So, you’re the proud owner of a brand-new business. Congratulations! So far, you’ve probably been shedding blood, sweat, and tears to get your dream business up and running. If you are producing good services or products, the most important thing that you need is a good marketing plan.
As any marketer will tell you, you can have the greatest products on earth, but if no-one knows about them, you’re not going to make any sales. We’ve put together some marketing tips for new businesses to help you show off your business to the public.
1. Develop a Marketing Plan
This should include your mission statement, your marketing strategy, your target market/s, your competitors and where you rank in comparison, pricing, your promotional plan, and your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
All of this makes your business unique and why customers should choose you over your competitors. Decide on a Marketing Budget
2. Conduct Market Research
If you haven’t already conducted research, do so. Focus groups are a good way of eliciting opinions from potential clients about your product or service. You need to find out what people want and how they want it delivered to them.
3. Employ a Designer
Find an excellent graphic designer for designing a logo for your business that is appealing, reflective of your offerings, and eye-catching. All promotional material, from flyers to business cards to brochures need to be designed in line with your logo and letterhead for consistency and a unified image.
4. Have a Website Designed
Unless you’re a whizz at website design, hire an expert to develop a website for your business and, perhaps, for online trade.
Make sure you are up-to-date with the latest trends in website design to ensure that your site is quick and easy to read. There should be with little enough text but a powerful Call To Action (CTA) button that tells visitors exactly what to do next.
5. Get SEO
Search Engine Optimization is vital for you to stand out from the crowd and keep your name in people’s minds. There are many professionals who can help with this aspect of marketing your business.
For SEO services in Canada, use the services of a reputed agency that can do real professional work to optimize your business’s reach.
6. Be different with your USP
What distinguishes you from others? Highlight your uniqueness, such as a catchy slogan you use consistently. The idea is to stand out from the crowd. Do your shampoo bars last twice as long as other leading bars? This is a great selling point.
7. Form alliances
Small businesses thrive on developing alliances with others, especially if you offer complimentary services or products, or if you’re in a close geographical area. Introduce yourself to other small business owners and see how you can help each other.
8. Network Like Never Before
Even in the days of social media, word-of-mouth referrals are gold. Treat every occasion as an opportunity to network and build up contacts.
9. Set Up Your Social Media Channels
Choose which social media channels you are going to appear on, and create frequent, relevant, interesting content. Don’t try and cover every platform; it’s just about impossible.
If you’re not a social network guru, you might consider farming this job out to a professional. The power of social media cannot be over-emphasized.
10. Hold Promotions
If you, for example, have an online shop for natural beauty brands, ask the makers of the products to provide promotional products for regular competitions and other promotional events. Asking entrants to competitions to tag others on social media can often lead to more customers.