How to promote an organization. How to promote a small business: a scientific approach

For a business to be successful, an entrepreneur must take care of advertising his product or service. To do this, there are many methods that allow you not to think about how to promote a business from scratch without having a large start-up capital. But not every newcomer will be able to independently promote their business using these tools, since advertising in any form has its own nuances and must comply with certain rules.

How to promote your business - promotion methods and tools

The first step that an entrepreneur must take is to determine the boundaries of their financial investments. A businessman must clearly know the amount that he can spend on business promotion and advertising without going beyond the established limits.

A large business, as a rule, requires significant investments and expensive advertising. If there is sufficient start-up capital, a novice entrepreneur can contact advertising agencies that will help to place information about the client's product on all available platforms - in the media, on stands and banners, on transport and in it, and so on.

Small businesses most often do not have money for expensive advertising, since the start-up capital is limited. Businessmen have to look for alternative ways promote your project on your own. There are a lot of such budget methods of promotion, and most of them bear fruit, you just need to use them wisely.

Website/blog creation

Today, not a single profitable project can do without the Internet, since it is there that a large audience of potential customers gathers. Business development on the Internet begins with the creation of a company website. Every entrepreneur who wants to succeed in business must understand that an attractive website is the same as business card, the face of the firm.

You can make such a website or blog on your own, having previously studied a mountain of information on design and SEO promotion, or order it from professionals, because competently optimizing a website is a difficult task.

It is in the interests of a businessman to ensure that the site attracts the attention of new customers and looks solid, inspiring confidence.

Advertising in the media, on TV and radio, marketplaces

Advertising on TV and in print media is the main means of attracting potential customers who rarely use the Internet, or do not go to it at all and cannot see your site. However, when buying such advertising, the entrepreneur spends a lot of money in vain, as he pays for impressions to all TV viewers, who are not always his target audience. The same goes for advertisements in the media and on the radio.

Reputation management. More than half of consumers trust advertising on TV more than similar advertising on the Internet or other sources.
Maximum audience coverage. It is difficult to find a person who never turns on the TV. According to TNS Russia, 70% of Russians watch TV every day, and 99% turn it on at least once a month.
The video ad format allows you to show consumers a product from all sides and tell a mini story about it, lasting a few seconds.

Marketplaces are places where people come to choose goods and purchase them. That is, it is here that the target audience gathers, which must be attracted to your product or service. There, as a rule, there is very high competition, but the flow of visitors is strong enough for every business to get its own client.

Social media promotion

The easiest and least expensive way to promote a business on the Internet is to create a page or a company community in popular in social networks. All investments in such advertising will only be paid to the administrator - a person who will update information daily and communicate with subscribers. Communication is the main moment for the promotion of a group in social networks, because it is for him that they were created. The first comments under the posts should indicate the right path and promotion tactics.

She won't start working on the first day. It can take months and years to create an image, and everything can be ruined in one moment. This is one of the pitfalls of such advertising that await aspiring entrepreneurs. In order not to make an irreparable mistake in developing a business in social networks, you need to find a real professional who has successful experience in running such communities.

Promotion on the Internet

Advertising on the Internet costs much less than in the media or on TV. This is especially noticeable for start-up entrepreneurs who have only recently entered the open market with your product. It is easy to customize it for a specific target audience, and it is just as easy to analyze and calculate the effectiveness after its release. There are several types of advertising on the Internet, with which you can promote your business and find the first and regular customers without having a website:

contextual advertising - appears to the user when a specific request is entered into the browser's search engine;
banner advertising - an ad and an image displayed on specific sites;
teaser advertising - also placed on narrowly targeted sites in the form of an advertising block designed to intrigue and direct the visitor to the advertiser's website;
targeted advertising - displayed for users of social networks related to a certain target audience.

Obviously, advertising on the Internet has many advantages, but, nevertheless, there are also disadvantages. In order not to waste money on promotion on the Internet, you should be aware of the following points in order to take timely measures to eliminate possible errors:

Before launching advertising on the Internet, it is necessary to find out in advance from which sources the target audience takes information about the purchased products.
The Internet is highly competitive, so before advertising, you need to make sure that your business is unique in order to convince customers to buy your product.

Banners and billboards

This type of advertising is used both online and offline. A banner is a rubberized fabric with advertising that is placed on the walls of residential buildings or shopping malls to attract customers. A billboard is a stand-alone structure on which large advertisements are placed. Most often, such advertising can be found on roadsides in large cities or along highways with a stream of cars. Such advertising can be seen from afar, so it easily attracts the attention of not only the target audience, but other potential customers.

Internet banner is a static and animated advertisement with a slogan and a picture, which is placed on popular sites with high traffic. When you click on such a banner, the user instantly goes to the advertiser's website. To get more attention. New types are constantly being developed:

streamers are placed at the top of the site page;
rich media containing interactive and multimedia elements;
pop-unders that partially cover the site page when developing;
expandable banners that are placed anywhere on the page and increase when you hover over the mouse;
imitation banners that pop up at the bottom of the page and imitate messages in instant messengers.

PR company - articles and press releases

You need to properly promote your business, as this can attract new customers and help promote the company. This is done by special PR agencies, whose activities are aimed at improving the image of the client company.

You can do PR on your own. To do this, you will have to take care of issuing press releases about the activities of your company. You need to do this regularly, in accordance with the schedule, for example, every Tuesday or Thursday. Releases should not be large in order to focus the attention of customers on the company's key offerings.

News articles in major media and online publications will also improve the company's image.

To do this, you can use other communication channels - the company's website, corporate newspaper, newsletter or announcements in trading floor or receptionist.

How to promote from scratch, develop a business and make it profitable - Internet solutions for promotion and development

The advice to advance among competitors on your own can be disastrous for newcomers to business. It is difficult to successfully unwind if there is a complete “zero” behind you, and only an idea sits in your head. In a modern society with advanced technology, this is much easier to do than it was 20 years ago. To spread information about your business among a large number of potential customers, it is enough to turn to the Internet. Modern man can no longer imagine his life without the World Wide Web and spends a lot of time in it. This is what successful entrepreneurs use by using various tools to promote their business on the Internet.

SEO optimization for website promotion

Promoting a new site with the help of SEO optimization is a long-term business, as a tangible return on investment appears after several months, and sometimes even years. It's all about the high competition that operates in the Internet space and does not allow beginners to quickly take top positions in search engines. Nevertheless, the desire to get into the top ten rankings is not always justified. Not a single optimizer can guarantee a place in the TOP-3, since it can only indirectly influence the position of the site.

The search engine plays an important role in the ranking of sites for certain queries. It is she who changes the document ranking algorithm at her own discretion, and it is not always clear how this algorithm will be built. This means that despite the efforts of optimizers, promotion principles can change every minute and it is impossible to predict them.

SEO promotion is influenced by many parameters:

website;
technical settings;
page content;
mention of the company name;
business age;
conversion;
availability of goods on the site;
terms of delivery and prices;
presence of the company in the directories;
audience persistence.

The ability to understand the target audience and customize the resource for it is the main quality of a competent SEO specialist. He must not only have the knowledge of a marketer in order to be able to develop a website and stimulate repeat orders from regular customers, but also be technically savvy, since the profession is entirely related to programming, layout, linguistics, analytics and data processing.

To increase website traffic with SEO optimization, you need to take into account several points at once:

page relevance;
content uniqueness;
quality design;
registration in search engines and free directories;
social bookmarking and so on.

The main task is to make it clear to a potential client that the product you offer is better than that of competitors, and also to convince search engines of this. Besides, important role plays search engine optimization pages. It is necessary to adhere to the established rules and observe a certain structure of the material:

Title, i.e. page title;
H1-H6 - headings 1-6 levels;
the presence of keywords in the text;
use of highlight tags in text;
availability of informative content.

It is necessary to take care of the external optimization of the site, but only after the above points are brought to the ideal. The more often a link to your site appears in various Internet resources, the better for promotion. Links can be distributed independently or use special exchanges, register in free directories that are suitable for the subject of your site.

most convenient and effective method promotion on the Internet - placement contextual advertising, which is shown only to people belonging to the target audience. It starts working when the user enters a question of interest into the search bar, and the browser, along with suitable sites, displays contextual search ads.

Context not only helps search engines make ads look like natural search results, but also solves a number of other problems:

The advertiser has the ability to independently control their costs and determine the cost of clicks.
With the help of the contextual advertising system, an entrepreneur has the opportunity to choose the regions of impressions, determine the demographic and behavioral interests of users.
Contextual advertising allows you to draw the attention of the audience to the site, a specific product and promotions.

The most popular contextual advertising services are Yandex.Direct, Begun and Google AdWords. To use their services, it is enough to register with them and, following the prompts, create your first business promotion campaign.

Greater return on target audience with minimal cost can be achieved by sending promotional emails. The mailing is carried out in the shortest possible time, does not require a large budget, but at the same time allows you to win the attention of customers. The entrepreneur will only need a database with email addresses of potential customers, which can be developed different ways. These can be contests that require online registration, or an offer to subscribe to site news if you post interesting and high-quality content. The subscription form should not contain many items so as not to scare off users. Enough name and address Email. If you regularly carry out mailing, then in the future it can become a real marketing tool for creating the company's image and promoting the product on the market.

Promotion in social networks

Even if your company still does not have its own page or community in popular social networks, you should not ignore the possibility of such advertising. It is here that most of the target audience is gathered, which is easy to track. A popular way to advertise your business on social networks is to buy posts or reposts in popular communities. This allows you not only to increase traffic to the company's website, but also to attract users to the newly created group of your company. The more subscribers the community in which you are going to buy advertising has, the higher its cost will be, but also the greater the reach of the audience.

How to advertise and promote your business - additional ways

A properly built marketing policy should turn even a loss-making business into a profitable one. If, for some reason, the main methods of advertising do not give the desired flow of customers, you can always find additional ways how to advertise your business.

Creating your own brand, logo and business cards

Corporate identity makes the company memorable for customers and distinguishes it from competitors. It includes a logo, slogan or slogan of the company, a certain color scheme, business cards. Everyone will understand which chain of restaurants fast food in question, if they see the characteristic yellow letter "M". Or three oblique stripes on clothes and sporting goods will immediately give out famous brand. Such seemingly trifles, but they work for the company's image and increase customer confidence in the product.

Corporate identity should be traced everywhere - from corporate clothing to official letterheads of the company.

A distinctive sign should also be on the business card, since every businessman should be able to leave contact information to a potential partner or client. The business card should not be overloaded. On it you can put the company logo, its slogan and contact details:

company address and telephone numbers;
description of the type of activity;
advantages over competitors.

If at the initial stage of business formation the development own brand is not so important, then for an already established company, the absence of distinctive features can cause suspicion and distrust of customers.

Promotions and bonus programs

Every year it becomes more and more difficult for stores to compete and fight for the attention of customers. The same applies to any other business that wants not only to stay afloat, but also to develop further. The easiest way to attract and retain customers is through promotions and bonus programs, which are cumulative. Consumers always pay attention to sales, and they are more willing to buy a product with a “yellow price tag”, even if the price on it remains unchanged.

Promotions allow you to stimulate sales and promote business, focusing on short-term demand.

With this tool, you can solve the following tasks:

short-term increase in sales volumes;
capturing market share for the long term;
attracting new consumers;
poaching customers from competitors;
encouraging consumers to buy more;
retention of loyal customers.

Bonus programs, in turn, also increase the number of repeat orders and purchases, as they are cumulative.

Partnerships with established companies

IN Western countries The concept of "B2B", that is, "business for business", is quite common. It is common when one company decides to develop another, providing it with accompanying services, additional equipment, goods intended for the production of other goods or for professional use. Is it beneficial or not Russian market? Of course, everywhere there are nuances and pitfalls, but in general, when planning to cooperate with established companies, an entrepreneur makes the right decision. The main thing is that this transaction benefits all participants and leads to the desired profit.

An example of such cooperation could be a simple situation where you are a small supplier who finds it difficult to break through the competition on his own in the market. But your services may be of interest to a large company that sells the same product or produces something based on it. In this case, cooperation benefits both parties to the transaction.

Congratulations and gifts for significant dates to partners and regular consumers / suppliers

Advertising your business and warming up interest in it can be achieved in such an unusual way. Significant dates are a great way to increase the trust of partners and customers. Not every company or manufacturer knows personal information about customers, and therefore will not wish them happy birthday, and you can stand out and increase sympathy for yourself and your business in this way. You can find out significant dates by means of a questionnaire at the time of issuing a client's discount card or when drawing up a contract for the provision of services, add this item to the number required for completion.

Loyalty with customers

A good relationship with consumers plays a huge role in promoting a business. Grateful customers are the best advertisement your business and are more likely to come to you again and bring friends and acquaintances with them. It is on this principle that word of mouth works, which helped many at the initial stage of business development. Large companies develop reward systems for regular customers - loyalty programs. They help to cope with competitors by attracting consumers to their side.

Entrepreneurship is often considered profitable business among ordinary people who see only the "tip of the iceberg" and do not think about how much work was invested in this "brainchild". Business promotion through advertising makes it possible not only not to slow down the pace of the company's development, but also to increase it, attracting new customers and partners. Knowing all the existing ways to develop your business, you can begin to implement the most daring plans and conduct successful advertising campaigns.

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Low-budget marketing… Every business owner's dream. And even "dreamer" - if, at the same time, the recognition of the company (product) would grow exponentially ... and the sales curve would bend steeper upwards from day to day ..

But the reality is that marketing budgets ( advertising, PR - underline what is necessary) are made up according to known only to the "layout" himself ( read - marketer, advertiser ...) laws ... And, with rare exceptions, they are a weak reflection of reality and the company's need for contacts with the target audience.

They say that the true professionalism of a marketer is to bring a company (product) to the market without a budget ... Well, or with the minimum necessary cash injections.

I don’t know how true or controversial this statement is - I can hardly imagine Coca-Cola, Mars and Adidas on the market without budgets ... but still. The fact remains, and the reality of the market is that not everyone has the budget to pay for "multi-layered" advertising campaigns. In addition, due to the still prevailing mentality of Russian business owners, who are skeptical and distrustful of their own marketing services, small and medium-sized businesses are not yet ready to part with money for advertising and other marketing communications ( because there is no clear understanding, “how can we get all this back…”).

So, what low-budget ways do you use to market your company or product?

I can offer you tools that I have used quite often in my practice, which have been tested by the market and have shown their effectiveness, and which have helped me more than once.

1. Barter. A lot of people don't like this word. Especially in accounting. I don't like it very much myself. But I must admit that such a scheme of cooperation is quite common in the Russian business segment, even among large and respected players (for example, such as Rosinter). Of course, if you have something to offer your potential partner. And, obviously, the value of your proposal for a partner should be no less than what you expect (ask) from him.

2. Exhibitions. Yes, your industry exhibitions are a good opportunity to promote yourself in your own market among your partners and target audience. And no - it is not necessary to buy an expensive place and mount a stand. Be creative - push the boundaries of your imagination. There are many other ways to make yourself known at the exhibition, give away your contacts and collect the ones you need.

Carefully study the offer of the exhibition organizer, the site where the exhibition will be held - look for opportunities for a low-budget "performance".

It can be just placement in the exhibition catalog, placement on the website, renting 2-3 square meters at the entrance to the exhibition, putting a girl / boy with the distribution of samples (or just some “goodies” - usefulness with your contacts), investing in a package participant, organization of a photographer with instant printing of photos on the background of a press-wall with your logos, and so on - think of it! (by the way, such participation can also be closed by barter)

3. Events are internal. Meaning - your personal events for your target audience, for your potential customers. Create some kind of useful event for your customers - what is their most pressing problem? What critical question do they have that they usually pay money to answer?

Give them this answer for free! Perhaps in the form of a mini-seminar or micro-training for 4 hours, maybe together with a representative of an authoritative opinion for them (for example, if this is medicine, then this can be the head physician of a serious clinic, if trade is the manager of a large network, the head of the tax, top - bank manager, etc.).

You can arrange such a seminar with the owner of the premises, who is also interested in an audience that intersects with you, but is not a competitor to you in terms of services. For example, it can be a cafe, club or restaurant that is simply interested in visitors and sales of the kitchen and bar. In addition, in your pre-PR campaign to recruit attendees for your event, you will promote them, as well as in post-releases and reports after the workshop. Do not forget to mention this in negotiations with the site owner.

4. Events external. Many people forget about the most useful semi-informal hangouts or, on the contrary, professional “meetings” of their decision makers (persons making decisions about cooperation) in the form of various chambers, clubs, communities, and so on.

Look - there is probably a Trade Center in your city Industrial Chamber, which periodically throws parties for CEOs or CFOs. Look for different trendy features, such as a mafia game club for HR directors. For accountants, these may be seminars conducted by the local IFTS. Find out where CMOs hang out in your area (if you offer printing, design, or advertising services, for example...). Find out where the logistics directors live (if you are Courier service or shipping company).

If it’s completely boring in your city and poor decision makers stupidly go home after work - see the paragraph above: think of it yourself! Your events. Finally create your club of mafia players for ____ ( insert the position you want)! Your costs are buying or ordering printing of special cards, blindfolds and beautiful rules on A4 sheets!

Any restaurant in the city will be happy to lend you space on Wednesday evenings with this theme. In addition, it is not necessary to make such evenings free. Freebie relaxes. And the mafia club requires discipline ( read the rules online). Therefore, take 100-500 rubles from the players. per evening (the amount should be such that it is dealt with painlessly, and the value received in return at times blocked such a “loss” from the wallet).

5. Press releases. Get in the habit of issuing press releases about your company every Tuesday. Releases should not be large and voluminous - make the text 1/2 printed sheet plus a couple of key suggestions about the company.

Look for information breaks within the company all week long! Establish a system for collecting and processing news and, in general, everything that happens in the company. Any sneeze should flock to your department. And you yourself decide whether to air it or not ( together with the business owner, of course).

And distribute your press releases regularly across the network and through all communication channels available to you: a website, a corporate newspaper for clients, a newsletter, a bulletin board in a trading floor or a reception area… Register your press releases in free press release directories ( they are easily found in any search engine). Send your news to interested publications in your region - both print newspapers and magazines, and online media.

6. Publications. The same goes for larger press releases - provide free content to journalists and the media. These can be interviews on your market, on some problem of your consumers, analytical reports and sections, statistical data ( many media outlets love different statistical compilations), just interesting publications “in the subject”. Invite the leading publication in your region to organize and maintain some special interesting column - and supply your column with relevant and fresh information weekly.

Everyone needs interesting and useful content! Finally, ask your buyers or potential clients - what is THEM interested in your topic, what do they want to know about?

7. Cases. Or case studies. Or success-story. The nature is slightly different, but the point, in principle, is one - to show your target segments by example the solution to THEIR problems. Write stories according to the formula "Problem - Solution - Result", "how bad it was before - and how wonderful it became after", the principle, I think, is clear. Stories in this vein are very attractive and have.

8. Reviews. Customer feedback is something you should collect from when your company was still a baby business. Especially if your client is a more or less well-known company in your region. On corporate color forms, with a beautiful seal, signed by the first person or a key top manager of your client.

Collect and store your reviews in a separate folder, each in a separate file, treat them carefully and with respect -) Well, without fanaticism, of course. You just have to understand that these are the results of your work. These are your "thank you, you helped us a lot" from your customers. And don't forget to digitize all your customer testimonials. Only evenly, in color, with high resolution and readable text.

9. "Word of mouth". Involve local people in promoting your company, products, trademarks. It has long been no secret to anyone that the “dress” works best in the service market. But in order for your “dress” to work, you need to work on it! What did you think? They just launched a rumor to the people - and he picked it up and carried it to the masses? Of course, it would be great if everything was so simple - no one would spend money on expensive TV and radio advertising, but only would be engaged in “injecting” rumors into the masses.

The simplest and most effective thing is to remember yourself. What information have you personally ever transmitted by word of mouth? It was probably something shocking, out of the ordinary, or terribly funny, or curious, or disgusting, or improving some aspect of your life ... Feel what I mean? Yes, that's right - it should be something that will hook.

But here, be careful - your legend should support and enhance your company/product image, not destroy it.

10. Free consultations, demonstrations, samples. The name speaks for itself. Don't be afraid to give! Nobody likes to buy a pig in a poke. Everyone wants to try first, and then make a buying decision.

Here your marketing should work in close connection with sales as never before. Because it’s not enough just to give a try - after that you need to constantly ask at a given frequency - “Well, how did you like it? Let's buy the full version. Did not like? Why? etc...". Keep in touch, monitor your potential client. Offer him special offers, inform about new products, promotions, discounts.

But at the same time, do not be afraid to calculate and cut off “eternal tryers” - these are those who initially know that they will never buy, but they will never refuse a freebie ... You should not waste your precious time on such “non-customers” ...

11. Atmosphere and design of the client office/service hall, reception, meeting room/. In these rooms, EVERYTHING should speak about your professionalism, the quality of your services and the specialists who, in fact, provide these services, inspire confidence in you, your company, your product - every little thing and every element.

Remove already, finally, all these antediluvian letters and thanks of 2003-2007, issued to you by someone for something! Leave one - but a normal, fresh, up-to-date solid professional license, or a certificate, or a diploma, or whatever you have to do according to the specifics ...

No wobbly chairs, tattered tables, scorched sofas, cracked glass surfaces… Well, you remove this piece of furniture if you don’t have money yet to reupholster, repair, buy a replacement. It’s better to throw a couple of frameless “pears” for one and a half thousand rubles, if you need to somehow take up space - well, let no one sit on them, but they will give some kind of “their dude” - freshness and dynamism to your office.

12. Gift certificates, loyalty programs. That is, make sure that the client wants to not only come to you again, but bring someone else with him next time. FROM corporate clients By the way, this also works. You just need to think a little longer ... And ask around / observe clients, what can stimulate them to such an action.

A great example is large cosmetic chains, fitness clubs, mobile operators ( least). Copy this ready-made and perfectly working model and apply it to your business - what exactly is stopping you? ( the first gift certificates can also be printed on a color printer, if it’s really tight ... get rich - print plastic, that’s okay!)

In addition, if you have a representative office of some federal discount coupon network in your city ( like Groupon, but there are a lot of them now), or perhaps there is a local company with this kind of working principle, contact them, let them plan for you advertising campaign. They won’t take money from you for this, but on the other hand, you will clearly see how much you can earn in one day of such a promotion with zero investment in reach and attraction. The decision is yours.

13. Cross marketing promotions with partners. Organize joint promotions with your colleagues, with whom your products can complement each other for the same target audience ( “Blah blah printing house and blah blah furniture salon — only from May 1 to May 20 they are holding a joint promotion: buy office furniture and get 80% discount on any advertising printing!”). Promote them well in the region ( You can also partner with the media), share contacts with each other, and work with the resulting client base, each in its own format.

14. Contests, quizzes. This is about the same as cross-marketing, only a more entertaining format. Each partner performs its own function, makes its contribution - provides prizes of various formats and nature, covers the event, prints banners, programs the web, deals with logistics, photographs, shoots videos, feeds, clothes, etc. But someone has to take on the role of organizer and coordinator. For example, you are the initiator and creator of the concept ( which you pre-send to the partners you need for your contribution).

15. Cultivate feedback from your clients. Build relationships with them. And develop them. Invite them to express their opinion on any occasion - about your services, about the same services on the market in general, conduct surveys, call for action in your communications, provoke them to respond to your messages, conduct surveys on the website or together with partners, let them free tips and ask them to rate them, get their consent to receive your marketing materials (only useful to them and not often!).

Final word

Of course, all these methods of low-cost marketing do not require big money, but require the investment of other resources - these are time, strength, patience, energy, imagination and your knowledge.

Yes, and you should not be scattered on all of the methods of promotion described - try each of them in turn, see - which works best for you, brings the most customers? Focus on the few that are most optimal for you in terms of time and labor costs / number of deals closed.

And one more piece of advice that I would like to mention, but which everyone often forgets about ... Due to blurryness and immersion in routine, probably ...

Promote and sell not your company and your products, but the "emotion" and "result" from using your services and contacting your company!

The services of a beauty salon are few people need, but a beautiful haircut and a perfect manicure - yes! I'm not interested in services at all. advertising agency, but here's a 20% increase in sales in 6 weeks - let's discuss this soon! There are plenty of tours to Egypt and Greece for cheap, but a complete disconnection from current worries and immersion in absolute relaxation for two weeks - there are few such offers! (if they exist at all...)

So stop, colleagues, disconnect from the hustle and bustle, take a time out for the day, go to the park, turn off your mobile phone, sit on a bench, relax, look at the fountains, people watch - there are low-budget ways to attract customers on the market, you can think of them. Just in pursuit of frenetic sales and abstract results, we don't always see them.

P.S. And don't forget that acquiring a new customer costs FIVE times as much as keeping an old one. Therefore, do not forget about your client after the first sale (obtained by one of the methods discussed in this report), in fact, work with him is just beginning here!

The "How to Grow Your Small Business" series is for entrepreneurs who want to have more control over the likelihood of success in growing their small business.

Control is a subjective concept. In this regard, our approach to reduce the level of subjectivity in the proposed recommendations is to have a strict scientific justification, resulting from marketing research recognized experts.

Small Business Development Methodology

“Consumption is the sole purpose of production; and attention to the manufacturer is conditioned only as long as it arouses the interest of the consumer.

On the commercial market sentence likewise engine in vehicle development. Analogy demand closest to the role driver. The fact of entrepreneurship already tells about the level suggestions above zero. However, it (the fact) does not at all mean the automatic existence of demand. On the contrary, often the level of demand for small business products in the absence of targeted stimulation tends to zero, or even has a negative value (turns away customers). Due to this, the main task small business is primarily promotion of demand for offer .

The "How to Grow Your Small Business" series of articles aims to provide the entrepreneur with evidence-based advice related to different (but specific) types of business (such as a retail store or a beauty salon). If you do not find a list of approaches designed specifically for growing your type of business, please leave a comment with your interest below. Priority in the further publication of development techniques will be given to the most popular requests.

“Don’t turn things around, but the tongue of the hand is shorter.” folk saying

Any article that tells about the possibilities and technologies of business promotion can only serve stimulus to action. Knowledge itself is of no value if it is not put into practice. In this regard, we hope to form an active discussion among readers that encourages action, annoying the status quo.

Recommendations related to a particular type of business are developed using a full systems approach, which allows to analyze in detail and determine the role and significance of each element of the mechanism (process) of business development. This approach was developed and standardized by the collective efforts of several dozen American marketing professors under the leadership of Del I. Hawkins and David L. Mothersbaugh and is used by many advanced both academic and professional marketing institutions.

Before we look at this system, we are encouraged to extend the . Customer value is the difference between the benefit / benefit (both material and intangible) received from a product and the cost (financial, psychological, time) of its acquisition. In order to survive (and thereby develop) in the market, an entrepreneur needs to create or offer greatest value (from the consumer's point of view, of course) in their industry segment compared to competitors' offerings.

Since the relationship between cost and benefit of a product is usually directly proportional (i.e., the greater the benefit, the higher the cost), in order to maximize profit, the value proposition must be noticeably outperform that of competitors but no more than it needs to be convinced. It is for this that it is necessary to use a system that allows you to calculate and clearly direct limited resources entrepreneur for production noticeably competitive customer value.

Let's take a look at the process of creating customer value that we use when recommending a typical entrepreneur in a series of articles. "How to grow a small business":

1) Market analysis. In the first step, we conduct a detailed study

a) small entrepreneur,
b) its competitors,
c) consumers,
d) conditions of market relations.

2) Market segmentation. At this stage

a) customer needs are identified,
b) consumers are grouped according to their needs,
c) the needs under consideration are prioritized,
d) the most attractive segment(s) for the entrepreneur is selected

3) Exploring the buying decision process. This step is to study the process by which

a) the consumer recognizes his problem/need,
b) finds information to solve this problem (product or service),
c) evaluates the alternatives available to him,
d) makes a purchase,
e) uses the product (or result of the service) in practice,
f) forms the final evaluation of the product.

4) Marketing strategy. Here, based on the information from the previous analysis, a targeted policy is being developed regarding

a) commercial product positioning,
b) its properties,
c) its prices,
d) consumer access to the product,
e) stimulation of consumer interest in the product,
f) pre- and post-sales customer service issues.

In other words, the answer to the question is formed - How an entrepreneur will create competitive customer value.

5) results. The final stage evaluates the achieved performance

a) the consumer,
b) small business and
c) society as a whole.

Final marketing strategy for the promotion of demand is to bring the concepts of marketing activities in the most productive correspondence with.

core consumer behavior patterns serves Lifestyle And consumer identity(in our case, those that we segment in the second stage of the customer value creation process). In the model for Lifestyle are influenced by:

1. External influences which include

a) Public culture/mentality(where it is sometimes necessary to go deeper and identify subculture). This is expressed in traditions, concepts, values, skills, habits formed in society.
b) Demographic characteristics, which are expressed in the size, dispersion and structure of both the segment itself and its public "container";
c) social status, which is expressed in the hierarchical division of society regarding the way of life, values and relations of its "members";
d) "Reference" group(stimulating individual attitudes towards something), which has informational, normative And identification impact on members of the segment in question;
e) family environment, which is similar to the "reference" group, but with additional motivations and a level of commitment;
f) Various marketing events (influence of all present marketing messages).

2. Internal influences which include

a) Features of perception(how the stimulation of the consumer's senses is transformed into information for him);
b) Features of the process of obtaining knowledge(consumer behavior is primarily due not to innate, but to "accumulated" knowledge, and therefore, it is important for us to understand how they are formed);
c) Memory(how detailed and for how long the consumer retains the information transmitted by the marketing campaign);
d) motives(goals and directions of consumer behavior);
e) Character features(in other words, type consumer behavior, tuned to achieve goals);
f) Emotions(whose nature is explained by the interaction motives And personality traits with external factors);
g) Personal relationships to objects / objects (long-term organization emotions, motivations, perception And accumulated knowledge in relation to certain aspects of the environment).

Further, Lifestyle And consumer identity causes needs and desires, which in turn initiate The process by which a consumer makes a purchasing decision. This process can be ordered into the following stages:

situational circumstances(impact of factors related to time And place, and are not constant for the consumer);
Problem/need/wish recognition(result of discrepancy desired consumer state with reality, which is sufficient to activate the process of developing a consumer decision);
Finding Information to Solve a Problem(depending on the perceived importance of the decision, the consumer resorts to either nominal, limited, or extended searching for information);
Evaluation of alternatives(depending on the type of information search, the consumer may resort to or avoid considering alternatives);
Final Choice(analysis of preferences in the process of solving a problem, which consists in prioritizing the characteristics, sizes, usefulness of the product in question);
Making a purchase(analysis of the choice of sales channel (retail, Internet, ads, catalogs, or other channels);
Post-sales experience(analysis of post-sales satisfaction, brand loyalty, disillusionment).

Obviously, the outcome of the purchasing decision process generates consumer experience. Obtained in this way an experience closes the model of consumer behavior under consideration by the fact that it affects, in turn, the initial external And internal factors.

Initially, you need to choose which business to do from scratch and which will be as comfortable as possible for you. It is desirable, but not necessary, to create a business plan. In some cases, it can interfere with creativity, but usually serves as a plan of action.

There are interesting ones that could suit anyone.

A complete list of them can be seen in a special catalog of franchises, which is updated every year. It is on the Internet in the public domain.

Novice businessmen, before starting a business from scratch, are advised to consider the service sector, since profitability is higher here due to the fact that there is no need to purchase goods for storage. On the site of franchising offers, you can make a filter by the field of activity required start-up capital, expected profit and so on.

The most profitable business today is considered to be on the Internet and in the service sector.. Having knowledge in the field of IT can provide an excellent income. So, you can create websites, landing pages, provide services for maintaining websites and promoting them on the Internet.

At the same time, the money in the goods is not frozen. The big advantage of working with the community is the availability of cash Money. This can greatly facilitate the process of mutual settlements with counterparties and simplify the process of buying things necessary for the normal operation of the enterprise.

How to promote a finished business?

Often people buy a ready-made business that is on the verge of payback. Such enterprises require a complete rebranding so that they begin to bring tangible income. It should be noted that their great advantage is the fact that all necessary equipment is already present, and the business itself is being sold at a low price along with a customer base.

First of all, it is necessary increase the awareness of the enterprise and make it more attractive.

We will tell you how to open your business from scratch and what you need for this. You will need to take the following steps:

Create a landing page and launch advertising on the Internet.
Inform your customers about the change of ownership of the enterprise and that many pleasant surprises await them in the near future.
Launch several promotions for new and regular customers.
Conduct several promotions that will increase the awareness of the enterprise.
If necessary, make repairs and change the name.
Adjust assortment.

It is important to understand that on the market low prices it is impossible to compete. There will always be a company that will offer cheaper. The main competition unfolds in the level of service and the availability of special offers.

If you don't know how to open own business from scratch and you have no experience of unwinding ready business,you can bring in a specialist. A brand manager is a person who will tell you the right steps to success. But we must be prepared for large investments.

Therefore, buying a ready-made business with low profitability is not a great offer for start-up entrepreneurs, if there are no influential people behind them who are ready to issue an open-ended and interest-free loan.

Thus, there are many options for what kind of business you can start from scratch in the city. You just need to have a desire and be ready for difficulties.

At first, a business can take a lot of time with minimal return, but if you go through this path, the company will bring a good and stable income. At the same time, it doesn’t matter which niche you choose for yourself, the main thing is to know how to rise from scratch in business.

This video will show you some more initial stages building a business from scratch.

Your business - do you need it?

I am glad to welcome you, dear readers of the Anatomy of Business project! Webmaster Alexander is with you. Today we will talk about business and how to "promotion" it. But before we start, I would like to ask you a few questions.

Are you ready to take risks?
How many hours a day are you willing to devote to your work?
Maybe it's better to work for hire?

In this article, I would like to convey to you my point of view on these issues. I have been in business for more than four years, and during this time I managed to assemble a team of professionals and launch several profitable projects. Dozens of people have contacted me for help in promoting their business. When I solved the problems of companies, in 90% of cases I was faced with the fact that the owners - start-up entrepreneurs - had the wrong idea about the business.

Many people believe that in business you can achieve some results without taking risks, or that the first business is sure to be successful. In fact, in 98% of cases, the first business ends in failure, after which few people return to entrepreneurial activity. And I am no exception. My first three business projects went down the drain. Inexperience is largely to blame here. I could stop and stop trying, but I had a firm conviction that I would achieve my goal. I did not give up trying and step by step approached the intended goal. And the results began to appear: the first sales, the first profit, the first joy from closing the deal ...

With all this, I had to work 16-18 hours a day, so that period cannot be called easy. There was a struggle for survival, and all this was aggravated by the fact that I lived 5000 km from my home.

These are the realities of business that you need to be prepared for.

How much can you earn doing business

As you understand, it all depends on your desire and ambitions. In general, business is such a thing that can both lift you to unprecedented heights and cruelly drop you down. And the sums of money with which you happen to deal can vary from millions of profits to millions of losses. For a better understanding of the specifics of the work, I recommend reading my article. In it, I described in detail the three main paths that an aspiring entrepreneur can take.

Tip 1

First of all, think about where you will take clients. You must clearly understand which buyers you will work with and how many of them will be interested in your offer.

Tip 2

To attract the first customers, use the AVITO and Hand-to-Hand bulletin boards.

Tip 3

Put up ads in the hallways. It is not necessary to do this yourself: now there are many companies that provide this kind of service.

Tip 4

Constantly test new ways to attract customers. In the article, I described various techniques that will help attract new customers and increase the profits of your company.

Tip 5

Tip 6

Tip 7

Strive to increase the average check. Go to wholesale, make additional purchases, etc.

Tip 8

Attract clients to you. Enter a cumulative discount system, come up with some kind of promotion to stimulate sales, for example, if you make five purchases, the sixth will be free, etc. This will tie a client to you for a long time.

Tip 9

Make sure your employees always communicate with customers in a positive way. Having lived long enough abroad, I came to the conclusion that in order to be one step ahead in Russia, it is enough just to be polite with your customers. J

Tip 10

Fight constantly. Remember that competitors are not asleep! The market is constantly changing, so stay tuned latest trends and follow them. It is very easy to miss a valuable moment and end up with nothing.

Perhaps these are the main recommendations that I would like to give to aspiring entrepreneurs. If you want to start your own business, but do not know where to start, or you already have a business and want to increase its scale by attracting new customers, you can ask me all your questions by sending a private message "In contact with".