Entrepreneurs can be their own worst enemy. Some are so convinced of success, and so enamored with their product offering, that they end up believing it can sell itself. Marketing will take care of itself later – sales is what is needed right now. This is often their biggest mistake, the one that eventually leads them to fail. Here are five things entrepreneurs must understand about marketing in order to make sure their new venture is a success.
1. Market Feasibility Studies Are Critical: Is there anything more important than having a business plan? Yes, it’s called having a market feasibility study. No matter how strong your business plan, you’re destined to fail if you don’t thoroughly understand your market.
A market feasibility study defines the current and future health of the market. Most importantly, it defines your company’s potential for success. After all, if the market itself is on a steady decline, then you’ll fail for sure – no matter what kind of plan you have.
Not enough customers – you’ll fail. Difficulty securing financing – you’ll fail. Competing technology making your market and product offering irrelevant – you’ll fail. Not knowing current demand and future growth - you'll fail. Entering a market on a steady and gradual decline - you'll fail. Your business plan doesn't define the market's health the way a feasibility study does.
What questions does the market feasibility answer?
2. Marketing is Sales: There are only two ways to generate leads. The first relies upon sales to generate interest. This is often done by making cold calls. Cold calling is a very laborious, time-consuming and invasive activity. It can work, but it should never be a new company’s only means of generating leads.
The second includes having a marketing strategy that generates leads. If you rely solely upon sales to generate future leads, then you’ll have a hard time generating interest in your product. Don’t take this mindset that marketing can be done later. Instead, focus on increasing your opportunities for sales by increasing your number of qualified leads.
To read more about the table and video above, please go to: Lead Generation in Marketing
3. Every Company Has a Brand – Build Yours! It doesn’t matter if your company operates in a consumer market, or provides industrial finished goods in a business-to-business market; your company has a brand and it is best defined by your brand champions. Your brand champions are simply your most loyal customers, the ones who would never consider buying from your competition. If you understand why these customers are so loyal, then you’ll not only understand how to find more customers like them, but you’ll also understand how to increase your brand’s awareness.
Brand Champions: Five Strategies to Using Your Best Customers
4. Market Your Strengths: One of the biggest mistakes companies make is to market a product they’d like to sell, but aren’t. Do you want to market a “me-too” product offering, one your company isn’t well known for and one your customers could buy from anyone? Or, do you want to market your best product, your strongest differentiator and the one product that has that all-important “wow” factor?
Focus on the one product you sell the most of and then sell more. The more you sell, the higher your profit. You’ll reduce your costs on raw materials, reduce your costs of inventory financing, obsolescence and inventory damage. The higher your inventory turnover rate, the more money you’ll make. Your customers need to know what makes you unique – focusing on a product they can get from any of your competitors won’t get that done.
5. Have a Plan: Today’s companies don’t rush to market. It’s no longer a question of who is first or second. Success today is about being knowledgeable about your market and using that knowledge to win business. I’ve said this time and again to my customers: Every market leader was first a market expert. Have a plan to become that all-important market expert.
Increase Your Market Knowledge
There is this prevailing thought that marketing and sales can be done separately. These are the entrepreneurs that think marketing can be done later. It’s something that merely involves a new advertisement or revamped brochure. Don’t make the same mistake.
Marketing and sales are inseparable. Your company needs marketing to generate leads. Those leads are closed by sales. The revenue you secure is then used to pay for more marketing. It is a continuous, constant and never-ending feedback loop. As an entrepreneur, you must clearly understand these five aforementioned areas in order to succeed in your market.
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