What the SWOT? The First Step in Creating Your Marketing Plan
There are a number of first steps you can take when creating your small business marketing plan, but the SWOT analysis stands out as a solid option. Don't be put off by the acronym and the "analysis" name, though—it's a straightforward exercise that helps gain clarity into what you have to offer your customers, what your competition may be up to, and things to consider for the future.
What is a SWOT Analysis and why should you care?
A SWOT analysis is a framework used to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your business. Generally speaking, strengths and weaknesses address internal aspects of your business, whereas opportunities and threats cover external factors like your competition and the general marketplace.
Taking a few minutes on a regular basis to gain clarity on your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats allows you to see clearly how you should position yourself in your marketing content.
When you map your SWOT results to marketing efforts, you'll be able to emphasize the elements that set you apart, work around your deficiencies, capitalize on new ways to gain customers, and insulate yourself from what may harm your business. Having this consistency in messaging is key so that your prospective customers know who you are and what pain points you solve for them, then seek you out when they need a solution.
How to Perform a SWOT Analysis for Your Small Business
Now that you know what a SWOT analysis is and why it's important, let's dive in to how to actually complete one. Grab a pen and paper or your favorite note-taking app and get ready to put your thinking cap on! At this stage, don't restrict your answers; just let whatever comes into your head make it onto the paper/app.
We'll start with strengths: think of all the things (and write them down) that set your business apart. What value do you provide that no one else does? Why do customers give you their business and keep coming back? What are you most proud of?
Next up? You guessed it, weaknesses: the internal factors that restrict your growth. Have you had a lot of employee turnover? Are there inefficient processes cutting into your ability to serve more customers? What made customers leave?
Switching gears to consider external forces, it's time for opportunities: have your target customers mentioned anything else they'd like to see/hear/have/experience from you? Are there forces at work in the marketplace (new technologies, changing regulations, changes in competitors, etc.) that open a window for expansion?
Lastly, we have threats, external forces that, as the name suggests, threaten your business's well-being. Flip the opportunities question on its head and think of it from the other way. Are there ways that your competitors could exploit your weaknesses outlined before this step?
What's Next?
Once you've completed your brain-dump SWOT, start refining it. Ask someone else at your company (if there is anyone!) to complete the same exercise and compare notes. At a prior company, we completed a SWOT analysis each year, crammed into a conference room and lining the wall with sticky notes. It was a bear of an exercise and we were thoroughly sick of each other by the end (good lunches and snacks help if you take this road, trust me!) but it was integral in how we approached the market in the coming year.
Do any themes emerge? Things that you never considered? Distill all the points into a few highlights for future discussion. These are going to be the driving forces behind your brand identity and marketing strategy, and you just set a solid foundation for the future of your business—congratulations!
