July 6, 2022

Winnipeg
19° C, Partly cloudy

Full Forecast

Contact Us Subscribe Manage Subscription Chat with us
Log in Create Free Account Help Chat with us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • My Account
    • Manage my Subscription
    • Change Password

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
    • Log in
    • Create Free Account
    • Help

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
  • Coronavirus Coverage
  • Replica E-Edition
    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West
  • Above the Fold
  • Front page
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Book Club
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Canada
  • Local
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • World
  • Reader BridgeNEW
  • WFP EventsNEW
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Archives
  • Free Press Community Review
    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Classifieds
  • Contests
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • LifestylesNEW
    • All Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Homes
    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Puzzles
  • Photo and Book store
  • More

©2022 FP Newspaper Inc.

Close
  • Quick Links

    • Coronavirus Coverage
    • Federal Election
    • Above the Fold
    • Home
    • Local
    • Canada
    • World
    • Classifieds
    • Special Coverage
    • Newsletters
    • Obituaries
    • Photo and Book store
    • Archives
    • Contests
    • Publications
    • Sponsored Content
    • Privacy Policy

    Ways to support us

    • Pay it Forward program
    • Subscribe
    • Support Faith coverage
    • Support Arts coverage
  • Replica E-Edition

    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West

    Business

    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
  • Arts & Life

    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Sports

    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • Opinion

    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor

    Media

    • All Media
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos

    Homes

    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Canstar Community News

    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Coupons

    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • About Us

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
The Free Press
Articles Read
Your Balance +tax
Day Pass Till
Day Pass
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Report an Error
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
    • Staff Biographies
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • Log in
    • Create Account
    • Help
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
    • My Account
    • Manage My Subscription
    • Change Password
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
Log in Create Account Contact Us
Contact Us Manage Subscription
  • Sections
  • Local
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Diversions
    • Environment
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Health
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Soccer
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • E-Edition
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Automotive
    • Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Real Estate
    • Rentals
    • Services
  • Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Manitoba’s Top Employers
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print
    • Ripley's Aquariums
    • The Bay
    • Staples Canada
    • Altitude Sports
    • Nike
    • Tuango
    • Ebay Canada
    • Sport Chek
    • Roots
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe$1.50 for 5 months
Home Business

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Small business should create a marketing plan just like big business

A winning game plan is needed no matter your size

Tim Kist By: Tim Kist
Posted: 4:00 AM CDT Saturday, Jun. 1, 2019

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Save to Read Later

A colleague recently sent me an interesting newspaper article entitled “Oops, small businesses are vulnerable to marketing mistakes.” It included some real-life examples where companies either failed completely or were slow to grow because they did not obtain proper marketing assistance and/or failed to apply marketing fundamentals to their business.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 1/6/2019 (1131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

A colleague recently sent me an interesting newspaper article entitled "Oops, small businesses are vulnerable to marketing mistakes." It included some real-life examples where companies either failed completely or were slow to grow because they did not obtain proper marketing assistance and/or failed to apply marketing fundamentals to their business.

The article by Associated Press writer Joyce M. Rosenberg touches on some common pitfalls businesses and entrepreneurs face when launching a product or service.

First, every business must identify the target market for their product. I refer to users of the product or service as the target market, not just a demographic group such as "boomers" or "millennials." Many products cross over between ages and income and therefore, must be understood in terms of how the product or service helps the customer address a need, problem or helps them in achieving their aspirations.

Having a deep understanding of how your product or service is used and valued by your customer will help you determine what else you should provide to lock them in for the long-term. Your better mousetrap may look good through your rose-coloured glasses, but is it what your customers want or need?

To answer this question, there are many types of research a small business can conduct. However, one must be sure not to ask leading or misleading questions since you run the risk of obtaining inaccurate and meaningless insights about your potential customers.

While some online tools seem to be less costly than using a professional researcher, if you collect inaccurate data, you will make incorrect decisions. An appropriate investment in good market research can help you identify your ideal customer and what it will take to have them buy from you.

A market research company understands how to properly source a representative sample. They also know how to ask the questions that will provide the information you need.

During my career, I have conducted research and reviewed research conducted by others wanting to launch a new product or service. Too many times, respondents said, "sure I’ll buy this at that price."

When the product or service was launched, results were much less than expected. If market-research professionals were used more often, there would be more confidence in the accuracy of the research results.

Second, the article talks about using a marketing consultant or business coach. Quite simply, if you need marketing assistance, you should hire a marketing expert.

A marketing expert is trained in marketing and applies the principles — both science and art — to understand your differentiation and advantages. Business coaches tend to be focused on leadership or finance and do not provide expertise in the marketing discipline.

Since most business owners will use a tax accountant for guidance in tax planning, and a lawyer to guide corporate structure and governance, why would you trust marketing guidance from anyone other than a marketing expert? The main goal of marketing is to understand your customers so well that your product or service will sell itself because you have designed what they need and not what you want to sell.

A marketing expert can provide objective marketing advice that an accountant, lawyer, friend or relative may not be qualified or prepared to provide. I have seen examples of "coffee shop consultants."

These are the untrained "marketing consultants" that will say, "I know just what you need to do. Let’s go for a coffee so I can tell you." Be aware of the potential risks of relying on the singular advice of someone not trained in marketing or consulting.

Every component of the 4 Ps (product, place, price and promotion) begins and ends with an assessment of the customer and the competition. This is the third area to focus on.

The Free Press | Newsletter

Winnipeg Gardener

What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. A monthly email from the Free Press with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing.

Sign up for Winnipeg Gardener
Sign Up

While it is critical to know your customer and to prepare a comprehensive marketing plan, too many companies do not accurately assess their competitive environment.

While there are usually direct competitors that can substitute your product or service, there are often indirect competitors that can provide an alternate purchasing decision for your customers.

If you do not conduct a competitive assessment, you run the risk of being surprised with how the competition will respond after you launch.

Tim’s bits: The only difference between the marketing plan of a large business compared to a small business is the scope of the plan. If you are a local retailer, you should create a marketing plan that has all the elements that a multinational company has. You just won’t have all the global variables to consider and understand. If you think you are the best in your category, review your plan to make certain this is what your customers really say.

If you don’t provide what the customers want, your better mousetrap may end up gathering dust instead of customers.

Tim Kist, CMC, a certified management consultant by law, works with organizations to improve their overall performance by being truly customer-focused.

Tim Kist

Tim Kist
Columnist

Tim is a certified management consultant with more than two decades of experience in various marketing and sales leadership positions.

   Read full biography

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

  • Report Error
  • Submit a Tip
  • Refund
  • The Free Press is certified by

The Winnipeg Free Press invites you to share your opinion on this story in a letter to the editor. A selection of letters to the editor are published daily.

To submit a letter:
• fill out the form on this page, or
• email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or
• mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.

Letters must include the writer’s full name, address, and a daytime phone number. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Top