Marketing can sound like quite a lofty activity, involving lots of resources and expert input, which may make it seem daunting, or even unreachable, for some smaller businesses.
But it really doesn?t have to be. There are lots of things you can do to market yourself and because these methods are cost effective, they give you enough budgetary breathing space to consider taking on professional support to ensure they?re as effective as possible.
Vary Your Tactics and Communicate Regularly
Don?t just rely on one marketing method, because you run the risk of your customers tiring of your approach. Keep things fresh by varying your tactics and exploring different avenues for getting your message across.
Consider combining mail-outs and sales letters with less direct methods, such as social media engagement.
This approach is good because it can help consolidate your existing customers while finding new ones. Social media engagement is a good way of keeping your audience interested and creating a genuine dialogue with them.
At the same time, don?t ignore older means of communication such as press releases and email newsletters. It?s important to maintain and build your presence, so communicating regularly with your customers is vital.
Build up your database and nurture it.
Produce and Share Strong Content
Remember that your website is not simply a destination but key tool in your marketing strategy. As such you need to ensure you keep your content fresh and engaging.
Blogs are the best way of doing this, because you can explore the issues and needs of your audience in them, and in so doing, reach out to your customers.
You should also have content that you can share through appropriate social media channels.
Your content doesn?t have to be restricted to words. Brief, punchy online videos are another great way of marketing your business and connecting with your audience.
Instructional videos are particularly well-shared, and they allow you to be seen to be giving your audience something that they?ll find really useful.
Be savvy with your content and explore ways of recycling it: turn your blog posts into an ebook that your website visitors can download, in return for their email details; and transform your instructional videos into webinars.
There will always be a fresh audience which won?t have seen your older content, giving you the leeway to re-use it in a modified form.
Networking with a Purpose
It?s not just about the canapes ? networking is an essential way of marketing your business by marketing yourself on a personal level.
Bolster your physical networking with corresponding social media activity. Find the appropriate channels and get involved, give yourself a clear voice.
Build up to hosting your own event, where you can give a talk or workshop related to your business, which will position you as an expert in your field while at the same time allow you to connect with others.
Marketing your business is all about exploring the different channels that are right you and your audience, and at the same time being strategic and smart about your marketing activity: always keep your goals and objectives in mind.
Reform Creative is a Manchester-based creative agency specialising in design and marketing. We know that marketing can sometimes seem like a leap into the unknown, which is why we?re on hand to help businesses maximise their marketing activity while taking the mystery out of how to do it.
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