Marketing is a very important aspect of every business. In fact, no business will succeed if its marketing strategy is not properly defined and executed. But before we go on, let us first define marketing. A good definition is that marketing is the process by which companies determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. That is as clear as any definition can be and inherently already has some good marketing tips in it. We will focus more on the process of determining the interests of the consumer and more particularly, how you can find out what people are thinking with regards to your product or the industry you are in.

For many years top marketers, just like Frank Kern, believe in the power of understanding how the consumer thinks and also feel since much of the buying decisions can also be emotional in nature. But whether it is the practicality of the product or the emotional attachment that the buyer feels about that product, it all boils down to just one thing: what do the buyer think about the product? We will discuss this further by enumerating some marketing tips on how you can get into the minds of your consumers and think just like they do.

First of all one of the most effective and tried and tested approach is by using surveys. You do this by printing out some survey questions or setting up a website where the participants can just click or type their answers. However, unless the essay is essay type, your questions as well as the answers that you will be getting from it can be quite limited. And do not think about creating an all essay type of survey because people hate that kind of stuff. Make it easy for them to answer your questions and as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, a survey will give you a good hint as to what your product means to your consumers or at least to your target market and what areas you need to improve.

Another great free marketing tip is a focus group discussion. In the Frank Kern core influence cd it was discussed that in the decision making process as well as the actual act of buying, what the consumer values most is the experience that he goes through. Therefore it is more than just knowing if a consumer likes a product or not and on which price range does he thinks is fair that are important to discover. Since a focus group discussion is a face to face activity, you can intimately interview the participants and read the emotions that they share, not only verbally but also through their gestures and intonation.

Finally, one of the best marketing tips that you can get is to think like how your consumer would think or behave in a given situation. If that means you have to stereotype your target market, by all means do it. Think of all the qualities and traits that your ideal customer will possess and put all of it in the personality of an imagine person. Then do what that person would normally do like what kind of website he would visit, what restaurants or bars he would frequent, what are his tastes in clothes and food, and so on and so forth. By putting yourself in the shoes of your customer you will have a better understanding of how they think and act.

A definition of marketing: presenting your product widely in a way that makes people want it.

Whether your business is new or well-established, the very first step to marketing is recognizing it is necessary. Marketing is not a luxury; marketing is a vital part of any business.

For a small business, marketing is crucial. It is also very expensive if done badly. Not only does poor marketing cost valuable time and money, but the lack of results for weeks or months represents lost sales, which add up to actual lost income.

The most money a small business will ever lose is the money it didn’t make because of preventable errors and wasted resources in bad marketing.

If you can afford it, hire a person or a marketing firm that has a proven track record of helping small businesses grow. (In theory, a good marketing person or firm will pay for itself in increased sales. Some do and some don’t, so get references.)

A small business owner just starting out should take two primary marketing steps simultaneously, whether or not he can hire marketing help:

1) Get some kind of personalized marketing going, even if it is just an hour on the phone cold calling every day, or sending out letters, to individuals or businesses that might be interested in your product. This action works because you are the boss, and people like talking to the boss. It also helps you learn what people need and want, how much demand already exists for your product, and what approach gets people to respond best.

2) Start learning as much as you can about marketing, both in general and specifically as it relates to your field. Look at, watch, and listen to as much of your competitors’ marketing as you can find. Even more important, read books about marketing. You can find out which are the best by searching for “best marketing books” on a search engine, and see what most people agree on.

Neither of these steps has to take a long time, if you actually do them. Each book will give you ideas and increase your understanding, which will help your ongoing marketing efforts. Within a week or two, you will feel much more confident about what needs to be done to market your product, and that confidence will grow as you learn more.

It is worse than pointless to start a marketing campaign without having some idea of how to make people want your product. The principles of quality apply to marketing as much as to any other endeavor: average or below average marketing does not stand out and will not succeed against high quality marketing.

An established small business needs to market as much as a new one if it wants to grow. While word-of-mouth is powerful, it is not sufficient, and it usually is self-limiting. In other words, word-of-mouth won’t help you market to specific targeted markets, and it won’t help market new or improved products.

The approach for an established small business is different from that for a new business.

1) Your previous and current customers are your best market. Most small business owners never really grasp that, and let their customers fade away. Retention of customers is a major key to growth. If your retention is poor (less than 95% of “retainable” customers), do whatever it takes to find out why, and fix it. Usually, some principle of quality is not being applied.

2) Learn more about marketing, as described above. Compare what you are learning to the marketing you have done in the past, both that which was effective and that which was not. This exercise should help you build even more effective campaigns in the future.