To keep it simple, "marketing is anything you do to keep a customer".

There are just 4 key elements of your marketing plan.  Who are your clients?  Where are they?  What is your offer to them?  How will you communicate your offer?

Who are your customers?

You will need to find out about your customers if you are going to meet their needs.  Personal, cultural, social and psychological attitudes of your customers are really important.  Ensure what you are selling is what people really want!  Find out about your customers so that you are producing what they need.

Where are your customers?

You may need to work out where is the best place to sell your products.  You may want to use wholesalers, retailers or your own place.  Maybe your product is best suited sold on-line via social media or your web site.

What is your offer to them?

What makes your product or service different from your competitors?  Decide what your unique selling point is and work out how the customer will benefit.  Remember to talk benefits not features.

How will you communicate your offer?

This is the most visible aspect of marketing and includes all the activities you do to let people know about your product or service.  The most obvious or tangible marketing activities are your branding and packaging.  These elements of your offer are always on show and need to promote your message.

Other forms of communication you may engage in are public relations, merchandising, exhibitions, advertising, yellow pages or personal selling.  All are activities designed to communicate your offer to your customer.  Of course today, in our increasingly social-media infused environment traditional forms of communicating do not always work well.

Social media is becoming critical element of anyone’s marketing mix.  People are more likely to ‘Google’ a product or service as a starting point before engaging a service or buying a product.  On-line sales are growing significantly so it is important that you have a web site which sells the benefits of your product or service and facilitates the buying process.  Furthermore a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn or twitter is becoming a necessity.

The best advice on what is the best way to communicate your offer is to be focused with your message.   Ensure you are measuring your sales and recording how these sales happened  so you can best identify the activities which are giving you the most value for your marketing dollar.

If you require more information or would like to discuss your own marketing needs please call Jennifer Palmer on 9526 1211 or email Jennifer@sullivandewing.com.au.