The conversation I would like to have today is mainly focused on Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The reason they are my focus is simply because of the significance that SMEs play in driving the country’s economy. It is estimated that SMEs account for approximately 60-70% of employment in the country. Outside of statistics, we are anecdotally aware that every other person is engaging in one form of economic activity or another (what is colloquially referred to as hustling) on whatever scale their resources permit. These ‘hustling’ activities can also be considered SMEs. Therefore, SMEs are rife with potential and have a meaningful role to play in the country’s economy.

In the present day, while a lot of focus and resources have been dedicated to equipping SMEs with relevant financial literacy skills to ensure that they can efficiently manage their books, there is still work to be done in equipping SMEs with Marketing knowledge and skills that will help them unlock their potential.

Technical knowledge, a good product, an excellent service may get an SME far. However, the development and, more importantly, the execution of sound marketing strategies can be the game changer that propels an SME to growth and longevity. A marketing strategy is crucial for a business of any size as it contributes to providing direction to the organization, guiding efforts and the deployment of resources to generate demand for goods and services.

It is imperative to demystify some misconceptions about marketing strategy and clarify that a marketing strategy extends beyond consumer communication. A marketing strategy is an end-to-end plan that outlines the goals, target audience, messaging, and tactics a business will use to promote its products or services and achieve its marketing objectives. It involves analyzing the market, understanding what the customer needs, and developing a strategic approach to reach and engage the target audience effectively. A comprehensive marketing strategy is a critical piece of any business strategy.

The starting point of a marketing strategy is a clear understanding of the target consumer. Knowing who one’s target consumer is and what they are looking for from your product will aid in ensuring that the enterprise is offering a solution to a consumer’s need. An SME may offer a good product. However, if this product does not meet what the consumer needs, then it may be obsolete before it is even launched.

Building off the understanding of one’s consumer; this understanding of your consumer and what they need will subsequently inform how to effectively communicate with that consumer. Are you to communicate with them colloquially or formally? Are they interested in your technical benefits or your emotional benefits? Are they to be reached via radio or through the distribution of pamphlets? These are some of the answers that an enterprise can answer through a solid consumer understanding. This consumer understanding ensures that your efforts to generate demand for your product or services are accurately targeted and whatever budget you are expending towards demand generation is working efficiently for your SME.

A marketing strategy will support your business in ensuring that you crystallize a point of differentiation between yourself and your competition. You could both be selling chickens but if one of them is delivered fresh to the consumer with a thirty-day credit facility then they are not just two chickens. They become different by virtue of the total package that they come with.

Outside of being better equipped to fight competition, a marketing strategy details how the enterprise will build a brand. The job of building a brand is inevitable, whether you are intentionally working towards building a brand or not. For as long as an enterprise is offering a product or service there is a perception of the company, product or service that is generated in the minds of consumers. And that is what a brand is – a unique identity, values, and promises that an enterprise wants to communicate to its target audience. With a sound marketing strategy in place, the job of developing a brand becomes an intentional and planned effort and is not unintentional and left to chance.

A marketing strategy also plays a role in allowing room for agility. A marketing strategy allows any enterprise to adapt to changing macro and micro conditions. Through regular reviews and relevant updates of the strategy, a business can adapt to remain relevant in changing circumstances, allowing responsiveness to changing trends and a guarantee for long-term success.

The part of a marketing strategy that truly separates one enterprise, large or small, from another is the measuring and evaluation of efforts. Confirming that the strategy has been deployed as planned, tracking the execution of the strategy and measuring whether it has achieved the intended business results will guarantee success. Many enterprises are guilty of investing resources into building strong strategies that are then shelved and not brought to life through execution to achieve business results. The investment and rigor required to deploy a marketing strategy can certainly be termed a game-changer in the pursuit of business growth.

Many SMEs are born and sustained by a technical understanding. To pivot however, SMEs must think of growth and this growth may often require the acquisition of marketing skills that will carry the enterprise into the future. The acquisition of these skills may be through academic programs, investing in knowledgeable human resources or engaging competent consultants.

With this understanding of the features and role of a marketing strategy, I trust that owners of SMEs will consider the role that developing a marketing strategy can play in the growth of their business and consider this role worthy of investment as they seek to build strong business that will exist today and in the future.

Tariro Chivonivoni is a marketing professional with 14 years of Sales and Marketing experience across several countries in Southern Africa. She can be contacted on tarirochivonivoni@gmail.com.