How far should a business go in marketing?

[FarahW]

I was participating in a thread in another forum, which initially started out as one about USPs. Someone brought up the "death" of the USP, and I brought up the idea of multiple selling propositions (which is valid as well, but much less well known) and a seminar I attended once regarding projecting an "authenticity" to your business.

Another participant pooh-pooh'd the concepts I brought up. He said that these concepts were too advanced for small businesses to look into (among other more personal attacks). I reminded him that USP was first coined for the big businesses, and a multiple selling proposition was just as old as a USP. I feel a business should be started on more than "luck" and "optimism" (I quote him). In my opinion, the fact that a business should not do more than the basics based on size did not make sense rationally or in the sense of economic utilitization.

However, it got me curious. How many of you feel the same? That some theories are just not relevant for your business? I can understand a small business not adopting international approaches, but would you ignore, say, learning how to position your business in a consumer's mind, simply because you think it is too difficult? And how many of you really feel that you should just wait till a problem crops up before worrying, instead of mapping out a game plan?

[v2Media]

Personally I don't care about business theory. I did my stint in studying business and promptly forgot 90% of the bullsh!t they taught me at uni; it was simply overkill when applied to small business. On the subject of selling propositions or market positioning, a savvy entrepreneur will find a way or ways to be distinguished from the competition and ferret out a strategy for penetrating the market. Whether one would call it USP or MSP or ESP is unimportant to me.

Only a fool starts a business without a business and marketing plan. During the planning phase, the tough questions of how to distinguish oneself from the competition and a strategy for penetrating the market are supposed to get actionable answers. If the plans are carried out and fine tuned as the business progresses, the chances of problems cropping up are minimised.

[Burgo]

Another participant pooh-pooh'd the concepts I brought up. He said that these concepts were too advanced for small businesses to look into (among other more personal attacks). I reminded him that USP was first coined for the big businesses, and a multiple selling proposition was just as old as a USP. I feel a business should be started on more than "luck" and "optimism" (I quote him). In my opinion, the fact that a business should not do more than the basics based on size did not make sense rationally or in the sense of economic utilitization.

Theory is ok if you need to pass exams, however practical experience will win hands down every time.
This enlightened participant was a obviously an Australian politician..........

[FarahW]

Only a fool starts a business without a business and marketing plan.

What a wonderfully succinct way of putting it


To all:
While labels are not important, surely understanding and applying the concept is different? Would you ignore a concept simply because the label seems like a business frill?

[v2Media]

If you have to communicate the concept to others, knowing the correct labels is posh, but not required. Layman terms suffice, in fact layman terms also demonstrates understanding because you use your own words to describe the concept.

[Jason Didsman]

Business plans and marketing plans should always be fluid when starting out. If you can create a uniqueness to your business or to something you sell that is hard for other people to copy then you are in front. I am for example to start a new business, I have developed an outline for my new product, a sales process, a reason to buy now, and somewhat blended a series of other products together using my knowledge making it harder for others to follow or copy. I would love to share but its not quite ready yet.

That said, if you haven't read E Myth then you really need to, systems are key to making the business work, some businesses work without them but they are missing customers and opportunities no doubt, the idea behind any USP and even multiple ones is to catch as many customers as you can, what business wouldn't want that? I know I do. USP's are hard to make in some cases but make the right one and you will make cash, that said we are in relationship selling these days because we are so inter connected with the internet. Even the best USP will not top a Viral YouTube video. SO make a plan, start with the product and the reason to buy and work from there.

Short version to answer the question.... How far should a business go in marketing, as far as you feel you need to go.....If you not satisfied with 10 million in cash... keep marketing. Good marketing can be turned on and off so as to not over whelm the business infrastructure.

[FarahW]

Mark - so to make sure I understand, what you're saying is that it is better to use layman terms to describe a concept so that others will not think it is an unnecessary step for business?

Jason - I disagree that marketing "can be turned on and off". It should be the foundation to which you base your business infrastructure and fully integrated, so how do you turn it off?

I have read the E myth, although not the "revisited" option, and I was not impressed. Perhaps we gained different perspectives on it.

[v2Media]

Farah - no, not better, that's just how it is in real life situations. One doesn't have to know what a process is called in order to apply it. USP discovery and actions come naturally to small business people without the awareness that academics have a label for it. You find small busines people taking about "standing out of the crowd", "distinguishing from the competition", or "Being more appealing to the target market" whilst having never heard of the term USP.

[FarahW]

Mark -

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences, I appreciate it.

I don't doubt many small businesses use several marketing concepts in their profession without ever finding out the academic/"official" term for the concept. What I'm trying to grasp here is that people might feel more comfortable with the concept when it is without a label. I don't mean that labels are important, but that a concept becomes *more* comfortable for people when it is without one is surprising. That for me is an interesting perspective I have not previously considered.

[v2Media]

That would depend on the individual. Considering perspectives though, some personalities are allergic to industry acronyms and will avoid their use. I, for one, avoid using web related acronyms when communicating to customers. This is for two reasons, 1) overuse and you sound like a wanker and 2) there's a good chance the customer won't know wtf you're talking about.

There a certain look or expression that I red-flag when I see it in the eyes of the person I'm taking to. It's the eyes slighly glazed or out of focus when someone internalises after hearing something they don't know. Usually I've lapsed into industry-speak when I encounter that look and I'll back-track to the concept I was expressing when I lost the customers' understanding and re explain myself in layman terms.

The ONLY time I use industry speak is with tech savvy customers and peers.