GUIDE TO STARTING YOUR SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING STRATEGY

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9Understand Your Brand

Enhance Your Website

Create Your Assets

Analyze Your Target Market

Find and Study Your Competition

Set a Marketing Budget

Hire a Marketing Team

Table of ContentsBefore you started your business, chances are you came up with a business plan. You outlined your intentions, a goal,

and specific actions that would get you there. Surely things have changed along the way, but what hasn’t changed is your

drive to make your business successful. Could you have gotten where you are without first drafting a business plan?

The same could be said about a marketing strategy. Marketing plans give your company a focus and help shape your

interactions with customers. They also help you understand where your company fits in the marketplace and how to

attract new business. Where do you stand on a marketing strategy? If it isn’t something that’s been a top priority for you

so far, this guide will help get you where you need to be.

Here’s a step-by-step list to guide you on how to start (and continue to grow) your business marketing strategy.

STEP ONE

Understand your brandSince you already put together a business plan and know

what your goals are, this one should be simple. Whether

you are a retail store, construction company, or food

services business, you need to know who your target

audience is and what it is that you consider your niche.

Are you a restaurant that serves food for all taste buds

but specializes in Italian cuisine? Or a construction

company that works best on commercial property

development? Try to nail down who you are as well

as who you want to be.

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STEP ONE: UNDERSTAND YOUR BRAND

ExampleYou own a clothing shop in a suburban downtown area

with a lot of foot traffic. You sell clothing for men and

women of all sizes, but when you started your business

you really wanted to cater to plus-size individuals. This

specialty is your goal for your business’ future. Now that

you’ve identified the brand you hope to be, you can

shape your marketing strategy around it.

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STEP TWO

Analyze your target marketIn a webinar series Direct Capital hosted last year, marketing and

communications executive Larry Olson said, “One of the first

missteps I have seen with smaller organizations is not taking

the time to properly research your target market and identify

your core customer.” Once you’ve determined your brand,

try to find the audience that will best fit what your company

can provide. This can be accomplished by researching

customer demographics (age, gender, income, education)

and psychographics (what your target customer values

or would be interested in).

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STEP TWO: ANALYZE YOUR TARGET MARKET

ExampleYou already know you want to target plus-size men and women, but analyzing your target market should go further

than that. For starters, what type of clothing do you offer in your store? Is it expensive-looking clothing for an affordable

price, or is it higher-end all around? Your geographic region may factor into this decision, but it’s also about your goals

as a business. Talk to your existing customers to find out what articles of clothing they most enjoy, whether it’s pants,

dresses, tops, or something else entirely. This will help you understand what your target customers value and can help

you make inventory decisions that they will enjoy.

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STEP THREE

Find and study your competitionCompetition comes in two forms – direct and indirect. Direct

competitors are businesses that do exactly what you do in the

same area, and could potentially take customers away from

you. Indirect competitors are companies who may not do

what you do, but offer products to your customers that may

eat into what they could be spending with you. In either

case, you need to be on top of it.

Olson provided a few ways you can start your

competitive research:

• Read reviews

• Search Twitter

• Do a Google search

• Find employees on LinkedIn

• Check out their advertisements

The only way to be the best is to know what

you’re up against.

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STEP THREE: FIND AND STUDY YOUR COMPETITION

ExampleYou likely know who your direct clothing competitors are that

operate in the same general location as you, so find out what they

are doing to market their business. Do they have Facebook ads

about a new clothing line they’re selling? Do they offer special

promotions to draw in customers? What do customers say about

their product? Then think about where else those customers

might be shopping; take Amazon for example. You may not be

able to compete with the shipping benefits of Prime, but what else

about Amazon do customers find so appealing? Not only will all

of this research help you determine what you need to do to stay

competitive, but it will also improve your products and customer

service. Plus, it gives you a good starting point for building a

marketing strategy.

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STEP FOUR

Hire a marketing teamOnce you’ve completed steps 1-3, you’re ready to get

moving on developing your strategy. However, that can

prove difficult for someone without a marketing mind.

Now is a good time to bring on one (or more) marketing

personnel to really help you dive deep into what you

are trying to accomplish. They will know what to do

with the information you’ve gathered, and they’ll be

the ones helping you execute, manage, and report

back on your strategy.

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STEP FOUR: HIRE A MARKETING TEAM

ExampleYou bring in a couple of new team members to help with the marketing strategy of

your clothing shop: one to help with social media and website development, the other

to manage the strategy as a whole and help with execution. Together, they develop a

social media plan for the next quarter that includes:

• Retargeting on Facebook to those that landed on the Plus Size page of your website

• A review post per week showcasing all the great work your company does

• Personal posts about the goings-on at your shop

• A 20% promotion you are offering to new customers

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STEP FIVE

Set a marketing budgetWork with your marketing team to set a budget for the

upcoming year. You know the books better than anyone,

so tell them what you have available to spend on projects

and let them figure out how to use it. They will be able to

suggest where you will likely see the biggest return on

your investment, but it’s important to remember that

sometimes marketing dollars are spent to help enhance

your brand and solidify your place in the market.

It doesn’t always mean you’ll get new customers

rushing to your door. Both brand awareness and

new business are important! As your business

continues to grow, consider increasing your

marketing budget. What you had planned for

years one and two might not work the same

for year three and beyond. Be ready to explore

new marketing tactics with a wider budget,

if your books allow, and you could reach

even greater success.

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STEP 5: SET A MARKETING BUDGET

ExampleAfter you give your marketing team a budget of $20,000 for the year, they set out to find the biggest bang for your buck.

They decide you will spend $1,000/month on Facebook retargeting, $3,000 to host an event at your store welcoming

new customers, and $5,000 on things like direct mail, giveaways, and Google advertising.

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STEP SIX

Enhance your websiteEven with very limited knowledge of marketing, you

knew when you started your business that you’d

need a website. Whether that website is working

to its fullest potential is up for debate. Let your

marketing gurus take a look around the website

and decide: Is it SEO friendly? Optimized for

mobile? Do you have enough content to attract

visitors? Will customers find what they are

looking for? Is the design user-friendly? While a

complete redesign may not be in your budget

this year, your marketing team will at least

be able to help enhance the website by

addressing these questions.

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STEP SIX: ENHANCE YOUR WEBSITE

ExampleThe look and feel of your website is just right –

it’s on brand, easy to use, and has online

ordering functionality. However, your marketing

team found some key areas for improvement.

They suggest posting more blogs on fashion

trends, specifically in the plus size industry.

They also think you have room to showcase

more of your current promotions or sale items.

Plus, changing up some of the language on the

pages and making the words “plus size” more

prominent will help you appear higher on search

engine results.

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STEP SEVEN

Create your assetsYou have the plan and you have the team – now it’s time to

execute! You need assets to push out on social media, email

campaigns, direct mails, and even posters or advertisements

to hang in your business. If you have it in your budget, bring

on a graphic designer that can create these for you or try

out free tools like Canva. If you are planning to do email

marketing, have your marketing team write and test out

some email copy. Work on getting some creative ideas

together for direct mail campaigns, and develop your

social media posts as well.

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STEP SEVEN: CREATE YOUR ASSETS

ExampleYou need specific assets for your Facebook

retargeting strategy and your website

enhancement plan. For your website, it could

be as simple as a sidebar graphic with the

text, “New customers get 20% off!” and an

image of your best-selling outfit. For Facebook

retargeting, your ad could say something like,

“Still interested?” with a photo from your website.

With all of the different avenues you’re going to

be exploring, you will want to develop new assets

for each.

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Just keep at itThere’s one more step, but this one’s easy: Just keep

at it. Marketing doesn’t work instantly and sometimes

your ideas won’t work at all. Remember your goals

and that you have a team supporting you, and keep

thinking of what to do next. Before you know it, you’ll

have some marketing experience under your belt and

your small business will be booming.

This e-book is for informational purposes, and is not intended to offer any financial advice. Please consult with qualified professionals concerning specific financial advisor information. ©2018 CIT Group Inc. All rights reserved. CIT and Direct Capital are registered trademarks of CIT Group Inc. and CIT Bank, N.A.

Direct Capital is a Division of CIT Bank, N.A.

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