Marketing your business

Creating a marketing plan

Before you plan

Running market and customer research can be helpful before you create a marketing plan.

This Business Gateway guide gives information on:

• market and customer research
• types of data available
• how to interpret market information

Marketing on a budget

This guide from Business Gateway is about marketing on a budget.

It explains how to:

• review and evaluate the amount of money you spend on marketing
• keep your regular customers
• attract new customers

Digital strategy

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) offers digital strategy workshops

It explains how to use websites and social media to:

• get market intelligence
• engage with your customers
• get business insight to inform your digital strategy

Design for businesses

Business Gateway has guidance on design for your business.

It has general information about design including:

• design principles
• brand design
• working with designers
• designing for products and markets
• protecting your design

It also has information on designing your service or product for customers.

This includes:

• identifying your users
• observing and analysing users
• the business case for inclusive design
• the importance of ergonomics

Advertising your business

Business Gateway offers a guide on the basics of advertising your business.

It includes information on:

• where and how to advertise
• what advertising can do for your business
• how to manage the advertising process
• how to get value for money

Branding your business

Business Gateway has a guide on the basics of branding.

It has information on:

• how branding works
• how you can use it to help improve your business
• how to create a brand and budget for it
• the different techniques of brand management

Sales channels

This Business Gateway guide looks at sales channels for your products.

It explains:

• the different options you have
• their strengths and weaknesses
• how you can use them to your advantage