Marketing may seem like an afterthought to other aspects of business, but it’s the most important thing to focus on when starting out. If you have no customers, no one will be able to buy your product or service; you could have the best products or services ever made, but if no one knows about them, no one will buy them and you’ll go out of business very quickly.
Start with Your Product
Your product is the foundation of your business. It’s what you’re selling, and it needs to be good. But even the best products won’t sell themselves. That’s where marketing comes in. Marketing is what will get people interested in your product and convince them to buy it. Even if you have a product people need, for instance, couples need to buy an engagement ring, they will only know to come to you if they know that you are selling engagement rings. Good marketing can ensure you are the first and only place they check out.
Know Your Customers
Marketing is all about getting your name and your product out there so people can become aware of what you’re offering and (hopefully) buy it. The first step to nailing your marketing strategy is understanding who your customers are. Try to create a buyer persona, which is a fictional representation of your ideal customer.
Find the Right Word Mix
Once you know who you’re targeting, you can better craft messages that will resonate with them. Your messaging should always be tailored for each different demographic. Additionally, it’s important to know what your competitors are doing and how they market themselves in order to find new ways to stand out from the crowd.
How Strong Is Your Brand?
Think about some of the most iconic brands in the world. What do they have in common? A strong brand. A brand is more than just a logo or tagline. It’s the emotional connection that customers have with a company or product. And that emotional connection is created through marketing and more specifically through good branding.
What About SEO?
SEO is essential if you want your product to be noticeable. Good SEO helps you rank higher on Google and thus get your product noticed by new customers. Moreover, SEO ensures that anyone interested in your product knows where to find you.
When Does Marketing Become Promotion?
Marketing starts with figuring out who your target audience is and what needs and wants they have. Once you know that, you can create a product or service that meets those needs and wants. Next, you need to let people know about your product or service through advertising and promotion.
It’s Good to Promote Yourself
No matter how great your product or service is, you won’t get very far without marketing. Marketing helps you create awareness for your business and lets potential customers know what you have to offer. It’s also essential for building relationships with customers and establishing trust. In short, marketing is essential for any business that wants to succeed.
How Much Should You Spend on Advertising?
There’s no magic number when it comes to how much you should spend on advertising, but there are some general guidelines you can follow. In general, you should spend around 2-5% of your total revenue on advertising. If you’re a small business with a limited budget, you can start with a smaller percentage and increase it as your business grows.
More Tips on Raising Awareness
You can try many different forms of marketing to establish which one works best for you. Truly, for a small business the best thing to do is trial and error. Really test out multiple platforms, from social media to content marketing, and remember that ultimately word of mouth will always be essential. So, make sure you are always representing your brand positively so that people have positive associations with it.
