Marketing your business is an important part of being successful, but no single marketing strategy works for every business out there. It’s important to be smart and savvy when picking out marketing strategies for your business, no matter what your niche happens to be. You need to come up with multiple ways to reach your target customers and get them coming to you.
Here is a listing of some of the best ways to market your business. Try a few on for size and see how they work for your business. If something works, keep doing it. If something doesn’t work, set it aside and tweak it for another time.
• Create a Newsletter – There are several programs out there, like Constant Contact, which will help you to build a newsletter for your business. This is a great way to keep your client aware of all that is going on with your business. As customers come into your store or log on to your website, ask for contact information or create a box where people can opt in for your newsletter. Make sure that you include real content that people are going to be interested in reading. It’s also a good idea to offer special discounts and deals for your customers that sign up for the newsletter. This will help to ensure that they keep reading. And make sure that you are consistent; pick a time frame and stick to it. You don’t have to send out a newsletter every week, but do it at least once a month.
• Buy Advertising – We’re not talking about creating a radio or television commercial. Buy advertising on Facebook or Google adwords. These are simple ways to draw attention to your website and get more people headed your way. There are several different programs and packages so you can try it out for awhile and see if it is something you are interested in putting more money into.
• Create a Fan Page – Yes, you need to have a business website, but having a fan page on Facebook is going to help drive traffic to your website. A fan page is free, easy to set up, and simple to keep up. The important part of a fan page is the actual upkeep. Make sure that you post relevant information as often as possible. Talk to the people who ‘like’ your business and ask them to help draw more people in.
• Join a Networking Group – There are plenty of organizations that offer a weekly business breakfast or lunch for businesses that are looking to network and meet other business owners. Once you join a group like this people will refer their friends and clients to you, but the important part is you also send referrals to them in return. No matter how dependent we get on the internet, word of mouth is still the best way to get customers in your doors.
• Get Involved Locally – Is there an annual Founder’s Day that happens in your town? What about the next town over? It’s a good idea to have a booth or sponsor an event at these types of gatherings. Typically other business owners are going to attend and it is a great way to meet people and spread the word to locals about what you have to offer.
• Create an Amazing Website – By amazing website, I don’t mean something flashy and over the top, but rather user friendly and reflective of your business and its niche market. A website is your storefront on the internet. It is important that it reflects what your business is and who you are as the owner of that business. If you are lost when it comes to computer work or creating a website, then hire someone who knows what they are doing. It might cost you a bit at first, but it will save you in the long run.
• Make a Plan – Too many marketing campaigns fail because of a lack of planning. If you have some great marketing ideas then sit down and plan them out. Create a beginning, a middle, and a way to keep updating your strategies. Track the success of any campaigns that you start to weed out things that don’t work for your business and above all else, don’t give up.
Remember that not all businesses are going to thrive with the same marketing strategies. You need to think about your target customer and what is going to work to get their attention. Once you have a clear view of that target customer, go get them. If a campaign didn’t work, set it aside and try something else. After awhile you will get a good idea of what is going to work for your customers.