Begin by looking at your primary competitors. These are the market
leaders, the companies who currently dominate your market. They are
probably the ones who you find yourself bumping up against in your
search for new customers. If you're a florist, it would be other
florists in your neighborhood. If you're a computer consultant, it would
be other consultants with the same specialty.
Next, look for your secondary and indirect competitors. These are the
businesses who may not go head-to-head with you, but who are targeting
the same general market. Sticking with the florist example, it might be
a small local roses-only store, a national floral delivery service, or
the flower/plant department of your local supermarket or discount
store..
Finally, look at potential competitors. These are companies who might be
moving into your market and who you need to prepare to compete against.
For example, you might have an independent frozen yogurt stand; you will
need to prepare to compete against national frozen yogurt franchises,
even if they are not yet in your market.
Effective Trade Show Planning
Exhibiting at trade shows, expos, conventions, fairs and other
exhibitions gives you a unique sales opportunity that can also help you
generate new leads, find suppliers, check out the competition, do some
networking, and get publicity. In short, you can achieve at one trade
show what it would take you weeks or months to do if you stayed home.
And it may even save you money -- according to the Center for Exhibit
Industry Research, it costs 62% less to close a lead generated from a
trade show than one originated in the field.
But to accomplish all of the above you must plan carefully. That means
choosing the correct show, setting clear objectives, creating an
effective exhibition, and promoting your presence. All this, before you
even get to the show! Click on the subjects below to learn more about
getting the most out of your trade show experience.
Choosing the Correct Show
With thousands of trade shows held annually, picking the one that will
net you the greatest benefit for your investment of time and money can
be daunting.
Begin your search by looking for trade shows that fit your product or
service. On the Web, you can try one of the trade show search sites,
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