With the explosion of new media, small business has never had so many options to reach markets. Yet, how do you know what marketing strategies work and how can they be more effective?

To maximize your small business marketing strategies, you need to understand marketing is more than buying ads and targeting a wide audience. Marketing takes more than guess work. It's a measurable process that when managed properly can provide a good return on the money invested. Managed poorly, marketing can exhaust your marketing budget, impact revenues and ultimately put you out of business.

Consider these important aspects when putting together your marketing strategies:

Market Research: It's common to assume that if we love our product or service, others will too. Many businesses skip the simple step of doing market research to discover what customers want in a business offering. Take time to research your market before you begin implementing marketing strategies.

Buying Behavior: Customers will buy for their reasons, not yours. Buyers go through various stages of the buying cycle. By aligning your marketing strategies to tailor to what stage your customer is in of the buying process, your odds of success are greatly increased.

SWOT Analysis: The marketplace is wide and deep fulfilling many wants and needs. Before you craft your marketing message, get a sense of who your competitors are including their strengths and weaknesses. A simple SWOT analysis will put your market in perspective.

Marketing Mix: There are a multitude of channels to reach your customers ranging from radio and yellow pages to the Internet and trade shows. Target your marketing strategies on multiple channels to increase your reach and frequency.

Low Cost Marketing: The most effective marketing isn't the most costly. There are ways to market without breaking the bank including joint ventures, PR and referrals.

The best marketing strategies are those that reach a specific target market in an affordable and effective way. Marketing is a game of experimentation. Test your marketing, adjust your efforts and you will maximize your opportunities.