Marketing is one of the most important things to get right in business. Many naive entrepreneurs have opened companies and sat waiting for customers to come flooding in only to be disappointed. There’s always going to be so much competition out there, that you need marketing to help you stand out. But what type of marketing do you need? More importantly, what should your marketing budget be? Here are some of the ways to answer these questions.
Market Research
Market research is crucial for any business. Before you open your doors, manufacture products or order supplies, you need to run some tests. Have a prototype made, or order some initial samples and get people’s reactions of them. Ask about quality and style, whether or not they like the product, and how much they would pay for it. Some entrepreneurs use surveys to poll potential clients (see a guide how to increase your survey response rates by PeoplePulse).
The more responses and opinions you can get, the better. Any flaws or issues will be spotted at this stage, allowing you to make changes. In some cases, your market research could show that your business isn’t likely to appeal to enough people. This may mean rethinking the entire idea. However, in most cases, it will just show you a few potential snags that you can adjust before moving forward.
Digital Marketing
There are many forms of digital marketing that you can take advantage of as a business owner. For example, take blogger outreach. Bloggers can be incredibly influential, and collaborating with them as part of your marketing strategy can be beneficial from both sides. One option is to provide products or the use of your services to them for free. In return, have them write a review which can help to get your name out and sway others into buying from you. Another option is link insertion, where the backlink from their site helps you improve your own domain authority.
Social media is another thing that’s extremely important when it comes to marketing and business in general. Work on building up your follower base. The more people you have following you, the more chance that interested customers will see the promotional materials you put out.
Events
You could either host your own event or attend an event that brings together lots of businesses. If you’re going to host your own, make it fun as it will attract lots of people. Instead of presenting it as just a business event for your company, put it out there as a family fun day. Invite food vendors and entertainers down, hire a bouncy castle and face painter for kids. Then you could run competitions to win awesome prizes where people have to enter their email address or follow you on social media to win. You could give away merch as a way to get your business out there. An expo is another option, where you could rent a stall at a large event as it’s these kinds of places bigger companies and decision makers will be looking for businesses like yours to work with.
Be sure to hop into the Savvy Entrepreneur Private Facebook Community to collaborate, learn and grow with your fellow entrepreneurs and business owners.
Similar Posts by Savvy Entrepreneur:
10 Income Reports by Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs
https://savvyentrepreneur.co/10-income-reports-by-entrepreneurs-for-entrepreneurs/
Get More Customers Using Your Website, Email Marketing, and Social Media
https://savvyentrepreneur.co/get-more-customers-using-website-email-marketing-social-media/
Mastermind Groups for Entrepreneurs Foster Accountability
https://savvyentrepreneur.co/mastermind-groups-for-entrepreneurs-foster-accountability/
This is a Collaborative Post
