Invosy - More cashflow

Light Entrepreneur's Marketing Guide

How do you lead your potential customer to the service you offer? Through marketing! After reading the Light Entrepreneur's Marketing Guide, you'll know where to start when it comes to marketing your product.

These links will take you directly to the topic you are looking for

What you sell and to whom

The starting point for marketing is that you know what you are selling and to whom - what is your business idea and how it works? By answering the following questions, you will make it easier and clearer for both your customers and yourself.

What you do as a light entrepreneur

What is the commodity you offer
How have you priced the commodity you are offering?
In which region is your product available (e.g. Oulu or whole Finland)?

How you do what you do

How do you sell your product (e.g. a website)?
How can a customer buy the product you offer?
How does your customer benefit from the product you are selling?

How you do what you do

How do you sell your product (e.g. a website)?
How can a customer buy the product you offer?
How does your customer benefit from the product you are selling?

Why are you lightweighting?

Why did you become a light entrepreneur?
Why are you selling the commodity you choose?
Why would a customer buy the product you are selling and why is it useful to them?

Target group

Target audience means the customers to whom you should market your product. They can be either future customers or customers who have already bought. When planning your target group, it is a good idea to start with basic information such as: age, gender, place of residence and occupation/education. In addition to these, it is a good idea to find out the target group's interests, hobbies and lifestyle.

The saying “everything for everyone is nothing for everyone” is true - only companies like Google can target “everyone”.

Use these tips to define your target group:

Research your current customers
- Who has already bought your commodities?
What are the benefits of the product you offer and to which customers?
Where do your customers live?
- For example, if you live in Helsinki, do you offer your product only there or in a wider area?
Ask for feedback and analyse it
- Remember that the occasional negative comment does not mean that your target group is wrong. On the contrary, you can learn a lot from them!
Examine the target groups of competitors
- What are the target groups of your competitors? You can find this out by examining your competitors' marketing materials, for example.
- Could your competitor's target groups also be your target groups?

Budget and channels

Before you can start implementing your marketing plan, you need to set a budget. The budget may include paid advertising, a domain name and the necessary software.

Tips for creating and using a marketing budget:

Find out your customer's buying path, how will they find you?
Keep your budget in line with your goals
Take into account possible hidden costs
Measure the return on capital invested

When you're setting your budget, think about the channels you want to use to reach your target audience. Once you've chosen the channels (e.g. social media), it's time to produce content about the products you offer and generate leads (i.e. reach new buyers interested in the product). Remember, it's important to be able to measure the effectiveness of your advertising.

It's a good idea to start marketing with a small budget. Over time, you'll find out what works and what doesn't, and you can adjust both the budget and the content of your marketing on that basis.

Marketing plan

Once you know what, how and to whom you are selling your product, it's time to draw up a marketing plan to help you stay on top of organising, implementing and monitoring your marketing, while making it easier for you to do it yourself - a ready-made plan is easy to follow.

The SMART method

The SMART method helps you set achievable, realistic goals for yourself and your business. These will help you stay motivated at work!

Specific
Define exactly what you want to achieve (for example, a certain number of new customers).
Measurable
Set measurable milestones to track your progress (e.g. salary earned from light work)
Achievable
Achievable goals keep you motivated. Ask yourself: how can I reach my goal? How realistic is my goal, given my constraints (e.g. the amount of time I have to work)?
Relevant
Make sure your goals are really important to you. Ask yourself: does it feel worth your time? Is it achievable?
Time-bound
Setting deadlines makes it easier to achieve your goals and work towards them. Ask yourself: what can I do today, in six weeks or six months?