While most small business owners realize they need to follow smart marketing practices, they’re at a loss for exactly what those practices are. We’re thrilled that many of them turn to KickCharge Creative for help. Our New Jersey-based marketing agency loves providing advice and guidance that help get small businesses’ marketing priorities in order. Here are just 10 useful tips:

1. Make Sure You Fully Understand Your Market. We get it. Doing your homework is time-consuming. But this is time well spent. You need to conduct research on your industry, market, direct competitors and consumers. Keep in mind that the ideas and needs of your consumer base are always changing. You need to know why and how.
2. Be Aware of Your Budget. Some business owners think it’s essential to throw tons of money at their marketing efforts. But that’s not always necessary. When you spend wisely and focus on the right areas, you can often spend less and still get great results. Establishing a budget is critical for effective marketing expectations and execution. A good starting estimate is roughly 5 percent of your sales.
3. It’s Not a Business. It’s a Brand. As a company, your brand is one of your greatest assets. It communicates, differentiates, motivates and establishes credibility. Think of your brand as a spokesperson for your company: highlighting your promises and propositions to the consumer. It needs to be on point.
4. Plan. Plan. Plan. Smart small business owners are proactive instead of passively reacting to developments on a day-to-day basis. When you formulate a plan of attack before making moves that cost time and money, you position yourself for success. What media channels will you leverage to connect with consumers? Know the answer to this question and others before you start!
5. Speak Strategically. What’s the master message of your brand? This single-minded idea should live throughout all advertising deliverables for an in-sync marketing message.
6. Act Strategically. How will you put your strategy to work? Print? Website? Online banners? Coupons or promotions? Radio? TV? Identify your deliverables and tools of attack.
7. Be Consistent. Present one strong, united front to your customers. It will bolster brand awareness and drive brand recall. Keep all of your advertising components consistent and cohesive so you can tell a great brand story.
8. Record Your Results. Accountability is key, so remember to monitor and gauge the effectiveness of your budget and advertising campaign. By tracking leads via different media channels, you can identify those channels that give you the best return on investment (ROI) versus channels that need to be further optimized.
9. Keep It Fresh. When you use what you’ve learned from data tracking, you can adapt your methods to make the most of your budget. Proper measurement helps you discover how to better spend, which channels to remove from the media plan and which channels to try in the future.
10. Pay It Forward. Contributing to the professional community is a great way to gather respect and credibility from your industry. Pay it forward every chance you can and you’ll start seeing people advocate for you!

The contents in this article originally appeared on Small Business Digest, an informational website and magazine used to share important tips and techniques used by successful small business owners. The information published by Small Business Digest is researched and written to provide its audience with the knowledge needed to succeed.