Many business owners know they need to market their business, but they just don’t have the time, or they don’t know where to start. While marketing can seem intimidating, it presents huge opportunities for business growth. Our advice is not to dive right into complex marketing campaigns, but to begin with these 3 marketing must-dos will start you off on the right track, without breaking the bank.
1. Ask yourself who your ideal customer is and think about the type of customer you don’t want
Before you start marketing, take the time to understand who you want to target, and who you don’t. Start by thinking about your top clients. What makes them your favorites? Then examine the work you hate. Why do you hate it (or why is it not profitable)? Understanding these things will ensure you can target profitable work that you will enjoy, and you’ll learn to identify and say ‘no’ upfront to bad clients or those who would bring you work that doesn’t pay.
2. Steer clear of makeshift marketing
Don’t fall into the trap of only thinking about marketing when you have a free moment. You’ll either end up never doing any marketing, or you’ll fall into the trap of ad hoc marketing. This makeshift marketing typically doesn’t offer long-term value.
3. Prioritise measurement
You cannot track your marketing progress unless you understand your starting point. Marketing metrics are necessary to be able to decide what works, what doesn’t, and where to spend your money wisely. Start with the simple stuff. Make use of customer surveys to get feedback, install Google Analytics on your website to keep track of your traffic sources and visitor behaviour, and keep tabs on your newsletter statistics to see which information is of most interest to your readers. Remember: you can’t improve what you’re doing until you understand your current performance.
You can’t go wrong…
With these tips and a good marketing strategy, it is almost impossible for your business’s marketing to go wrong, if you go about it the right way, and ensure that you are supported by a strong marketing team to implement and execute.
In our opinion, the most important tip we can give you is simply this: don’t waste your money on marketing if you don’t have a marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your website, brochure, or billboard is – they probably won’t bring you the business you want unless they are aligned with an effective strategy.
