Starting your own business is an exciting process and seeing your product or service being launched into the marketplace is the ultimate reward. However no matter how good your business is, in order for it to reach your target market it needs to be marketed effectively. It is really important to develop a marketing strategy early on in order to ensure the future viability of your business. Your business needs to be seen in a positive light and it needs to be seen by the people you are hoping will use your business.
For your marketing strategy to be successful you need to adopt several forms of marketing techniques. You also need to ensure that advancements in technology are used effectively within your business. Your website needs to be fully functional with sitemaps integrated. If this all sounds new and complex learn more about how sitemaps can enable you to stay in control of your websites structure.
This article aims to give pointers on how to develop your marketing strategy and how to embrace technology to your benefit.
Advertising takes on many forms. To enable your target market to be reached it’s important to adopt a range of methods. Advertising ranges from the traditional advert in print to advertising on social media platforms.
Traditional forms of advertising
Back in the day, the only option for advertising was adverts placed in the press, TV and radio. The advert in the local shop was also another low cost option. These forms of advertising still have an important part in today’s market. Traditional adverts have more staying power than those placed on social media. TV although expensive, reaches a large audience and if you have great branding your business could very quickly become a household name. For business startups cash is usually in short supply so you could consider advertising in a local community magazine, which is normally very reasonably priced. Leaflet drops are another way of generating sales and getting your business “out there!”
Strong web presence
In today’s market much of the communication, leads and sales occur online. When customers are looking for a particular product they are likely to google as to where the best place to buy a product is and look for service reviews. This means that to be a strong player within the marketplace it is essential to have a strong web presence. Your website needs to feature highly on search engines and it needs to be secure enough to cope with online sales and to prevent cyber attack. If this is not your area of expertise it is worth outsourcing your website management and SEo to experts in the field.
Trade fairs
There are trade fairs associated with most business niches. It is an arena to showcase your products and services. Trade fairs are frequented by buyers from international retailers, if you can attract their attention enough for them to place an order your business could have it’s products stocked on a national or international basis. Take advice on which is the best fair for your niche, then concentrate on creating the perfect stand to attract attention.
Social media platforms
Social media is a fairly new phenomena, if you are not considering implementing social media platforms into your marketing strategy you will be missing out on a huge potential customer base. For social media to be effective in promoting a brand you will need to build up your following and engagement. Social media allows you to build up a rapport with potential customers and you will be able to respond to queries promptly. One of the negatives to using social media as an advertising tool is that it is extremely time consuming, if time is short you would be best placed employing a social media manager. Another negative is that it is likely at some stage that you will receive negative feedback, however if this is responded to efficiently and professionally it can work in your favour.
Once you have worked on your marketing strategy it’s worth considering how the recent advancements in technology could help your business to succeed. In order to meet customer demand it will be advantageous to implement any technology which will make the production process easier. Technology is constantly evolving and by staying “current” you will be able to stay ahead of your competitors.
There are many ways of staying up to date with technological advances, read on to discover some of them.
Networking
It is important to network effectively with other business owners from your niche. This will enable you to stay up to date with how technology is being implemented in other businesses. The internet has enabled networking to become much easier. You can chat online, join forums and attend online conferences all from the comfort of your office. You can literally communicate with people from all corners of the globe, which is excellent for innovation, if some countries are more advanced than your own you can plan future expenditure in order to implement some of the new systems. It is also important to attend conferences and meetings in person as this is where connections are made.
Networking encourages and drives creativity which helps in an ever evolving business arena.
Publications
Ensure that you subscribe to every trade publication related to your niche. This will enable you to stay up to date with recent innovation, it will also highlight how technology is being implemented in other businesses. The future prospects and direction of your niche will be discussed, which will enable you to always stay ahead of your competitors.
Trade magazines will also advertise training opportunities which will also enable you to stay current. Much of the technology developed for businesses requires a certain amount of knowledge for it to be implemented effectively, this is where training is invaluable.
To conclude the combination of a well developed marketing strategy alongside the effective implementation of current technology will allow your business to grow effectively. It is important to stay current by reassessing how your business is performing. Any financial investment and the investment of time in concentrating on marketing and technology is likely to be returned tenfold.
