SCORE North Metro Atlanta

MARKETING PLANNING

SCORENorthMetroAtlanta

ABOUT SCORE •  The training and mentoring arm

of the SBA •  Experienced business owners and

executives acting as volunteers •  Free mentoring:

•  Face-to-face •  E-mail, Skype, etc.

•  Seminars and workshops •  Resources for small business: Northmetroatlanta.score.org

LET’S GET STARTED

Briefly tell us: •  Your name

•  Your business

•  What you hope to achieve through this program

RULES OF ORDER •  The only “dumb” question was the one you DIDN’T

ask! •  We got a lot of smart people in the room, so

participate and share •  At least 20% of what I say today is utter nonsense! (or

at least up for debate) So challenge! •  We will manage time efficiently; interesting side topics

will be put in the parking lot for future discussion.

MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS

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BY THE END OF THIS WORKSHOP, YOU WILL LEARN:

•  How to identify your marketing goals •  How to evaluate your marketing

options •  Using social media to market your

product or service •  The best online marketing methods •  Public relations strategies •  Effective advertising methods •  How to use event marketing •  When to use cause marketing •  How to retain customers

BASIC PREMISE #1: YOU’RE AN EXPERT •  True! •  You have been “marketed to” since before you were

born •  You are “marketed to” almost every waking hour. •  Most of that marketing happens without your

conscious awareness! •  The amount of marketing your brain encounters is

growing exponentially •  Use this knowledge to make you a better marketer

BASIC PREMISE #2: BUYING IS A PROCESS

McKinsey&Co.

BASIC PREMISE #3: ALIGNMENT •  Your product/service has USPs: Unique Selling

Points •  Prospects/Segments have needs •  When those two align, a transaction can happen! •  When those two can be sustained, brand loyalty

can happen! •  Your marketing plan is about these four points.

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKETING GOALS

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IDENTIFY YOUR MARKETING GOALS Have Your Business Needs Changed?

•  Target customers – Existing customers – things change – New customers – new needs

•  Product or service mix •  Price points • Marketing budget •  Sales channel • Competitors

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKETING GOALS What market segments are you targeting and why?

•  Segments: groups of customers with common traits: – Location – Income level – Gender – Age – Buying behavior – Needs!

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKETING GOALS Market Research Understand your target market(s) •  Size •  Income level (consumer) •  Sales/Revenue (business) •  Purchasing habits •  Demographics •  Purchasing channels •  Geographic location •  Customer needs!!!!!

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKET

•  Google.com •  Trade associations •  Census data •  American FactFinder

(http://factfinder.census.gov) •  EconomicIndicators.gov •  Fedstats.gov

•  National Bureau of Economic Research (www.nber.org) •  Hoover’s (www.hoovers.com) •  ThomasNet

(www.thomasnet.com)

MarketDataSources:Indirectsourcesfromothers

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKET Market Data Sources: Direct sources •  Customer surveys (SurveyMonkey.com + Zoomerang.com) •  Internet research •  Social media •  Focus groups •  Conversations •  “Shop” your competitors!

WORKSHEET #1 Market Data Sources This grid can be used once you’ve done some market research. If you can, fill in the first column. Can anyone already describe a target market of theirs?

IDENTIFYING YOUR MARKETING GOALS

Understanding Market Share

•  Usually measured as a % of total market in dollars or units.

•  Monitor market share regularly •  Adjust marketing strategy accordingly

TotalMarket($,units)

Yourshare

IDENTIFYING YOUR MARKETING GOALS

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%Economy

Mid-sizesedan

FullsizesedanSUV

Luxury

MarketShareBySegment

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKET Pricing!!!!! •  Extremely important! •  Once set, prices are hard to move up. Get it right! •  What factors should be considered when setting a price??? •  (discussion and input) •  Customer perceived value, competitors, trends, segments, value

added, differentiation, commoditization, cost to serve, volume efficiencies, channels to market, and maybe your costs.

•  (Popcorn exercise?????)

IDENTIFYING YOUR MARKETING GOALS

Is Your Brand Clear? Branding is not the same as marketing. Branding is the image, logo and positioning of the product or service. 4 steps to brand creation: 1.  Connect to your big “Why?” 2.  Identify unique selling proposition 3.  Understand target market 4.  Communicate brand consistently

Brand Message Describe your product/service, points of differentiation and ideal customer – then put them together to create your Brand Message

IDENTIFYING YOUR MARKETING GOALS: ACTIVITY

IDENTIFYING YOUR MARKETING GOALS

Competitive Analysis What do you know about your competitors? How are you different: •  Better, faster, different? •  What are you unique selling points? •  Have you done a SWOT analysis? •  Have you “shopped” your competitors?

SWOT ANALYSIS

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGIC CANVAS

IDENTIFYING YOUR MARKETING GOALS

Competitive Analysis Analyze the marketing methods used by your competition. Would similar methods work for you? Would a different approach make you stand out?

EVALUATING YOUR MARKETING

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EVALUATING YOUR MARKETING

Return on Investment Always assess your ROI for your marketing budget •  Set measurable goals – if you can’t measure it, you can’t

manage it. •  Measure results

– Marketing effort that generated the sale – Survey customers

•  Adjust marketing plan accordingly

EVALUATING YOUR MARKETING

Change in Market Share Did you move the needle? •  Set measurable goals – if you can’t measure it, you can’t

manage it. •  Measure results

–  Gained customers? –  Grew volume? –  By segment?

•  Adjust marketing plan accordingly

YOUR MARKETING OPTIONS

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YOUR MARKETING OPTIONS Is It Right for You?

Not every marketing strategy is right for every business When evaluating the following options, ask: •  Will this help achieve my goals? •  Will this reach my target customer(s)? •  Does this fit my budget? (Typically 3%-10% after 1-3 years) •  Do I have adequate staff to implement? •  How will I measure the results?

YOUR MARKETING OPTIONS Marketing Methods & Tools: -  Advertising: radio, TV, newspaper, magazine, direct mail, yellow

pages, online -  Public Relations (PR): print, radio, TV, online -  Collateral: business cards, tri-folds, stationary, flyers -  Online: website, newsletter, emails, mobile, rating and review sites -  Social Media: social networks, geo location sites, group deal sites

YOUR MARKETING OPTIONS Marketing Methods & Tools: How do you choose? •  How do your customers and prospect get their information?

–  What do they read? –  Who do they trust? –  What affects their decision making?

•  What is your focus? (Don’t “Boil the Ocean”) •  What can you afford? •  What can you measure? •  Test and measure: e.g.: test a flyer in a small market and measure

the impact; respond accordingly.

MARKETING COLLATERAL

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CREATING MARKETING MATERIALS Marketing Materials Do your marketing materials need a makeover? Do they still reflect your brand? Are you consistent? •  Logo •  Signage, banners •  Business cards •  Brochures •  Website

CREATING MARKETING MATERIALS •  Low Cost Resources

•  Inkzoo.com •  Logoworks.com • VistaPrint.com •  Fiverr

•  99Designs.com • CrowdSPRING.com •  Elance.com •  Freelancer.com • Guru.com

ADVERTISING

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ADVERTISING Offline Advertising Options •  Print (newspapers, magazines, community

publications, trade press) •  Radio •  Cable TV •  Direct mail (postcards, letters) •  Car wraps •  Sponsorships

ADVERTISING Online Advertising Options •  Link exchanges

•  E-mail newsletter advertising

•  Pay-per-click (PPC)

•  Banner ads

PUBLIC RELATIONS

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PUBLIC RELATIONS Understanding Public Relations Public relations is a means of generating attention from the media that can be as effective as advertising in building awareness of your business

PR: WRITING A PRESS RELEASE

StandardFormat•  Headline•  Date•  Summary•  Body•  About/Boilerplate

•  Contact

TargettoEachNews/MediaOutlet•  RelevantTopics

•  Timely•  Interes]ng

Resource•  Newswire’sPRToolkit(http://toolkit.prnewswire.com)

PR: PRESS RELEASE DISTRIBUTION

Target publications, reporters and bloggers: •  E-mail release •  Link to your website •  Follow up Free press release distribution services: •  FreePressRelease.com •  PR.com •  PRLog.org

PR: DISCUSSION Press Release Distribution What are some topics related to your business that you could write a press release for? Who would you target and why?

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Online Marketing

ON LINE MARKETING Benefits of a Business Website •  Builds awareness •  Helps customers find you •  Builds credibility •  Drives sales •  Customer service •  Additional sales channel •  National/global reach •  E-commerce

ON LINE MARKETING: WEBSITE

Determine Goals

Business Strategy Marketing Strategy

Development Requirements Ease of use, sales, customer service, branding, search

ON LINE MARKETING: WEBSITE Elements of Your Website •  Domain name or URL (www.yourbusiness.com) •  Web hosting service •  Website design Many providers offer package options that include all three: •  GoDaddy.com •  IMSMB.com •  NetworkSolutions.com •  Web.com

ON LINE MARKETING: WEBSITE Principles of Web Design •  User-focused

•  Simple to navigate

•  Direct users to take action

•  Consistent with your marketing message

ON LINE MARKETING: SEO !!!!!! Search Engine Optimization SEO = driving traffic to your site via organic search results •  Create quality content

•  Use targeted keywords

•  Measure results

ON LINE MARKETING: ANALYTICS Web analytics can measure: • Number of visitors • Number of page impressions • Average visit length • Most popular site entry pages • Where users come from (sites or search engine phrases) • Number of inquiries, leads or sales generated • Conversion rates •  Total sales volume online • Average purchase per online customer

Use analytics to determine if your site is achieving your goals

ON LINE MARKETING: EMAIL Ways to get e-mail addresses: • Opt in •  Sign up in-store • Offer incentives •  Privacy policy •  Barter or buy lists E-mail examples: • Newsletter (monthly, weekly, daily) •  Sales or specials: Weekly or as needed •  Announcements •  Event invitations

EMAIL: LEGAL ISSUES LEGAL ISSUES CAN-SPAM Act requires: ▪  Identify yourself ▪  Identify as an ad ▪  Physical address ▪  No deceptive subject lines ▪  Opt-out options (double opt-

in not required, but preferred) ▪  Unsubscribe requests

RESOURCES Using an e-mail service can help: ▪  Benchmark E-Mail ▪  MailChimp ▪  Constant Contact ▪  iContact ▪  Microsoft Office Live Small

Business E-Mail Marketing service (smallbusiness. officelive.com)

Visit the FTC website (www.ftc.gov/spam) for information and resources on legal issues

ON LINE MARKETING: MOBILE MARKETING

Mobile marketing = using cell phones and other mobile devices to market to customers •  95% of U.S. population owns a mobile phone •  77% own smart phones •  Good for local businesses •  Reach customers on the move

ON LINE MARKETING: MOBILE MARKETING

ON LINE MARKETING: MOBILE MARKETING

Mobile Marketing Methods

•  SMS or MMS marketing: Text or photo messages sent to customers’ phones

•  Mobile banner advertising: Buying banner space on a site that is mobile-device-ready

•  Mobile local search: Having your business pop up when someone is looking for a local business

•  Mobile apps: Creating a smartphone application to promote your business

•  Mobile paid search: Top 4 paid results show up •  Is your site mobile-friendly? Check at mobiReady.com

ON LINE MARKETING Rating and review Sites

▪  Bing Local

▪  CitySearch

▪  Google Places

▪  Insider Pages

▪  Local.com

▪  Merchant Circle

▪  RatePoint.com

▪  Yahoo! Local

▪  Yelp!

Don’t forget niche sites for your industry, region or city!!

ON LINE MARKETING: RATING & REVIEW SERVICES

Claim your listing and optimize it with: • Photos • Description of business • Maps/directions • Coupons/special offers • Tracking/analytics

ON LINE MARKETING Maximize Ratings and Reviews

Monitor Accounts •  Google alerts •  Paid tracking services •  Manually visit sites

Respond to Negative Reviews •  Reputation management

Convert Users to Buyers •  Put reviews on your site

Learning Tool •  Use analytics •  Learn from reviews

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

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SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social media facts: Fastest-growing communication technology among consumers and business users Projected 2.5 billion users by 2018* To get started, set your goals: Increase sales Drive traffic to your site or store Learn about competitors Find potential partners *Source: www.statista.com

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: ACTIVITY

Social Media Overview •  Review the Social Media

Overview handout •  Discuss which sites you

currently use (or are thinking about using) and why.

SOCIAL MEDIA RESOURCES Social Media Resources

Start with each site’s free social media analytics tools

Other tools include:

Manage Your Twitter Activity •  Cotweet.com •  SocialOompth.co

m •  Tweedeck.com

Manage Multiple Social Media Accounts •  Hootsuite.com •  NutshellMail.com •  SproutSocial.cm

Keep Up With Social Media News and Trends •  Mashable.com

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING Social Media Time Commitment

•  Time requirements

•  Management of updates

•  Frequent changes required

•  Learning curve for effective use

•  Deciding what is appropriate for the media

EVENT MARKETING

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STEPS TO EVENT MARKETING Set goals

Plan event

Promotions at events

Invite partners and co-sponsors

Publicize and market the event

Collect customer data

Thank attendees

Follow up

EVENT MARKETING Sponsoring an Event •  Good promotional tool for businesses with local customers •  Options include sports teams, charity events, schools, races, fairs •  Investigate event organizer To consider: •  What will you give? •  What will you get?

CAUSE MARKETING

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CAUSE MARKETING Cause Marketing Facts •  Many customers are conscious of social responsibility •  Products associated with a good cause see up to a 74 percent boost in

sales compared to non-cause-associated products* •  Women, millennials especially cause-conscious •  Key causes: Green, education, disaster relief, disease research

*Source: Cause Evolution Survey

CAUSE MARKETING: STEPS

Choose a relevant cause Investigate

cause

Decide level of support

(volunteering, contribution,

selling products) Under-

stand tax concerns Publicize

your cause Be authentic

YOUR MARKETING OPTIONS: ACTIVITY Is It Right for You? Based on the strategies discussed (or any other strategies you are considering) complete this worksheet.

CREATING “RAVING FANS”

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CREATING “RAVING FANS” Why Customer Retention Matters •  As your business grows, retaining existing customers is key to success

•  It costs 5 times more to find a new customer than it does to keep one* –  Cost to gain and retain customer –  Rate of “churn” – how long do your customers remain loyal? –  Analyze by segment!

•  Loyal customers can refer other customers to your business *Source: Gallup

CREATING “RAVING FANS” Customer Loyalty Programs Keep customers coming back with loyalty programs that can include: •  Deliver on your core promise, be true to your

“Big Why” •  Loyalty cards •  Geo-location websites •  Discounts and special offers •  Events •  Giveaways

CREATING “RAVING FANS” Customer Service Customer service is key to repeat business. Are the following aspects of your business meeting customers’ expectations? •  Physical location •  Website •  Phone •  Your staff •  Questions, problems, answers •  Customer feedback •  Post-sale follow up •  Secret shopper

CREATING “RAVING FANS” Boomerang Effect •  Raving Fans can become equally vocal enemies if you let

them down! •  Stay true to the “Big Why” •  Keep the relationship fresh •  Use loyalty programs etc. to let them know they a

special •  Examples????????

HELPFUL RESOURCES

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HELPFUL RESOURCES •  American Advertising Federation (www.aaf.org) •  American Express OPEN Forum (www.openforum.com) •  American Marketing Association (www.ama.org) •  Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) •  Larry Chase’s Web Digest for Marketers (www.wdfm.com) •  Marketing Plan Pro (www.paloalto.com) •  Marketing Profs (www.marketingprofs.com) •  Marketing Sherpa (www.marketingsherpa.com) •  Mobile Marketing Association (http://mmaglobal.com) •  Radio Advertising Bureau (www.rab.com) •  SCORE (www.score.org)

REVIEW

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REVIEW

•  Use research to inform your marketing goals. •  Identify key segments and understand the needs •  Focus your marketing effort; don’t “Boil the Ocean” •  Carefully analyze the pros and cons of using various

marketing methods. •  Measure your marketing actions. ROI! •  Customer service and retention are important and

more cost-effective than finding new clients

ROUNDTABLE OPTIONS

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NEXT STEPS

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NEXT STEPS •  Complete the Target Market Data Worksheet •  Create a marketing plan for the next 12 months

that reflects your new marketing goals and explains how you will achieve them

•  Review the With Your Mentor handout for topics to discuss with your mentor

Visit:www.score.orgNorthmetroatlanta.score.org

HELP US HELP YOU! Please answer the following questions: 1.  On a scale of 0 - 10, how likely is it that you would recommend

this workshop to your friends and colleagues?

2.  What is the primary reason for the answer you just gave us?

3.  What is the most important improvement we could make that would make you rate us closer to a 10?

THANK YOU!