Starting a business these days is a walk in the park. There are literally thousands of startups established every month. Not including the significant number of big brands already on the market, this equates to a ton of competition for someone with very little money, few resources, and no credibility. So, how does one compete? Outside of having a great product or service, quality customer service, and reasonable rates, you must invest in marketing.
You Need a Marketing Campaign
Simply put, every entrepreneur must learn how to effectively promote their products and services to target customers. More than standing outside with a “we’re open for business sign”, business owners need to use popular methods and platforms to spread the word about their brand. Developing a strong marketing campaign can help. These are a combination of methods used to reach target audiences through various means to accomplish a company goal.
What Makes a Campaign Great?
Haphazardly advertising your products or services for sale will backfire. It can give the impression that you’re not legit, don’t care enough about your business to invest, or don’t know the needs/desires of your potential customers. In other words, it could ruin your reputation. To reduce the likelihood of this happening you need a well thought out plan or campaign. To be a success, it should encompass these qualities:
Meets Company Goals – Each campaign you create should help to meet a goal. Are you looking to bring in new business, introduce a new product, promote a deal, or simply build your brand?
Diversified – Your marketing campaign should be diverse and spread across various platforms to succeed. If you sell merchandise, having an interactive website is great, but incorporating a Raw Shorts explainer video to social media platforms like YouTube that link back to your company page is better. Essentially, you want to use various mediums to reach those you hope to convert to customers. From traditional methods like print, radio, and promotional products to digital platforms like websites, social media, blogs, and virtual directories, your marketing efforts should be diversified to suit the preferences of your ideal customers.
Appeals to Your Target Audience – To piggyback off the idea from above, a successful marketing campaign should not only be diversified and reach your audience but it should appeal to them. You can have a great startup and something important to say, however, if you’re putting out marketing materials that your target audience doesn’t find engaging, they’ll never hear you. Do the customers you’re trying to reach like discounts or do they prefer free merchandise? Are they more interested in reading information or would they prefer videos?
Measurable – Here’s one that often gets overlooked by novice entrepreneurs – measurability. For every idea you execute in your marketing campaign, it needs to accurately measure consumer interest to determine its effectiveness. How many people liked your last social media posts? Was the latest update to your website received well? There are analytical tools that you can use to help you keep track of your marketing efforts and their success so that you can make changes accordingly.
Optimized – When it comes to marketing on the internet, a successful marketing campaign is well-optimized. Search engines use optimization practices to determine the creditworthiness and usefulness of all web content to online users. Everything from your website and social media to your blog posts and podcasts need to be optimized to increase visibility on major search engines.
Builds Brand Awareness
With every marketing campaign that you launch it should help to build awareness for your brand. Your target audience should have a clear understanding of who you are, what your products and services are, and how they can benefit from using them. The material you put out should be a reflection of your brand which helps to build credibility and increase exposure.
Marketing is the very foundation for any business. If you’re not actively investing in marketing your brand you will find yourself lost amongst the rest of the competition. To stand out and reach the masses, it is imperative that you develop a marketing campaign that meets your goals, resonates with your target audience, is diversified, well-optimized, and of eventually make your brand a household name.
