Reading this post will completely change the way you look at marketing your business. Lots of smaller businesses have trouble knowing what is important in making marketing plans that fit. They either don’t do much marketing or they don’t know all of what they could be doing. A lot of businesses don’t prioritize marketing into their planning or budget because of this lack of understanding. Below, we have come up with a breakdown of all the elements that we know will help as you are marketing your business.

Do your research 

Researching in regards to your marketing can be broken down into knowing your audience and knowing your competition. you want to be sure you are catering your message to the right audience. Marketing to your customers can’t be done with a one size fits all approach. Study your customers and build a customer avatar for them. You can often categorize certain types of customers and this will help you build effective strategies for each of these types.

When researching your main competition, be sure to choose the most relevant and likely competitors. You want to find out what these businesses are doing that works. This can be learning what channels your competitors are using and what current trends are going on in the industry. There are a lot of businesses that take off because they find something another business is doing, and then they improve upon it. You can also see what they are doing that doesn’t work and decide what you want to do differently. 

Revamp your branding

It can be really important to refresh your branding. When you feel like things have gotten a little lethargic or dull, do an audit on what might need improving and give it a makeover. Find what has been getting the desired results and what has not. Give things a face lift. You want your image to be up to date, uniform, and inviting. Make sure your branding has a positive energy about it.

Have a clear goal for your marketing efforts

As you do different campaigns on social media, with emails, and use paid advertising on Google, it is important to have a clear idea of how much you want to spend and what you will use to gauge the success of your endeavors. This means setting realistic and measurable goals. There are a number of factors that can be tracked to gauge your success. The important thing is that you have realistic expectations and use the numbers to make educated decisions. Some marketing strategies take time and will not yield immediate results. So, find out what goals you have and know what metrics to track for those particular goals. This will help you know which efforts just need some time, and when to drop the efforts that aren’t working.

Make your social media strategies fit your target customers

Audit your social media efforts periodically. Make sure you are using the channels correctly. Certain social media channels require certain strategies. You don’t need to be on every social media platform if you know certain ones work well and you are using them effectively. It is also important to use great content as you run a social media campaign. It gives people a reason to want to follow you and see what you post next.

Utilize paid advertising methods

It can make a big difference when you make the jump form organic strategies to paid advertising. There are many ways to go about this, such as through Google, Facebook, Instagram, and a number of other channels. The trick with each of these is knowing which will best fit your target market and how to get the most out of these different paid advertising methods. Each of them have their own benefits and drawbacks.

Have an email marketing campaign

The ROI on email marketing can be very significant. Some studies have shown that the average return per dollar spent can be anywhere between $37 and $42. Email marketing can be great as it can be automated, you don’t have to spend much, and it can be easier to track. You can also focus your email campaigns on certain customer types by segmenting your customers and email lists according to those customer types. This can really maximize your effectiveness as you do an email campaign.

Have a good website

You want people that find you online to be able to get to know your brand and get a sense of what you have to offer. Your website will often be that first impression. Your website can make or break your business. If your site is too confusing or it doesn’t simplify the user’s journey from potential customer to buyer, you could lose a lot of customers. There are many user experience items to consider, such as having a very user friendly layout and making your website mobile friendly. Make having a good website a priority.

Have a blog

Not only does blogging help a business’ SEO, it can also position you as experts in your field. Through sharing knowledge, you can establish credibility and show your customers and potential customers what you know. Blog posts are also great for connecting your website and other online marketing efforts. You can lead people organically from social media or Google back to your website and give people an opportunity to test your business out. 

Create content often

Having content is extremely important for being found online. The content you have available online can affect your likelihood of coming up on people’s searches and it can be the driving force that pulls people to look into your business. The content can be anything from visually engaging content, such as pictures and videos, to educational content pieces, such as blogs and infographics. What is important is that you are reinforcing your brand and providing high quality content that will strengthen the image of your business.

Use events for networking

In all fields of business, networking is very important. It is often said, “it is not so important what you know, so much as who you know.” You can create opportunities if you host and attend events. It can be great for meeting customers and potential customers. These events can be used to give away something for free and to try and network. You can do a lot of creative things with events and you can get your business some great PR. This can also be a good way to sponsor other local organizations and businesses that do not directly compete with yours in order to boost one another’s reach and find new customers.

Visiting other business events is also very helpful for networking. Depending on the type of event you are attending, you can network with complementary businesses or potential associates. You might be an entrepreneur and another attendee might represent a financial business. This can create an opportunity for the two of you to do business. Attending conferences, seminars, and other kinds of events is a great way to network with complementary markets or businesses. 

By trying to implement these suggestions, you will definitely see a boost in the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. We hope that we have helped you to better understand some of the important components of marketing your business. Not everything is a good fit for every business, so definitely keep that in mind as you decide what you would like to use and how you will make it work for you.

If you have any comments, questions, or marketing needs contact us. We’d love to help!

-The Forge Team