Many entrepreneurs who are starting out often overlook the importance of marketing and solely rely on the strength and popularity of their product or services.
Palesa Mabasa, FNB Business Development Head, SME Funding says, “while this may be true, especially for some businesses who rely only on word of mouth as a marketing tool, entrepreneurs who are serious about growing their businesses need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a marketing strategy that will help them attract more customers and increase sales.”
“Often, when entrepreneurs market their businesses, they assume that its only about putting their brands on social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram, without necessarily having a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan in place,” adds Mabasa, as she unpacks tips for developing a business marketing strategy:
- Marketing strategy – as part of your marketing strategy, develop a marketing plan that aligns to your business objectives. For example, if your plan includes a social media plan or campaign – depending on the depth and frequency of your planned activities, you can then decide to appoint a social media manager or manage the activities yourself in alignment with the business’ broader marketing activities. It’s more than just randomly posting on Twitter and Instagram as and when you deem relevant.
- Competitive advantage – it’s important to know and understand your competitors, determine your unique selling point, and what you can deliver to satisfy your customer needs. For example, when running a bakery, you could offer your customers discounts, such as muffins when buying three coffees.
- Free online marketing tools – there are many online tools that SMEs can use to learn more and or market their businesses, often at no cost.
For example, FNB provides customers with Fundaba, a free digital app-based entrepreneurship learning programme on the FNB App, that covers various topics to help you start, run and grow your business including a section on marketing and sales.
The bank also has a digital marketplace on the FNB App called Nav marketplace, where business clients can load their services, a logo, images, and a catchy description exposing their businesses to over 4 million FNB App users.
Business that can list their services includes, homes services, professional services like accountants, tutors, and GIG workers.
- Return on investments – in addition to the marketing activities that will be implemented, it is important to use the right tools to accurately measure and determine return on investment. This will help the business owners to determine whether their marketing activities have helped to deliver on their strategy
“Lastly – the importance of fully understanding your competitors, customers, market and landscape in which you operate and matching that with an adequate marketing plan that will help the business to reach its objectives – cannot not be overemphasized”, concludes Mabasa.