For small businesses to succeed in today’s fiercely competitive market is no easy job. While you might think that once you ideate and put a business plan in place, your long cherished dream is soon going to be realized, hold on to the thought!
Have you given enough thought to your go to market strategy? If not, then right now is the time and the following tips will help you do it the right way:
Deciding on your Target Audience
One of the most critical of the factors is to decide who your customers are going to be. Today, many smaller businesses are giving tough competition to large companies by targeting a niche market. One important factor here is to effectively understand what your customer wants. The sooner small business owners understand this, the better are their chances to succeed. Ask basic questions like – Who will buy my product? Who has already bought from me? What does my network think? How are my competitors faring? Will my target audience grow? In what timeframe will I see that growth?
Product portfolio for target customers
It may be difficult to sustain a business on only one core product. New competitors, changing customer behavior, emergence of new technologies and many other factors can pose a significant threat to any business’s success. Hence, it is imperative for small businesses to have a diverse product offering which will help them keep up with the ever-changing market demands. Adopt a test-and-learn approach and feel the pulse of customers which will help you to decide upon how and where to expand your offerings.
Pricing
Considered as one of the toughest things to do, pricing a product properly can a have a long-term impact on the success of your business. While there is no one surefire formula how to get the pricing right, small businesses must have an in-depth market understanding of the target customer profile, what the competitors are charging and the quality of products vis-à-vis the pricing of their offering. The more thought businesses put behind the pricing of a product, the better their proposition becomes.
Product Promotion
There should be a well thought plan in place for product promotion as it is in this phase that the word about your offerings will reach your customers and other key stakeholders. Hence, it is imperative that there is an efficient marketing and communication plan in place. These will include focusing on various promotional campaigns like advertising, selling, digital promotion, public relations etc.
To conclude, defining go-to-market strategy for start-ups isn’t a cake-walk, but by being smart, extremely aware of the market scenario and knowing the pulse of the target audience, small businesses can gear themselves up for a stronger and long lasting growth.