Starting a Business? Three Things to Include in Your Marketing Plan

Business marketing plans need not be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. When you put yours together don’t forget to include these very important details:

1. Clearly identifiable market
2. That market is reachable
3. Price must be affordable to that market
   

Clearly Identifiable Market
You must be able to identify your market. It can’t be too broad because no one wants to do business with a generalist. Instead, we prefer to do business with a specialist.

One look under plumbers in the yellow pages shows hundreds of choices in big cities. I don’t know about you, but when my pipes burst at 2am I’m going to call the guy that advertises 24 hour emergency service. Wouldn’t you? Don’t be a generalist.

Your Market is Reachable
Can you reach your market? If you can’t reach them with your message you don’t really have a business. There might be a big need for your product or service, but if you can’t reach your market with the message they need to hear, you’re out of luck.

Price must be Affordable to that Market
If you can identify your market and reach them easily, you’re still out of luck if your offering isn’t priced so they can afford it.

My friend Dave Munson at Saddleback Leather makes very expensive leather bags and he doesn’t apologize for it. He knows the market he’s after and he does a great job reaching theml. At $400 for a briefcase he’s not after the price conscious shopper. If he were to go after them he’d need to charge less.

If your business is struggling in the marketing arena take a step back and make sure you’re addressing each of these three areas. It does no good if you’re doing great in two of them only to leave out the third.