How to create a small business marketing strategy

As a small business owner, one of the biggest questions you'll face is: how do you let people know about what you're doing?

Building a detailed, well-thought-out marketing strategy is one of the cornerstones of any successful small business (as well as medium and large ones too). The digital age has made marketing more powerful than ever for small business owners, but it takes planning, research and ongoing analysis to make sure you're talking to the right people in the right way.

This article will walk you through the basics of creating a marketing strategy and introduce you to some of the different types of marketing you may want to consider.

What is a marketing strategy?

A marketing strategy is, as the name suggests, a detailed strategy for how you intend to market your business. Your strategy will take into account everything you know about your customers, industry and product to create a plan for the channels and messages that are going to get your name out there.

You should begin making your marketing strategy alongside your business plan proper. The insights and ideas you come up with for your business plan – especially around primary audiences and competitor analysis – will help to inform and sharpen your marketing strategy.

Helpful ANZ resources:

• Creating a small business plan
• ANZ business plan template (PDF). Section 4 is dedicated to market analysis and strategy.

How to start creating your marketing strategy

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power and the more you know about your product and the market you're operating in the better your marketing strategy will be.

One way to start thinking about your strategy is to conduct a SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – which is a framework for understanding your own business and its place in the market.

• Strengths: What is your business good at? How can you protect your advantage and make it even more effective?
• Weaknesses: What do your competitors do better than you? What specific issues does your business face and how can you minimise them?
• Opportunities: Looking more broadly at the market that you're operating in, what gaps can you identify? How can you take advantage of these opportunities?
• Threats: What external threats does your business face? How can you lower the risk of them occurring or avoid them entirely?

You may feel like you already know the answers to some of these questions, but it's important to do your market research and make sure you're looking at things from every angle.

Helpful ANZ resources:

• SWOT analysis template (PDF)
• Using market research for your small business

Key parts of a marketing strategy

Using the insights you've taken from your SWOT analysis and market research, you can start distilling them into a marketing strategy document. Some of the key components you should include are:

• Target market: Of all the potential customers out there, who are the ones most likely to purchase your product or service? What do you know about these customers and their lifestyles, buying behaviour and preferences?
• Competitor analysis: What other companies are targeting the same market with the same product or service? What do you know about them, their market share and how they operate?
• Competitive advantage: What do you do better than your competitors? What's unique about your business?
• Key messages: Considering everything you now know, what's the best way to communicate your competitive advantage to your target markets? AI tools can help you generate ideas and test different messages for different platforms.
• Marketing budget: how much can you afford to spend each month on your marketing campaigns? And just as importantly: what return are you expecting on your outlay and in what sort of timeframe? It's important to have a firm idea of your expected marketing expenditure and income so you can adjust your campaigns while they're running.

Just like your business plan, your marketing strategy should be a living document. Make time once or twice a year to revisit it and make sure your research and assumptions are still relevant and up to date.

Helpful ANZ resources:

• Making the most of your competitive advantage
• Managing small business cash flow
• Marketing action plan template (PDF)
• Getting started with AI for your small business

Different types of small business marketing

Digital advertising has made marketing a far more effective and available tool for small business owners, while also introducing new levels of complexity. There are now dozens of channels and platforms to choose from when it comes to crafting your own marketing strategy. It's important to think carefully about how and why you're going to engage with each one – and to continuously monitor performance to confirm that you're spending your marketing budget effectively.

Business website

For most businesses, a well-presented website remains a cornerstone of their marketing strategy. While people these days will typically discover your business through a digital ad or a social media post, these channels often funnel customers to your website for conversion.

Read our guide to setting up a website for your small business.

SEO marketing

Once you have a website out in the world, you need to help people discover it. SEO stands for search engine optimisation and it's all about how you can make your website more appealing to Google's search algorithms through both text and technical changes.

Read our SEO tips for small businesses.

Digital advertising

Digital advertising – also called online advertising or internet advertising – basically refers to any ad you see while using a computer or mobile device. This includes ads you see while using search engines like Google, ads that display on websites, such as banners or feature articles, and video and still image advertising that appears in people's social media feeds.

Learn more with our guide to digital advertising.

Email marketing

Once you've found your customers (or potential customers), directly connecting with them via email is one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal. But email marketing takes planning and thought to execute effectively – and can alienate customers if it isn't done well.

Check out our guide to getting started with email marketing.

Social media marketing

Your business needs to be where your customers are and in today's world that usually means being on social media. Social media can be an effective way of building your brand and generating customer loyalty, but you need to make sure you're talking to the right people on the right platforms.

Read our article on starting social media for your business.

Building your marketing strategy step by step

Creating a marketing strategy may feel daunting, but it's simply about understanding your market, knowing what you do well and choosing the right channels to reach your customers. Start with market research and a SWOT analysis and then build your strategy around clear messaging and realistic budgets.

Remember that your marketing plan is a living document that should evolve as your business grows and you learn what works best for your customers. With a good strategy in place, even small marketing efforts can drive meaningful results for your business.