Marketing Strategy: How to Plan Your Next Big Move

When I started SmallFuel marketing it was with one intention—to provide a complete marketing system that would actually work really well for small business. Nearly a year later, I’m pretty happy with what we’ve created.

But, I stumbled upon another problem.

It’s really difficult to figure out what to do next.  There are too many options, too much advice, too many people claiming to have the solution, and entirely too little money.

Over the past year, it’s become increasingly obvious to me that one of the biggest challenges in small business isn’t just having an effective marketing system—it’s finding a marketing solution, adapting it to fit your needs, working within your budget, and creating a realistic method to implement everything.

In short, it isn’t just the marketing that’s difficult. It’s the overhead and decision-making that surrounds it. So, how do you plan your next big move?

A meeting of two worlds

If you think about it, there are really two different parts to this problem: internal and external.

The internal factors are what you need to think about personally and figure out before you can be clear about your next move. What are your strengths? What do you dislike? What are your real goals? How much time and money will you invest in marketing? You have to address all of these factors before you can create a truly realistic marketing strategy.

The external factors are the parts of your strategy that relate to the method of your marketing. Things like demographics, distribution method, design, medium, location, etc… All of these pieces have to be well thought-out or you may end up with a marketing strategy that is easy to implement but that doesn’t work.

The optimal target for any small business is the convergence of both internal and external factors—a marketing strategy expertly designed to be effective, and yet planned from the ground up to match your strengths, needs, and situation.

Making it actually work

This internal and external stuff sounds great, and I think it makes a lot of sense, but we both know that the real challenge is putting it to work and coming up with a functional strategy.

That’s where SmallFuel comes in—with a package designed to develop a marketing strategy for you (and with you, really). A few weeks ago, we came up an idea for something to help people kick-start their next campaign, find their next move, and create a marketing strategy that rocks. Now, I’m happy to present you with our solution.

Our new Marketing Strategy Pack is a combination of three things. It includes an analysis of your previous marketing efforts, so we can figure out why things haven’t been working to plan (and how to do it better). It also includes a 30 minute phone consultation, so you can ask us any questions and tell us about yourself, your needs, and your goals (all of those internal factors). Finally, we deliver a complete 3-5 page strategy report that outlines some realistic recommendations and strategies for your specific situation.

Some people will prefer to go through this whole process alone, which is fine, but we want to offer a solution to those of you who don’t have the time or desire to figure it all out on your own.

What’s in a great marketing strategy

At the end of the day, all that matters is creating a strategy that’s productive and valuable to your business. The process varies between situations, but there are several general points common to all great marketing strategies.

A great strategy has to be realistic, or else it’s never likely to happen. It has to be well researched in order for it to be effective. It has to fit with your personal strengths, goals, and situation. And lastly, your strategy should be flexible so that you can adapt to changing circumstances and new information.

There is much more involved in creating a successful strategy, so please feel free to share your own experiences in the comment section. Also, don’t be afraid to ask us for some help developing your strategy.