Businesses and marketing:
the top five things you need to know
When it comes to businesses and marketing, here are my top
five things every small business owner must know.
1. The great business guru, Peter Drucker, said there are
only two core functions of a business: innovation and
marketing. Innovation is creating the products and services
that will give your customers what they want and need;
marketing is getting prospective customers aware of what you
have created and creating an environment where they want to
buy it and benefit from them. So, marketing is a close
second to having valuable products and services. Actually,
I’d say they’re tied for first place, because without
marketing your products and services won’t do anyone any
good because they won’t have them!
2. What’s often true in businesses, and marketing is no
exception, is that you must remember that everything counts
– how your phones are answered, what you and your employees
wear, what your premises look like, along with the obvious
ones including your customer service, your graphics, your
message, and your testimonials.
3. Marketing gets you prospects to know and trust you, sales
is helping them buy from you. It’s often the case in
businesses, and marketing is part of that of course, that
entrepreneurs think sales and marketing are interchangeable.
They’re different but related functions.
4. Your marketing must have a message. If you’re plain
vanilla, you’re either leaving a heckuva lot of profits on
the table, or you’re on your way out of business. You need a
message that some people will be responsive to and will
respond to. Most marketing is devoid of message; it is just
that name, rank and serial number – the features.
5. As many marketing gurus have taught, you need to have a
Unique Selling Proposition that answers the question “Why
should I do business with you versus any and every other
option available to me which includes doing nothing?” When
you have a great answer to this question, businesses and
marketing doors will open like you have the golden key to
the vault. It’s an enormous accelerator because your
business is now about something and for somebody and you
have a message.
Stay tuned for the next top five!
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2009 Anne Alexander, all rights reserved in
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