Proactive Marketing is the Key to Small Business Success, Especially in a Recession

In the normal business there is often the expectation that the sales inquiries should come because the business has a good product and a good position in the Yellow Pages. Perhaps in the good old days of the twentieth century that was enough. Today’s marketplace is different. There is greater competition, and the consumer is better educated. The recession has added even more pressure to the market, in many industries decreasing demand and increasing competition. The key to success in your small or medium size business is to be proactive in marketing, rather than hoping sales will happen as they always used to.

Today you cannot wait for a customer to come looking for you. You have to be able to first attract their attention, and then communicate why they should choose you over your many competitors. You need to be proactive in marketing. Being proactive is about making things happen. The really successful businesses make things happen; there is no waiting and hoping something will happen, like hoping a customer may call with an inquiry. The really successful business is always working to generate a customer response through powerful, proactive marketing methods.

These days, any form of advertising is viewed with critical filters and skeptical analysis. Consumers are rarely gullible and are highly unlikely to believe what you, the marketer, say about your products and services, since they have been let down so often in the past. It is highly important that your advertising is believable, that the claims you make are true and supported by independent proof. This is why word of mouth is so effective. Your strategy to gain new customers should be based as much as possible on the use of customer testimonials that dramatize and educate about the main benefits of your products or services.

High-pressure sales tactics of the past are now more likely to get you into trouble. Typical sales tactics no longer work with educated customers.  They are more likely to put people off.  The key is to discover how to compete on a different, unique basis from how everyone else is competing in your market.  This doesn’t happen by putting your head down and trying harder to be better at what everyone else is doing.  It comes from strategically assessing your industry and your market.

The strategic planning processes can lead you to discovering the unique market position your company could fill.  The secret then, is to build a unique selling proposition or USP around that unique strategy, to use as your main marketing weapon.  Creating a unique selling proposition is vital to strategic competition.  Your USP is something your business offers that none of your competitors provide.  To get this offering, your market must come to you.

Finding a USP is the lynchpin to market domination.  Your USP is what makes it possible for you to compete in your market on terms other than price, which means that you can operate more profitably and at the same time develop a connection with a group of customers that makes them loyal and locked into a relationship with your business.  After all, to get that unique offering you provide, they have to come to you because they can’t get it from any of your competitors.  If I were you, I wouldn’t go back to work until I discovered the USP for my business.  It changes the playing field so much that you no longer have to worry about your competitors.  The only thing you will have to worry about is how to keep up with the rush of demand you have now created.

Once you determine your USP, you are equipped to go to the market proactively with a relevant, meaningful message that creates attraction.  Many businesses try to communicate with the market by saying how great they are and imply how stupid you would be, as a potential customer, if that greatness wasn't obvious and you didn't automatically choose that product or service.  This type of marketing no longer works.  The USP is the winning formula when it focuses on the customers' problem and tells how that problem will be solved.  The reality is that to get that solution the customers are looking for, they have to come to you, the unique provider of that solution.

It is so important that we get it into our heads that marketing is more about the customer and not so much about the product.  When we focus on the customer instead of the product, our marketing has so much more power, because the communication with the customer tends to be about aspects of importance to the customer rather than product oriented aspects that are important to us.  The customer is only interested in “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM).  They have no interest in us.  Customers buy for their reasons, not ours.  It is so important that we communicate with customers about what is important to them, if we want to influence their purchasing decisions and persuade them to buy our products by meeting their needs.

Small business success is, to a large extent, influenced by how well we communicate our USP proactively to our customers or potential customers (our market).   Our results are achieved by how well we spread the word about the unique benefits of our product in such a way that it persuades people to buy from us.  If we are not proactive in this area, we will not sell much, no matter how good or unique the product is, and consequently our business will suffer.  If we do a great job of proactive marketing, we stand an excellent chance of success.