Poor or inadequate marketing is a major factor in the failure of businesses. Many new businesses have a fear of marketing as they do not want to be seen to be pushy. Or even worse have a belief that if they “build it they will come”. They mistakenly believe that because they have a great service or product to offer, their customers will magically find them! Wrong… people need to be informed of your existence.
Marketing uses crucial funds to operate and is, therefore, quite an expensive aspect of your business management. To maximise every penny spent on marketing you need to be tracking and testing what you are doing and measuring the return on your marketing investment (ROI). If you do not know what is working, you are wasting valuable monetary resources.
Marketing does not have to be complicated. It really is just common sense. It is about letting people know what you do and how you can help them. The medium you can use to do this is very diverse – from a website, social media, articles, leaflets, email marketing, advertisements in newspapers or magazines…
To get your marketing right it is essential that you know your market. You must know where they hang out, how to engage with them and when to engage with them. Your marketing should be strategic and have a purpose. It should be communicating to and engaging with your prospective clients and generating leads and sales.
When you are creating your marketing pieces, it is essential that you make each piece of marketing count. Each piece of content should have a clear objective and you need to be clear about your return on investment (ROI).
Some of the basic marketing metrics include:
You must make sure that your marketing strategies are well placed. Good marketing techniques will help you to become reputable in a short amount of time. Social media has become an integral part of many marketing strategies, but don’t become fooled into thinking that this is a free source of marketing. Social media is time intensive and it takes time to build relationships and build a following. However, having said that, it is a great way to instantly access your potential ideal customers. Be sure to choose the most appropriate platform and do not spread yourself too thinly across multiple platforms.
Don’t be afraid to use the likes of Facebook advertising or Google advertising. I know it is not as cheap as it once was to use pay per click advertising, but the thing to focus on is not how much it cost, but how much it is returning. If you spend £10 on advertising and it returns £11.00 in sales that is a 10% return. If you multiply that up to spending a £1000 per month on advertising the equivalent return would be £1100. You can see that it can be worth your while doing so.
If you are tracking and measuring, you can minimise your risks whilst maximising your returns. Take time to know your numbers and in so doing understand what is working and what is not. This will help you to get great results fast.
You may also like: How to Present Your Business Online and in Print
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