You may have a head full of great ideas for your business, but that won’t count for much if you’re not making people aware that your brand exists! These days, websites have almost totally replaced storefronts, and digital marketing is essential if you want your business to see any kind of success. Here, we’ve listed some of the best advice for any business owner looking to get their marketing off to a great start.
Milk Social Media for All It Has
Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on are among the most effective ways to reach your target market. A lot of these now run integrated marketing features, which allow businesses to set up automated ad campaigns, and then forget all about them. Facebook, for example, will let you choose a target demographic and then set a budget for a particular advert. Then, your chosen image or video will be dangled in front of the right people until your budget runs out. Even without their paid advertising features, social media is an incredibly effective marketing tool. You can use it to keep an eye on your competitors, and keep your customers updated on sales, products, opening hours, the solutions to common problems and special offers. While some networks suit certain businesses better than others, you should have some kind of active social media presence right off the bat.
Incentivise New Customers
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Unless you’ve come up with a product that’s as revolutionary as the television, you’re going to have more established competitors to worry about. They have a strong hold on the market, so you need to give your target audience some added incentive that will prompt them to choose you over the alternatives. The options here are vast. You might want to give them a discount on their first order, use a free gift certificate template to frame a special offer, or enter the first 500 customers in an appealing prize draw. Just make sure that you’re not giving them some loophole to take the gift and run, and that what you’re offering is financially feasible given your cash flow. Follow this up with a referral program for loyal customers, and your profit margins will soar!
Have the Right Tools from the Beginning
These days, marketing tools are extremely important for any business, yet a lot of start-up owners tend to leave them out of the budget. I understand wanting to be frugal in those early stages, but choosing to do this can come back to bite you in a pretty severe way. You may be able to keep a firm hold on your marketing right now, but as time goes on and your business expands, you may need to upgrade at a greater cost. Before your marketing campaign even starts, do some research into the marketing tools that are available, and invest in the ones you could benefit from. This will help to level the playing field if you have larger competitors, and make it easier to tweak your marketing for the maximum possible impact.
