Ways To Market Your Business Effectively
If you have started a business, then there's a good chance you have a product or service you know people want. You know there's an audience for it and you have tested it to make sure it does what it is supposed to. But how do you get it in front of those people? That's where marketing comes in and there is no shortage of ways to do this effectively.
One time marketing elements
There are two main elements to marketing – the ongoing strategies that you create and fine-tune as time passes and data comes in. And the one time elements that you set up and allow to work quietly in the background. The latter are the ones to do first as they are a one time job.
Create an email signature
The average office worker gets over 100 emails a day and one thing that almost all of them will have is some kind of signature. The key here is to make it more than your name and position. Add something that acts as a call to action (CTA) to prompt people to do things – this could be something like viewing your latest products or grabbing an email marketing freebie. You can change this as things alter over time.
Create social media accounts
We are going to assume you have a website by this stage and if not, that’s your first job. But then you need to get social media handles for the main places that your audience hangs out and link to them from your website. That might be Facebook for almost everyone, LinkedIn if you are in B2B, Instagram if you have a very visual brand and so on.
Create a Google My Business page
This is primarily for locally based businesses but even if you are all online, it is worth doing. It creates a business identity for your company with Google and is often used in search results if someone searches for your company’s name. You can also post content and updates to it, add opening times and other information.
Creating a marketing strategy
Once the one time jobs are done, you are ready to start thinking about your full marketing strategy and what types of marketing you can use effectively. There are lots to choose from and that’s why businesses often work with marketing experts to get help.
Email marketing
According to marketing experts Abacus Marketing, claims that email marketing is ‘dead’ are far from true. Email marketing lets you nurture your audience into becoming customers while also answering their questions and building brand recognition with them. It offers a great return on investment when done right – the process normally starts with an opt-in lead incentive and then through a welcome series of emails before a regular email broadcast starts.
Content marketing
Content marketing is a broad category that includes everything from creating blog posts to video content, free webinars to a podcast. Any time you create content for your audience to consume, you are engaged in content marketing.
The good thing about this aspect of marketing is that there are so many ways you can use it. From creating a how-to blog post then offering a discount from your done-for-you product to holding a webinar to teach on your topic and offering a new product at the end, there are countless effective ways to market your business through content.
Pay per click marketing
While things like search engine optimisation on the content you have created can yield great long term results, if you are looking for something quicker, then pay per click or PPC marketing may be the route. (see comparisons) This is a type of paid advertising using search engines such as Google to target a specific audience and convert them into customers.
As the name suggests, you pay per click to your website. There are similar versions available as part of social media marketing with things like Facebook Ads and Pinterest Promoted Pins. You do need a budget to use this option, but it can yield the quickest results. Experts often recommend using it alongside options such as content marketing to get the instant boost than a longer-term flow of customers.
Other effective tactics
Marketing is usually a combination of a few strategies, all focused on one main goal. Within this are other things you can do to help boost your marketing and therefore your profits.
Offering discounts or free products can be used strategically, depending on your industry. Discount coupons can be very effective but do create a ‘discount mentality’ in customers meaning they are always waiting for the next sale or discount.
Asking for customer reviews is another good tactic to use. This helps with social proof and can be used alongside content marketing to showcase the product or service from the view of real customers.
Adding together these many elements may seem challenging but by planning the right marketing path for your business, you can increase your profits and grow your company.
