As a new small business owner, you’ll learn quick, fast and in a hurry just how important a fantastic marketing strategy is to your eventual success. After all, no one can buy your goods and services if no one knows about them — but how do you spread the word?
There are so many options, it’s tempting to try them all at once and let it all sort itself out in the wash, but that’s a bad idea for your business — and your budget. While marketing is far from an exact science, we have a few tried-and-true tips to get you going until you hit your own groove!
Social Media Comes First
When you’re just starting out, social media is the best (and cheapest) marketing choice.
Create detailed pages on all of the major platforms. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram are all absolute musts.
But how do you get followers for these new pages? Contests and giveaways always draw traffic, and you absolutely can’t go wrong with great, sharable content!
Get Your Website Up and Running
Having a website isn’t going to cut it. You have to have a great website. It’s one of the first impressions you’ll make on those people you eventually hope to call “customers,” so it has to hit the mark every time.
A “buy now” button and a list of products and services is fine, but people are going to want a lot more than that. Engaging content, video, how-to articles — you need to sell your whole story, not just your “stuff”!
Partner Up
“New” is always scary, but there is definite safety in numbers. Find a like-minded small business owner or two and make plans to support each other by sharing customers, teaming up on advertising ventures and generally working together for the common good!
Set Goals
No one can do everything all at once, so it’s important to decide where your focus is going to be and when. Do you want to concentrate on building a fan base? Reaching a certain sales benchmark? Developing new products or services?
Setting attainable, measurable goals will help you determine where your marketing dollars will have the biggest impact.
Reach Out
It’s hard to go it alone, especially when you’re just starting out. That’s why finding a great marketing team to help you can be so beneficial. Yes, it’s not free, but hiring marketing help may not be as cost-prohibitive as you think, and you’ll gain plenty in the way of extra time and reduced frustration.
There’s no denying it — marketing a brand-new business certainly has its challenges. However, when you follow a proven formula, there’s no limit to your potential for success!
Looking for more getting-started tips? Give Mischa Communications a shout, and we’ll show you how effective marketing can transform your small business.