Often, start-up companies ignore the importance of marketing, relying only on the strength and popularity of their product and/or service.

Cláudia Chirindza, Head of Marketing and Communications at FNB Mozambique says, “while this may be true, especially for some businesses who rely only on word of mouth as a marketing tool, entrepreneurs who are serious about growing their businesses need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a marketing strategy that will help them attract more customers and increase sales.”

“Often, when entrepreneurs market their businesses, they assume that its only about putting their brands on social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram, without necessarily having a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan in place,” adds Chirindza, as she unpacks tips for developing a business marketing strategy:

• Marketing Strategy – as part of your marketing strategy, develop a marketing plan that aligns to your business objectives. For example, if your plan includes a social media plan or campaign - depending on the depth and frequency of your planned activities, you can then decide to appoint a social media manager or manage the activities yourself in alignment with the business’ broader marketing activities. It’s more than just randomly posting on Facebook and Instagram as and when you deem relevant.
• Competitive Advantage – it’s important to know and understand your competitors, determine your unique selling point, and what you can deliver to satisfy your customer needs. For example, when running a bakery, you could offer your customers discounts, such as a few custard cakes when buying three coffees.
• Free online marketing tools – online learning tools are available at no cost, which businesses can use to update their knowledge of marketing, entrepreneurship and more.
• Return on investments – in addition to the marketing activities that will be implemented, it is important to use the right tools to accurately measure and determine return on investment. This will help the business owners to determine whether their marketing activities have helped to deliver on their strategy.

“Lastly - the importance of fully understanding your competitors, customers, market and landscape in which you operate and matching that with an adequate marketing plan that will help the business to reach its objectives - cannot not be overlooked”, concludes Cláudia.