This article has been also published by the Cambridge News on their Business website 🙂
Can’t see the wood for the trees sometimes? Do you find yourself getting immersed in the day-to day running of your business and forgetting about marketing until sales dip? Or, do you need some ideas to get a business off the ground? Here are five tips to promote your business:
Get back to basics – Creativity and fun promotions are great, and can work well, but your business needs the essentials. Do you know who you are targeting? How exactly are you going to reach them in a cost-effective manner? Is your website attracting the right people? Many businesses are instantly drawn to the more “glamorous” aspects of marketing e.g. an i-phone app or extensive advertising. Cleaning your database and writing your strategy can be dull. But there is no point having a fantastic direct mail campaign, with novelty gimmicks, if you then send it to the wrong people.
Be yourself! – Local business mentor (and networking guru) Ann Hawkins recommends that effective networking comes down to being yourself. Whether you are meeting people face-to-face or via social media, engage on a personal level. Tweeting nothing but sales pitches will bore people. Engage and be human, no one likes being blatantly sold to. Likewise, don’t expect instant results with social media. It can take many months of being active on social media before you see a return from it. Get out and meet people!
There’s a hole in my bucket… – Keeping customers is far more cost-effective and less time consuming than trying to woo new ones. If you are losing customers you need to plug the leak! Are you regularly communicating with your customers and giving them offers as a thank you for their loyalty? Do you have any other products they might like? Perhaps they can recommend you to their friends? You will get a better response from people with whom you have already engaged with and built a relationship. There’s always the need to attract new business, but don’t neglect those you worked so hard to acquire in the first place. Ask for testimonials from your happy customers and shout about them!
Something extra? Or something off? – Even in these economically challenging times, businesses and consumers are still attracted by receiving an added extra, rather than money off. Psychologically, adding on a product or service as a free extra is more attractive than, for example, giving 10% off. It’s a trick supermarkets use well. A little too well sometimes!
Rinse and repeat – Promote your business, constantly! Your marketing should be a strong combination of tactics so that your brand is promoted across as many media as your target market consume. What measures are in place to gauge the success of your marketing efforts? How will you know which messages worked and what didn’t? Do you know which sources your leads and customers came from? Regularly tracking and reviewing your marketing will enable you to accurately place your marketing budget in future months.
If you need any further advice on ways to promote your business, contact us!
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