Having a plan for marketing your small business to the
community will help you build your business and show lenders that you have a
plan for growth.
One of the biggest mistakes we see when helping small
businesses with their marketing and outreach plan is that they didn’t
incorporate marketing into their small business loan proposal to lenders.
Yes, part of making your small business successful is
getting the word out to your target audience. Choosing marketing tactics that
will reach your prospective customers through a variety of different avenues
will ensure that they hear your message enough times to both remember you and
want to buy from you.
But, a comprehensive marketing plan can also help your
business from a lending perspective. Loan officers want to see that you have
a plan for growing your business – this
lets them know that you have a plan for making money, which in turn indicates
that you’ll be able to pay back what you borrow. Showing how you plan on
promoting your company to the community through a basic marketing plan is a
thoughtful way to supplement the business plan you submit with your small business loan
application. And if you’re new to the marketing world, here are five tactics
that every small business should include in their marketing plan. If you don’t want to enter the marketing
world, be sure to hire someone who is an expert – and include that cost into
your proposal.
1. Get a website. Let’s face it: the world we
live in today is highly digital. Companies who don’t have an online presence –
even smaller, local companies – are considered dated and out of touch. Building a website for your business an
essential step towards having a strong brand within your community. Your
website doesn’t have to be anything fancy – it just needs to be something basic
with a modern visual appeal that clearly communicates what your company
does, who you serve and how to get in touch with you.
2. Canvas the neighborhood. There’s something to
be said for getting out and actually meeting the people who live and work
around your business. Coming to them shows that you offer a high level of
customer service, something that’s becoming much harder to find these days. A
great way to share what your company does and how you serve the local community
is to invite those closest to your business geographically to come in and check
out your space.
3. Become a PR magnet. To continue growing your
business, ongoing visibility is key.
One way you can continue to keep yourself front and center is to become a PR
magnet – by connecting and interacting with local resources and media outlets
online and in person.
Get on social media and start “following” or “liking” the
television, radio and publication personalities in your area. Tweet at them,
like their status updates – engage with them to get noticed. Once they know who
you are and what you do, they’re much more likely to use you as a news source
where it applies to your expertise. Want to take this a step further? Pitch a
story idea (make sure it has a good ‘hook’) every once in a while to the media
sources you’ve connected with – you never know when they might feature you on
the five o’clock news!
4. Be a visible member of the community. This is
such an important aspect of owning a small business – no matter what industry
you’re in. Staying visible
within the community, especially in charitable ways, will always
reflect positively on your business. It also keeps your company front-of-mind
with your local clientele and prospective customers because they’re seeing your
brand in their everyday lives.
Sponsor a little league team, have a little booth at the
local farmer’s market or offer to drive a truck branded with your company’s
name in the high school homecoming parade. No matter how you do it, just make
sure your local community sees you engaging and doing things to benefit them –
it will reflect back on your bottom line tenfold over time.
5. Engage your clientele online. Getting back to
that whole idea of online marketing, being engaged with the online community is
a great way to help build your business. Do this by replying to people who
reach out on social media, asking happy customers to leave a positive review
about your business on Yelp! or Angie’s List and monitoring the use of your
company’s name across the internet through tools like Google Alerts and
Hootsuite. This will allow you to promote positive feedback while responding
quickly to anything negative that’s added about your company online, helping to
preserve your reputation and show that you truly care about what customers have
to say about your business.
Building Positive Visibility Can Make a Difference
Having a plan to promote your small business to the
community gives you actionable steps to start attracting new customers, build
your business’ reputation and grow your bottom line. Lenders look favorably
upon highly organized businesses who have a plan for growth, so creating a
marketing plan can help show how you’re a step ahead of your competition and
a great loan candidate.
If you need help building your marketing and/or outreach
plan, contact us! We would love to help
put your business on the map and compete against the businesses with ‘deep
pockets’.
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