{"id":31138,"date":"2012-04-30T10:11:27","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T15:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/?p=31138"},"modified":"2024-12-29T20:11:03","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T02:11:03","slug":"lean-marketing-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/lean-marketing-small-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Lean Marketing for Startups and Small Businesses: How to Make the Most Impact with the Least Investment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Most startups and small businesses have limited budgets for marketing.<\/p>\n

But we all know it’s essential to spread the word, build relationships, and make sales.<\/p>\n

So what’s a startup or small business to do when their marketing needs are big but their budget is small?<\/p>\n

National television campaigns are out. But, there’s plenty that you can do… if you embrace lean marketing principles.<\/p>\n

Lean marketing<\/a> is a philosophy that emphasizes executing campaigns quickly, getting feedback from your audience, analyzing the results, and optimizing the campaign – all in rapid succession.<\/p>\n

Any type of marketing is speculative – we can make educated guesses, but we can never truly guarantee results.<\/p>\n

Traditional marketing practices may direct you to invest a lot of time and effort into a campaign to get it “just right” before launching it. Lean marketing, on the other hand, acknowledges that we can never truly know what “just right” is.<\/p>\n

And, as the saying goes, “Perfect is the enemy of good.”<\/p>\n

So, lean marketing strategy<\/a> suggests that it’s best to act quickly (without investing too much time trying to reach perfection) and get feedback to optimize<\/em> your campaign sooner… based on actual data.<\/p>\n

In practice, this means avoiding over-investing into a campaign that won’t deliver – saving you time and money.<\/p>\n

How can you put this lean marketing framework to work in your business?<\/p>\n

Here are five lean marketing principles and 22 actionable tactics you can try in your small business or startup.<\/h2>\n
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  1. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. If you can’t measure it, don’t do it.<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Ready, Fire, Aim.<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Rely on your customers.<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Don’t go it alone<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let’s look at the five principles and the 22 tactics in detail.<\/p>\n

    1. Don\u2019t put all your eggs in one basket.<\/h2>\n

    Small businesses and startups with equally small budgets can’t afford to sink all of their resources into a single all-important marketing campaign.<\/p>\n

    Such a desperate “Hail Mary” practice could ruin your business if that campaign doesn’t pay off.<\/p>\n

    You’ve got to diversify your marketing channels and tactics.<\/p>\n

    A diversified marketing strategy serves as a safety net and is key to the lean marketing process.<\/p>\n

    Test marketing campaigns across multiple channels to gain a wide range of information quickly. To keep this process lean, don’t invest too much time, money, or resources in any one campaign. Act quickly to gain quick results.<\/p>\n

    You’ll learn that some platforms may not work for you at all. And that’s okay – it’s valuable information. You can always circle back and try again later (if it seems worth it).<\/p>\n

    Other platforms will<\/em> allow you to connect with your audience. And now, you can say (with evidence to back you up) that this is where your efforts should lie.<\/p>\n

    Now, the resources you can free up (by eliminating the campaigns on platforms that aren’t delivering) can be redirected into optimizing campaigns on the platforms that are.<\/p>\n

    This diversified strategy will ensure that you can find the right channels to market in before spending too much time on the campaigns themselves.<\/p>\n

    Be sure that you maintain a consistent brand identity<\/a> across all marketing channels. Some marketers and business owners think each channel requires a unique brand identity and approach. While it’s true that marketing channels are unique and often require unique approaches, your brand identity should stay constant across all marketing efforts.<\/p>\n

    Remember that your brand identity – including your company logo<\/a>, is everything visual about a brand. It\u2019s what you, customers, and prospects can see. If you start changing your brand identity, you’ll confuse your customers and prospects.<\/p>\n

    Here are just a few options to get you started…<\/p>\n