Whether you have a large business or a small brand with just one or two employees – and no matter what industry you work in – one this is for certain: you’ll need to make sure that you can market your brand. If you don’t use marketing, then you won’t get as much work or custom coming your way. You might not be as successful as you could be, or your business could even fail. As such, marketing is crucial to progressing your business over the future months and years.
However, you might not know what will work best for you. Not everyone will have marketing experience and, if you’re new to this field, you’ll need to find out what your options are. Here are some tips for if you’re looking to market your business for the first time – or even if you want to refresh your marketing strategy.
Plan Your Marketing
If your marketing activities are unstructured and random, you will waste your time and money. In other words, you need to define your marketing strategy and budget.
To begin with, identify who your best prospects are and work out how best to reach them. You will need to be specific: is the person who will make the decision senior management at an organization, or a working parent? Which social media channel will you find them on? Will you be able to speak to them at local business meetings? Will customers look for you on search engines? When do you want to promote your business in the buying cycle? Make a note of all of your points before you start forming your plan.
Have Your Information Printed
If you come across a prospective customer who seems to be reluctant to buy from you, ask them if you can send them information. You could follow this up with a note with the promised details.
The items you could have printed and ready to go can include sales information and flyers. You can also look at your brochure printing options. There are many options you can choose from, such as whether you want a unique size, fold, or a die-cut window, plus which paper or coatings to use.
Get Onto Social Media
Nearly two-thirds of American adults now use social media, according to one study. Each of the popular social media platforms – which include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Reddit – are unique in their way and so need different ways to engage. As such, think about choosing just a few of these and mastering them first, rather than trying to master them all in one go.
Have a Contest or Do Giveaways
Everyone likes free items, so giving away fun and desirable gifts will help you to build brand awareness, gain goodwill, and get in contact with potential customers. Giveaways don’t need to cost a lot, so you could include items such as checklists, white papers, or even e-books.
You could also think about promoting your items through social media, so members can try your product either for a lower price or for free in exchange for an honest review. Alternatively, you can have your advertising on popular physical gifts, including key chains, balloons, magnets, notepads, and pens.
Create Content
Your customers like good content – and so does Google. You can share your information in many ways, including videos, blog posts, hosting podcasts, writing articles for online authority sites, and creating infographics. You’ll get traffic to your site, as well as gaining authority as an expert. You can also be interviewed on a podcast or become a guest blogger for a complementary site.
Furthermore, you could hire freelance writers and graphic designers to produce the content for you. This can help you generate new ideas for content.
Use Search Engine Optimization
If you are serious about online marketing, you will understand the importance of SEO: if you can master it, you will have an undeniable impact in your industry. However, it isn’t that simple because SEO can be an onerous task to undertake. Luckily, there are many agencies who can help you, and once SEO has been mastered for your brand, you’ll be able to market your service or product for very little money.
While these are only some of the ways you can market your business, they are sure to help you get your organization in front of your potential customers. Once you do that, you can build your brand further and reach even more customers as your business grows.
