Tips for successful marketing

One of the major factors as to whether your business will succeed for the long term will have to do with how well you market. Too often business owners make the mistake of thinking that if they have a great product or service they don't really need to market. However, you should keep in mind this basic fact-if your customers don't know where you are or what you can offer them how can they buy from you? How well you market will determine what your sales are and the profitability of your entire business. The bottom line is that you can't afford not to market and to do it well. Here are some tips for successful marketing-

- Understand your competition-You should never assume that you don't have competition no matter how specialized your product or service is. Keep in mind that everyone has competition. You will have to understand who your competition is and how they market in order to effectively grab and keep the attention of your target customers. Simply putting together a clever or unique marketing message is not enough. Today's consumers are deluged with a sea of marketing messages you have to make sure that your stands out from the crowd. It is also important to know that today's consumers are turning more and more to the internet. This means that your competition is no longer just the store down the street but one halfway around the world, as well.
- Understand your customer-The bottom line is that not everyone will want or even need your product or service. You will need to make sure that you have done sufficient market research to find the group of customers who are most likely to buy what you have to offer them. Companies that fail to do this often use the "shotgun approach" to marketing. They simply shoot their message out and hope for the best. This is rarely effective. You need to make sure that you have the correct market research that not only lets you know who your customers are but where you can find them. You will need this information in order to successfully position your marketing message for optimal results. The bottom line is that if you don't know what your customer wants or needs and where to find them there is little chance that your marketing will be successful.
- Understand where your marketing message should be-When you are doing the market research for your product or service you will need to carefully identify where your marketing message can be placed for the highest results. Do your customers use the internet? While most demographics have some sort of availability to the internet not all do. Will your customers read a direct mail piece, look at a text, or want to receive an email message? Once you determine the best way to reach your customers with your marketing message you are increasing the chances that your marketing will be successful.
- Understand what you need to be getting from your marketing strategy-All to often business owners look at their marketing when sales fall. They quickly assume that the marketing needs to be changed or that the current method isn't working and pull the marketing. This is not always the right strategy. You need to make sure that you have ways to measure the results you are getting form any particular marketing strategy. For example-When you offer a coupon print a code on it so you can know how many of any particular coupon has been redeemed. This can also be done with text or email marketing. Whatever marketing method that you use should be measureable. Then if changes need to be made you can shift your marketing dollars to the methods that are found to be the most effective.