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Marketing Planning For Small Business
By Sadie Peterson

Now is the time to start planning your marketing budget for next year. If you're like most small businesses, you're thinking "What marketing budget?".

I know - marketing often falls behind priorities like making payroll, buying supplies, and paying the electrical bill.

But if you want your business to grow, ignoring marketing is the worst thing you could do. You might have the best product in the world, but unless the world knows about your product, you won't be in business next year. And with 99% of new businesses failing within five years, you can't afford to skimp on marketing.

When building your marketing budget, consider the following aspects of marketing:

Public Relations - press releases, media stunts, etc.

Web Marketing - website development, PPC campaigns, SEO, and more.

Advertising - print, tv, or radio.

Community Involvement - sponsorships, food drives, etc.

Print Pieces - brochures, business cards, flyers, etc. As a rule of thumb - many businesses put 10% of their PROFITS each year into marketing. You might use this as a guideline when you develop your own marketing budget.

Whether you're considering advertising online, in print, or via radio or TV, you should consider the following factors when deciding on an advertising channel:

Reach - how many people will this advertisement reach?

Target - are these people that will buy my products? Is this the right market? For many advertisers, TV and radio reach far too many people, and are very untargeted. Trade publications, on the other hand, may reach EXACTLY the right demographic for your product or service.

Appropriate - is this an appropriate place for your message? Will it make sense to the readers/viewers?

Value - is this the best way to reach this audience? Are there other venues that will cost less per person to reach, but be just as effective? Remember to compare different advertising venues in terms of reach - cost per person/reader/viewer.

About the Author:

Sadie Peterson is the President of SD MarCom, Inc., a full service marketing consulting agency. For more information, please visit http://www.sadiedesigns.com.

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