Position & Planning Your Brand Small Business Marketing 101

Our next few posts are going to be dedicated to small business marketing for the World Wide Web. The previous post was a comprehensive introduction to marketing for small businesses, and now we have expanded with steps to help you achieve your success. So get ready to start your brainstorming!

This series includes:

Small Business Marketing 101
Step 1: Position and Plan
Step 2: Create an Identity
Step 3: Spread the word through Internet Marketing
Step 3: Spread the word through Internet Marketing
Step 5: Measure your Social Media ROI

Step 1: Position and Plan

When considering your position in the market, or even more importantly the direction you want to take for business growth, there are many critical questions that must be answered before making any decisions. Position statements are used by organizations in order to help identify a clear vision of the direction of the company. These statements also take into account the perception of your market as well as other niche markets. Have your pen and paper handy, and start by answering these questions below:

1. Write down the name of your business, and your marketing message. (For example, you are a service provider that is in the event planning industry, and your unique sales point is that you can get the best deals for your clients).

2. Who does your company serve? In other words, who is your target market?

3. What does your target market typically shop for? Do they come to you? Or do they venture to your competitor?

4. What does your target market need?

5. Who are your competitors? There are two levels, primary and secondary. Primary competitors are those that directly compete with your business. Secondary indirectly compete with your business.

6. What differentiates your business from your competitors?

7. What are the unique benefits of your business?

These questions should have given you plenty of insight to evaluate the vision of your company. This will allow for you to formulate a clear and concise vision of your organization. Take notice of your competitors and how they identify themselves as a brand. What makes them a great company (this may sting but be honest), and what can you assess about their potential pitfalls? These evaluations will certainly enable to you distinguish what sets you apart from your competitors, and allow you to create a uniform positioning statement.

Stay tuned as we are going to be giving you Step 2 of this series in Small Business Marketing 101. If we can help national brands with their marketing, who says that an agency cannot help you? All you have to do is take notes, and if you really want to be a step ahead, make a small investment in our eBook. Both of these tools and resources will serve as the perfect guide in establishing your mark.