Entrepreneurial Success - A Marketing Function.

Many at times entrepreneurship seems a perfect choice when we consider its long term gains. However, my recent discovery suggests that success in any entrepreneurial venture is more of marketing than any other aspect of business. Little wonder, both large and small organisations give more to the marketing department and do not take lightly their marketing personnel requirements.

According to a report I read in an article some years back, it claimed the US Bureau of Labor revealed that Marketing and Sales had the highest number of employees in US organisations. This further buttresses my discovery of the entrepreneurship and marketing function.

You may ask, "What really is this fuss about marketing?" Before I go on to define marketing, I would like to point to the fact that for most people, their understanding of the discipline stem from theories being taught at schools; and usually not really understood. A typical misunderstanding of this concept is when people (even 'experts') equate marketing to sales!

So what then is marketing? Simply put, marketing is analysing and understanding your customer/client requirements and placing value (quality and unique products/services) in their hands at an affordable price and appropriate time.

From the foregoing, we can safely conclude that marketing is to an entrepreneur (or business) what air is to man! Therefore, a successful entrepreneurial venture is largely a function of marketing and not accounting nor administration (though equally important).

One obvious reason many young entrepreneurs still find it difficult to 'sell' their products, services, ideas, or cause, is because they do not fully understand what marketing entails; or probably, they share a misconception of the discipline.

You have a brilliant idea for a product or service - fine! How do you translate this idea into a profitable business venture? How do you locate your core customers/clients? What strategies will help you stay afloat of competition? What are the buyer persona profiles of your target audience? Why should your customers/clients make a repeat purchase? All of these questions and more is what a true understanding of marketing will help you proffer answers to.

You don’t just sit there doing nothing and expect your idea to blossom. As a small business owner, your formative years are when you [the entrepreneur] should even work harder and smarter to gain more customers/clients for your business. In the words of Ken Inverson, “Entrepreneurs should be able to spend 80% of their time getting customers.”

Even if you have never had an academic or professional background in marketing, that’s not an excuse! According to Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, “Entrepreneurship will become a core skill which all our young people will need to exploit the opportunities emerging from science and technology, culture and communications.”

Try to engage yourself in a self-study on marketing, Business Communications, General Management, Entrepreneurship, Advertising, Public Relations, and Selling. Also, attend some short professional training programmes, with an emphasis on marketing and selling.

The truth is that every organization is aimed at selling. Their offerings, however, could be in the form of tangible products or intangible services, ideas or a social cause. Whichever the case is, marketing plays a vital role in reaching out to those target audience whose support, attitude, interest and patronage matters to the wellbeing of the organization.

While marketing is not sales, marketing supports sales activities. Marketing and sales are interdependent on one another.

As a young entrepreneur, you need to understand that for your business idea to grow wings and fly high into the sky, you must have a good understanding of marketing, and have a plan. Such plan should consist of simple but vital information as:
1. Your intentions [statements of purpose, mission or objectives]
2. Your offerings [products/services]
3. Your target audience [customers/clients]
4. Your marketing strategies [packaging, price, distribution, promotion, etc]
5. Your rivals [competitors]
6. Your budgetary allocation [finance]
7. Your evaluation [control]

A fuller understanding of these seven basic points will help in your quest to grow your small business to become a giant in the next few years.

See you at the top!
Ayokunle Bankole
www.facebook.com/ayokunle.bankole

Has Your Small Business Adopted Integrated Marketing Communications?

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is a broad concept that involves the totality of ways or strategies a company uses to convince its publics (target audience) to buy its products, services or both – especially through advertising, marketing and public relations.

Marketing communications, at best, draws a business organization towards the direction of sales by using various tools such as billboards, the internet, SMS, direct mailing, brochure, special event, photography, TV and radio commercials, press releases, corporate social responsibilities, pricing strategy, product information, etc.

Gone are the days when someone opens a shop, erects a signpost and expect customers to troop in. Obviously, business has gone beyond this primitive idea.

In modern business organizations, IMC has taken the centre stage. The marketing departments of many medium and large-sized companies now than ever include advertising and public relations in their policies, actions and inactions.

IMC plays a vital role in today’s competitive marketplace where people are constantly filled with all sorts of commercials; hence, the marketing communication must be unique, timely, informative, usable, creative and memorable.

The marketing communications effort of any organization becomes effective when their advertising campaign attract sales; when their web site provides an intended effect; when their bulk SMS campaign keeps the phone ringing; and when their sales representatives make huge sales with little effort.

The small business owner should, therefore, focus on his business demeanor: how the organization communicates, interacts, persuades, informs, relates, publicizes, promotes, and how it chooses and uses its words in sales pitches.

It is, however, not needless to say that budding entrepreneurs should take short courses in marketing, business communication, advertising, and public relations. And a regular study of write-ups in these subject areas is advisable.

ADVERTISING YOUR BUSINESS JUST GOT CHEAPER WITH SMS MARKETING

As an entrepreneur, identifying the marketing tools and strategies that work well for your kind of business is paramount to her overall performance.An enormous marketing budget doesn’t necessarily translate to large sales. It’s effective marketing that generates large amount of sales.

As a small business owner, it’s erroneous to think that until you have a huge advertising or marketing budget, that’s when more sales will flow. Wrong! Doing the right thing for your small business is what matters.

For some months now, I have taken time to study resources on small business and the marketing tools and strategies available to them (without really having to deep your hands too far into the savings). I have applied these principles to my consulting work and it’s working!

CUSTOMISED BULK SMS MARKETING WILL WORK FOR YOU TOO…
Bulk SMS is one of the most effective, yet cheap marketing tool available to a business. Though the use of direct mail and other forms of direct marketing are still in use, SMS marketing has taken the centre stage. Companies now make use of this strategy to inform, educate, advice and promote their products and services to target audience, customers or clients.A well drafted and targeted SMS campaign is able to bring you new businesses, clients, or repeated calls from prospects.

USEFUL TIPS WHEN SENDING A CUSTOMISED BULK SMS…
1. A targeted list of recipients’ number can be more effective than mass marketing. However, you may find new prospects from your mass marketing effort.

2. Make sure you use a sender ID known by your audience, or at least be consistent in the case of a first time. Your sender ID is the name that appears above the message when a recipient receives your message. Your sender ID may be the name of your business or web site, but it must not be more than 11 characters (including space).

3. Avoid ambiguity. Be direct when drafting your ad copy.

4. Make your 160 character message worth reading by always giving the reader useful information.

5. The ad should promise the reader some benefit that will accrue from accepting the ad’s premises.

6. The ad should be persuasive enough to make the reader call you.

7. Put a contact information in the body of the message; for example, your phone or e-mail address.

8. What action do you want from your audience? Is it to call, email, or just visit your site? Or probably you just want to give an information.

9. Don’t merge several ads in one campaign. Make sure to send different messages for different products or services.

10. Don’t bombard your recipients with a lot of sales messages, otherwise they will lose interest in whatever you have to say

TIPS ON GAINING CUSTOMER LOYALTY FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

Loyal customers are the foundation of almost every business. Going a step further with your marketing strategies to provide outstanding customer service is the first step to customer loyalty. But there is more:

1. OFFER VALUE-BASED PRODUCTS/SERVICES. They have already bought from you, so providing they had a good experience, they might buy from you again. Getting new customers is more expensive than selling to existing ones. So, by continuing to sell to existing customers, you are really saving yourself some money. They can give you invaluable feedback on how you did. Was your service good enough? Did your product meet their expectations? Was it good value for money?

2. DELIGHT AND EXCEED CUSTOMERS’ EXPECTATIONS. Anyone with half a brain can satisfy customers. Only when business owners keep delighting customers will customers keep coming back. You should aim at exceeding your customers’ expectations on every interaction they have with you. Do this consistently and you will keep having customers for life. You think your loyal customers/clients could benefit from reading your e-book or article you have written? Surprise them and make it a gift!

3. LAVISH PERSONAL ATTENTION ON CUSTOMERS. Learn to lavish personal attention on customers who are going to reciprocate by being consistently good purchasers or your products or services. Give your customers an incentive to share information about themselves that you can use when you contact them next. The more your customers feel as though you are treating them individually, the more likely they are to continue their relationship with you.

4. EMBRACE CUSTOMER FEEDBACK. If you do not know what your customers feel about you, your business, your product or services, then you might as well close your shop. People will endorse your business not because they think it looks good but because they know it is good. If you have problems with your products, customers are the best source of objective advice on how to make an improvement. So, have a process in place where you regularly ask them for feedback. And once they give it to you, let them know how you are going to use it. They will begin to feel involved in your business, and are more likely to send other people your way.

5. REWARD LOYAL CUSTOMERS. Reward your customers for being loyal. It provides a vital link between your business and your customers, improving customer satisfaction and sales. Offer bonus service or product (buy 2 and get a 3rd, free). Render services beyond their expectations. If you own a school, reward certain parents that are consistent in payment of the school fee. Give them discounts, textbooks or gift items.

6. ALWAYS KEEP IN TOUCH. They are most likely to keep buying from you if you have a strong relationship – if they trust you and your products or services. Your “keep in touch” strategy should consider the best method (e-mail, telephone, newsletter, etc); the frequency (weekly, monthly, quarterly, event-based) and, what to talk about (your company’s business activity, industry information, tips and hints, useful resources, etc). Keep your newsletter information-based, concise and interesting.

7. GAIN NEW CUSTOMERS FROM EXISTING ONES. At the conclusion of every sale, ask customers if they know if they know of any other people that would be interested in your products or services. Existing customers are your major source of referrals and new businesses. Through them, you get access to new customers who already know about you and have a positive opinion of what you do.

8. APPRECIATE YOUR CUSTOMERS. Thank them for referrals every time. It makes them feel recognized. It reinforces a positive behaviour so that they consider referring to you again. A thank you can be as simple as a hand-written card sent through the mail, a movie ticket, a voucher or even a phone call.Make all these a focus of your marketing efforts and you soon see the rewards come back to you in the form of increased patronage and profit.

Article written by Shina-Ayomi Fasanmi. Tel 08051709424