Kickstart Your Marketing: Creating Strong Foundations for Growth

Written by Victoria Vickery, Managing Director of All Star Marketing Club
Marketing Training and Coaching for SME Businesses

Running a small business is no easy feat. You are juggling sales, service delivery, admin and everything in between. Often, marketing slips to the bottom of the pile even though it is the very thing that will bring you the leads and sales you need.

The truth is, great marketing is not about trying every shiny new idea or spreading yourself thin across endless platforms. It is about building strong foundations and then using them consistently.

So where should you start?

Here’s 5 steps you can take to ensure you have strong marketing foundations in place. Whether you are just starting out with your marketing, or much further down the line, this still needs to be completed (or revisited), as without these 5 core areas, your results will suffer.

1. Get Clear on Your Goals

What do you want to achieve in the next 12 months? More leads, higher turnover, stronger visibility? Without clarity it is easy to end up working hard but heading in the wrong direction. Written goals give you focus and direction and make it far more likely you will achieve them.

Thinking Point: If you do not know exactly what success looks like, how will you know when you get there? Set the target so your marketing has a clear aim… for you and any staff you have.

2. Know Your STAR Customer

Not all customers are created equal. If you try to appeal to everyone, you will end up connecting with no one, and sales will suffer. Your STAR customers are the ones who fit your business best, are easier to reach, and generate the strongest results.

STAR stands for:

• Superior: the best fit customer for your business.
• Targeted: you know exactly how to identify and reach them.
• Acquirable: you know how to win them.
• Results focused: they will skyrocket your business.

Thinking Point: Who do you love working with? Profile them. It’s those that you can easily access, and who will pay you what you are worth because they truly need you. Plus, you can add immense value to them. That is who you need to attract more of.

3. Sharpen Your Marketing Messages

Once you know who you are speaking to, you can create messages that really resonate. Move away from listing features and instead show the transformation you provide. Paint a clear picture of what life is like before you… and what life is like once you’ve been in their world. That’s how they will see the real value of working with you.

Thinking Point: People do not buy what you do or what you sell. They buy what it does for them… their “happy ever after”. Make sure your words show the change they will experience. Away from pain, towards gain.

4. Build Your Marketing Machine

A website and a LinkedIn page alone are not enough. You need to open as many relevant doors as possible so your STAR customers can find you. Think about email marketing, social media, search, content, and networking, and make sure these channels work together as an ecosystem, guiding prospects step by step towards buying. You don’t need to be absolutely everywhere, but you need to be in the core places where your clients are hanging out.

Thinking Point: The more of the relevant doors you open, the more chances people have to discover you. One marketing channel alone is risky. Build an ecosystem that works together.

5. Take Consistent Marketing Action

Marketing is a long game. It can take around 15 interactions before someone considers buying from you. That is why consistency is key, so you can allow them to get to know you, your offering and the place you have in their world.

Plan your activity, schedule it, and commit to it. A little marketing, done regularly, will always beat a big push once in a while.

Thinking Point: Success is not about doing everything. It is about showing up again and again, so your audience trusts you and is ready to buy when the time is right.

Your Marketing Action List

Now you understand what is most important in your marketing foundations, let’s take action:

• Set your goals: Clarity creates power and motivates you to take action.
• Define your STAR customer: The right customer makes everything easier.
• Craft compelling messages: Sell the transformation, not just the product or service.
• Build your marketing machine: Open more (of the right) doors so customers cannot miss you.
• Commit to consistency: Small regular steps create unstoppable momentum.

Marketing does not have to feel overwhelming. Start with just one action, whether that is writing down your goals, profiling your STAR customer, or committing to an email campaign, and you will already be on the path to stronger results.

Get the Marketing Kickstart Toolkit and put all of this into shape for your business.

Victoria runs several  Marketing Training sessions throughout the year exclusively for Hampshire Chamber Members. You can book onto the next one here.