5 Common Pitfalls of Strategic Marketing: For Time-Poor Business Owners.

Taking on the role of Strategic Marketer in your business probably sounds very overwhelming.

Do you agree that getting your marketing right will support growth of your small business?

Yes?

Then let’s get into it.

Because getting the long-term plan, or strategic marketing, right is important.

Definitely more challenging, especially if you are time-poor or lack confidence in this area.

Check out these common pitfalls that are commonly faced by small business owners and schedule a few hours in your diary to start your own Strategic Marketing planning.

Your efforts, or that of your team will become scattered, diluted, confusing and ultimately ineffective with a lack of clear goals and objectives to focus on.

And ensure they align with your business’s overall vision and values.

Action: SMART Goals

Get your SMART Goals on!

These are:

Break your goals down into actionable steps and track your progress.

This will keep you focused and motivated even amidst your busy day to day.

For example: Increase online sales by 15% over the next 5 months.

Understanding your audience’s needs, preferences and pain points are essential to create effective marketing and add to your strategic plan.

Without this insight, you risk wasting time and resources on marketing messages that do not resonate with your target customers.

Action: Gather insights

Use your social media platforms, surveys and feedback to gather insights.

For example: Check out the insights tab on your Facebook page. Find research that talks about your target audience on Google or read your competitors Google Reviews.

In the rush of managing the day-to-day in your business, unfortunately you can forget to keep an eye on your competitors.

You may miss an opportunity to differentiate your brand.

Action: Google Alerts

Set up Google Alerts - a quick way to set up an alert of your top three competitors, and receive an email or heads-up when something changes or hits the news.

When marketing is done on an ad-hoc basis, it can lead to disjointed communications that fail to create strong brand recall - a marketing term that refers to a customer's ability to retrieve a brand from memory.

Action: Brand Guidelines

Create brand guidelines for yourself and your team.

This does not need to be complicated - document the messages, tone and style that reflects your business and what you value.

Inspiration: “Maintain discipline and you will stay focused.” —Mark Ritson. Listen to our interview with Mark Riston on the Grow A Small Business Podcast. From a Professor at a Business School, now a Virtual Marketing Professor and Founder of a Mini MBA in Marketing, Mark is entertaining to listen to and interesting to follow!

You can’t expect to be an expert in every aspect of marketing!

Identify non-core marketing activities that could be outsourced to professionals or freelancers.

Tasks like graphic design, copywriting, social media management and search engine optimisation (SEO) can be outsourced to leave you more time to focus on strategy and business growth.

Action: Ask your Network

Ask your network for recommendations and referrals from marketing experts and businesses who offer services that could be outsourced.

Check out the Grow A Small Business Podcast under the topic of Marketing. You will find Marketing experts who are also business owners. Win, win!

Finding the right balance is key as your time is highly valuable, so use it wisely to propel your small business towards growth.

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