Did you ever make treasure maps as a kid? My best friend and I put together a special box of trinkets and buried it in my backyard. We called it our “BFF Cove.” It included notes to each other, a bracelet, and a few small coins. Once it was hidden from my brothers, we made a map that would lead us to that box a year later. Kind of like a fusion of a time capsule and a treasure hunt. Time passed and I actually forgot where exactly we buried it. Our map wasn’t as accurate as we thought and it took us a lot of time and multiple empty holes before we found it.

Just like following a bad map, when it comes to marketing strategies for small business, it can be hard to know exactly what to do to ensure you are on the right track. The good news is there is an easy way to map out each and every step that will lead you straight to achieving your business goals, without digging a bunch of empty holes. 

Are you ready to embark on a fun, marketing for business owners adventure?

What is a marketing strategy for small businesses?

A treasure map on the right side of the image with text on the left side that says "Marketing strategy for small business"

Think of your marketing strategy as a map that will take your business from startup (where you begin) to your “X marks the spot” business goal. Your marketing map should be created by someone who is an expert marketing cartographer and can lay out the path with confidence that it will lead you to success without falling into marketing quicksand (no thanks, marketing mistakes) or running into a deadend (where did my marketing budget go?). 

When developing a marketing strategy map, you should consider:

  1. Your Customer Personas
  2. Your Brand Voice Guidelines 
  3. Competitor analysis and target audience researc
  4. Customer Journeys 
  5. An Editorial Calendar 

What is a marketing activity?

For successful marketing, you must first understand marketing strategy. Once you have a solid marketing strategy established, then you brainstorm and decide on your marketing activities. 

Marketing activities are the actions you take to promote your products, services, or brand. Marketing activities include emailing customers, posting on social media, running an ad on google, sponsoring an event, etc. If your marketing strategy serves as the map to get you to your goals, the marketing activities are the landmarks and stops along the way that keep you on the right path. 

What is a marketing mix for a startup business?

With your marketing strategy map in hand, you’ll need to frequently consult your customer personas to ensure you don’t lose your way. Think of them as your north star, always grounding and positioning you in your marketing activities.

A customer persona is a tool used within an effective communications strategy to target the most relevant audience for your business. A customer persona answers the questions: who is my message speaking to? Where do they hang out? What do they care about? Why do they need my product or service?

One thing your customer persona north star does is dictate what components of marketing are effective at each point on your marketing map. This is called a marketing mix. When you first launch your business, your customers might hear about you through online ads (Google or social media, for example) and then you keep them engaged with content marketing strategies (blogging, newsletters, podcasting, etc.) Utilizing both ads and content marketing is a simple example of a marketing mix that works well for most startup businesses.  

What is a marketing mix for a small business?

There are other types of marketing to consider in a marketing mix for small businesses: Social media, SEO, SMS (texts), affiliate marketing, and events are just a few examples.

Ultimately, a healthy marketing mix is determined by a solid communications and marketing foundation. Customer Personas, Brand Voice Guidelines, Competitor analysis and target audience research, Customer Journeys , and an Editorial Calendar should all be established first to lay out a map that leads up to success. There is not a cookie cutter approach to marketing when it comes to small business. You will find greatest success by tailoring your marketing mix to your business goals: your own “X” marks the spot!

Partner With An Expert Marketing Cartographer

Charting a marketing strategy map is key to realizing your business goals. If you need an expert cartographer to chart your marketing strategy, I’m ready to help you guide you through each step. Crafted Voice offers DIY resources, along with do-it-with-you, and do-it-for-you services.

Do-It-Yourself

Receive templates and checklists for SEO, blog structure, lead magnets, landing pages, and more. We provide you with tools and resources to get you started, and you take it from there.

Shoulder-to-Shoulder

We serve as a consultant to support you as we do the work together. An example might be the website since you’re already working on a revamp – you do the work and we can serve as your second set of eyes for things like user experience, SEO, etc.

Concierge

We do all of the work, and you simply edit/approve before the elements go live. This is a great option if you simply don’t have the time to invest in executing your communications strategy to its fullest potential.