by James Richardson

Created on: August 21, 2008

There are a number of ways small business owners think of and define marketing. At its heart, marketing is the concentration of communication efforts conducted by a business in order to promote its brand, product, and image to a targeted audience. Some define marketing as the four P's: product, price, place, promotion. A fifth P, and an essential one at that, is public relations.

As a small business owner, think of marketing as the collective communication efforts put on in order to reach your desired audience(s) and foster your business. What is in your marketing toolbox can include advertising, public relations, promotions, etc.

To start, you need to know your target audience or target market. This may be simple in some types of business, while in others it may be more complex. If you're unsure of your target demographics, look into hiring a local marketing agency to provide you with solid demographic research. Also consider market researcher Nielsen Claritas (claritas.com) for assistance in your research efforts. Claritas offers a variety of software solutions, such as PRIZIM, and customizable packages that can assist you in defining the necessary data on your target market.

Once you've got the basic demographics down, next comes the time to segment the market. Your audience needs to be analyzed and segmented based on various lifestyle traits and habits; a good example is media preferences.

Segmentation of your audience allows you to springboard into developing the appropriate marketing communications in order to effectively reach your target. If you choose to use advertising as a means of communication, it is important to know which media are most used by your audience so you can allocate advertising dollars accordingly. For instance, if you're an independently owned hiking goods store that targets active, outdoor-types of people, television may not be your best advertising medium.

Next comes planning your public relations objectives and strategies. Sponsoring a local charity, a golf tournament, or other event that will foster good will is a common way to relate to your target public(s). How involved you'll be in the local community and how necessary you deem this to be is what will shape your goals and objectives for your public relations strategies.

With the proliferation of the web and new media, it is important to give this realm separate consideration. Don't ask if you're going to use the web in your marketing mix; ask how. A web presence is the first

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