Successful business marketing incorporates many different elements that work together through different mediums to deliver the growth and results desired. But it all hinges on two things that you have, a great product and a team that wants to excel.
So where to start?
All marketing starts with a strategy. A pre-launch strategy outlines:
Targeting: Who you are trying to target? Focus and refocus so no resources are wasted.
Channels: Which marketing activities are you going to use?
Frequency: How often are you going to carry out those operations?
Co-ordination: Ensure that all channels interlink to carry the same brand message.
Measuring Results: KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) to ensure that you are hitting targets.
Marketing Activities
Networking: Your network is everything; business is often conducted via personal connections and recommendations (Social Capital.) so go to networking events and business shows refer other businesses, pass them a printed business card. Join clubs and societies to meet likeminded people and expand your social capital and your business sales will grow in return.
Facebook: Is great for creating a company personality, it’s free and you can add friends, get your colleagues to add friends, share your company page etc… which improves your brand awareness and connects your business with the millennial generation. Facebook advertising is also very cheap in comparison to other advertising platforms and can be targeted quite accurately with great data capture.
Twitter: Can quickly elevate your company exposure and is great for finding business to business leads. Because of the limited characters per tweet, companies have to be inventive, short, snappy and impactful but you can always have a link in your tweet, so this is a great way to share your content.
Linkedin: Is great for interacting with other SME’s; it can be a very important tool in showcasing your products and services, locally and nationally. If your main sales are business to business then LinkedIn is a great place to start. Post daily company updates and publish articles or posts to entice potential customers.
Google+: Has lots of interesting relevant communities to join, great for search engine optimisation (SEO) purposes. Google+ is interconnected with your website and allows you to tag posts i.e. #printing which helps google realise what type of company you are and what you offer.
Printing: High quality printing is far from dead and if you want to reach customers and have a big impact, then one of the key elements in your marketing mix to consider is printing. For instance leaflet printing and direct mail printing, if you can deliver the right message at the right time then your sales and business growth will instantly increase. With the advent of digital printing technology printers can now precisely target and personalise print media such as brochure printing and printed leaflets which further enhances your conversion rates from potential to current customer. A printed brochure is one of the most important pieces of media a company can commission, because it is a tactile and physical being with content that gives the potential customer a company overview, highlighting your business objectives, branding and in particular your products and services, couple this with professional graphic design that exudes your brand message throughout and attach your business cards to add that personal touch and you’re on track to a winning formula.
PR & Content Marketing: The regular generation of relevant and informative content with appropriate media exposure i.e. Newspapers, online blogs etc.. is vital in modern marketing because it highlights how you as a company are a leading authority and source of information within that sector. This helps in terms of brand awareness, search engine rankings, and cumulatively builds your company’s brand trust level.
Email Campaigns: Email marketing can work very effectively if implemented correctly. It is good to ping over an emailer to ensure that your company is at the forefront of potential customer’s minds. To improve the ROI (Return on investment) of your email campaigns be sure to send a personalised email to a customer straight after a purchase to say thank you or to give them an offer on their next purchase.
SEO: Triple check that all your meta tags and meta descriptions for your website are accurate, relevant, include keywords and a call to action to make your google listing the most appealing on the page.
It is essential that you gather data throughout your marketing campaign, so that you can track what is being most effective and the best ROI etc… Utilise feedback from your customers and data captured to adapt your marketing strategy as the faster you can resolve customer objections, and improve the product to match market demand, the more likely you are to increase business growth and sales in the long run. Be fluid with your marketing strategy and don’t be scared to try and test new marketing avenues. Successful business marketing is judged by attracting more customers and then to keep them coming back time and time again.
Ensure that you carry the same marketing message across all different channels for brand uniformity purposes and to really elevate your campaign refer to your other platforms to increase integration and build a truly holistic cross-media marketing strategy that will grow your business.
