You have the product, you have the premises, and you have the business nous. Surely, that should be enough? Well, to push things to the next level, what you need now is some top-quality marketing.
It is the part of running a company that so many overlook when starting out, assuming that customers will come naturally and your message will reach people organically. Big mistake. Instead, and right from the off, it’s so important to market your business properly so you can be on the front foot as soon as you start trading.
In 2020, digital marketing is growing and its importance can’t be overestimated, but there remains a place reserved at the top table for traditional methods such as signage and word of mouth, too. A comprehensive, holistic approach is nearly always the right one, and with that in mind, here’s how to market your new business in 5 easy steps.
MARKETING TECHNIQUES
Marketing as we know it today was born during the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. From the 1960s onwards, due to ever increasing choice and market saturation, marketing has been at the forefront of any successful business plan as companies compete for attention and, subsequently, custom.
Getting marketing right can take your business from a neighbourhood gem to a national product or service provider. Your first step on this road is not necessarily knowing how to market but knowing what to market…
KNOW YOUR NICHE
As a business looking to push its way to the top, you should know and cherish your niche. Whatever marketing strategy you choose, and however much money you spend choosing it, you must know exactly what it is you are marketing and how it differentiates you from your competitors. This is the gold standard in standing out from the crowd.
If your company sells the best shoes in the city because they are made from the highest quality leather, for example, are you really going to market them based on their price, their tread, and their laces? Narrowing down on exactly what it is you are marketing is key to grabbing a customer’s attention, and in this case, it is the origin and quality of the shoe’s leather which should be focused on.
Once you have settled on what it is you are going to market, it is time to begin pumping that message out to the masses.
FOCUS ON YOUR STRENGTHS
Before setting out your marketing strategy and seeking third party advice on which path to choose next, consider your company’s and product’s strengths.
If you are a keen web developer, for instance, or are active on social media, spending money on a digital marketing campaign or advice on the subject may not be as necessary as seeking tips on more traditional methods. Conversely, if you are a confident and affable speaker in front of large groups but don’t know your Twitter from your Tik Tok, then the opposite approach would be necessary.
Using both traditional and modern marketing techniques is key to capturing consumers’ attention across the board, but you should still play to your strengths as much as possible to save on erroneous misdirection of your marketing budget.
USE SIGNAGE AND VISUAL MARKETING
You have now settled on your niche and begun to understand your own personal and business strengths. Now it is time to get noticed. In terms of traditional, visual marketing, signage cannot be topped.
If you like the sound of boosting your marketing reach every time you drive to work, then perhaps vehicle branding could be a useful tool. Having your logo and contact details wrapped onto your car, van or lorry makes you look professional and increases awareness. Signage and vehicle branding from a quality sign company can bring life to your business and help you stand out on the high street and on the road, and is a fantastic place to start in terms of improving your marketing reach in a very physical sense.
UTILISE SOCIAL MEDIA
With visual marketing in place, the next step is to be noticed online. Reading up on the benefits and methods of social media marketing is a good place to start, as it will demonstrate to you why you should commit so much time and effort to the practice.
Essentially, you want to start reaching more than just your local audience. By providing contact details, product and service information, and perhaps even some captivating content online, you should begin to attract a following, helping spread that net far, wide and not thinly. This can be used to direct customers back to your website, to your high street store, or to your phone number, depending on how you operate.
ALWAYS READY TO ADAPT
Never forget that the face of marketing is always adapting, and you must adapt with it to stay ahead, and this starts with using effective enterprise analytics to improve your marketing and get an overview of where improvement can be made in your whole business. Being left behind and stuck in old strategies will provide your competition with an opening to overtake and outperform you, and this ground is so hard to reclaim once it’s lost.
Following business journals and employing marketing agencies are good ways to remain on, if not ahead of, the curve, as well as following competitors on social media and monitoring their movements constantly. This isn’t espionage or deception, just a case of doing your due diligence. Good luck!