What are your plans for 2009?

2008 has been a challenging year for small businesses - and the economic outlook isn’t looking all that rosy for 2009 either.
Marketing in particular is something that should be high on most startup businesses’ agendas for the coming year.

Getting those first few clients and customers makes all the difference.

So how do you market yourself in a downturn?

Top tips for planning your marketing in 2009

Justify Your Expenditure

Marketing should drive sales. Whether you look at it over the short term or take a longer ‘brand building’ view, every penny of marketing expenditure should help you achieve a clearly defined business goal.

If something is ineffective then you can either choose to cut that activity or to make the changes necessary to ensure that it does work. Often the problem is not with the idea itself but with the execution.

To analyse your marketing effectively you need to be able to measure the response you get. If you don’t currently have a plan to measure your marketing response rates, then that’s our next tip for 2009.

Measure Everything

You wouldn’t put money into a savings account without knowing the interest rate. Marketing is an investment just like any other – the purpose is to use marketing to grow your business. If you invest X you want more than X back.

As a startup with limited resources this is doubly true.

For each marketing activity you undertake (from placing an ad in the paper to buying a new sign for your shop) set down clearly defined goals that you want to achieve. Once you have the goals written down you can start to judge how effective each activity is in achieving those goals. If it doesn’t stack up, you need to change it.

Start with Small Tests

If your budget is tight the worst move you can make is to bet the farm on a single marketing strategy. It is better to test new ideas with small investments of time and resources. If you get the response you want, it’s easy to scale them up.

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Your Hands Dirty

If you are serious about the success of your new business then you need to be prepared to do whatever it takes. Successful entrepreneurs don’t get away with saying, “I don’t like networking so I won’t”.

If knocking on doors is the best way for your to start getting customers then get knocking. Do not allow yourself to avoid the obvious answers just because you don’t like the look of them - especially when money’s tight.

Replace Anything You Stop

As a startup you can’t simply move from one marketing idea to the next - they should all be working together to build your brand and develop new business. So, if you decide to cut a marketing activity don’t leave holes.

Replace cut marketing activities with new ones. Often this will mean replacing marketing that is financially expensive for marketing with little financial outlay.

For example, you may decide that the flyers you tested are not effective. Building an online presence may be more effective but what you save in cash terms you’ll need to make up for in time committed.

2009 will certainly be challenging but the startups and small businesses that emerge as the winners will be the ones who meet the challenge, not simply hide away until the storm passes.