Marketing is a term small business owners hear and think differently about. Some might think they saw someone on Shark Tank bootstrap their business without marketing and are proud of it, so they think why do I need it? Others might say how much they need it and take years to begin. A final type could be the DIYer that needs to do as much as they can themselves until one day they realize how much there is to it. The bottom line is at some point you need to do it, there is a lot of information out there, and you need to cut through the clutter. This is where I come in. I’ve put together a Marketing 101 on what I wish I knew when I started my marketing journey.
The Key is Foundation Foundation Foundation!!!
Now that I’ve convinced you, I mean you realized that you need Marketing, it’s time to do something about it. First things first, who are you selling to? And what are you selling them?
It’s essential to define your target market and the audience(s) you want to target. This includes you understanding who your customers are, what their needs are, what channels they often engage with, and lastly how to engage them on those platforms… basically, what they want to see from you that will make them look and not keep scrolling through to the next cat video or fail video.
Use the following questions to help you get started.
Now that we have asked all the right questions and created personas for all of our ideal customers, we’re ready to dig deeper into that customer and learn more about them.
We’re all about effective marketing or marketing with intention. To do this you must understand your customers inside and out. To do this, start by researching them online, and use search engines and social media platforms too. Look at the topics they are interested in, what groups they are a part of, and what matters to them… usually what they spend money on is what matters to them, so it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at their spending patterns either.
A secret weapon for you can be doing market research by utilizing LinkedIn.
You now have greatly improved your chances of success for your marketing efforts aimed at potential customers and existing ones alike.
This can be a weird concept to people and when establishing a brand for the first time, I get it. This is something bigger than yourself. The way I have always thought about it is “what are people saying about you/company after interacting with you/your company” What do they say when you’re not there? Maybe better yet, what do you want them to say, and is it being said?
Just like culture, you have to create the brand or it will be formed for you. How a brand is seen is through sets of images, interactions, designs, words, and other visuals, and they all evoke an emotional response from the people who interact with those things.
Let’s talk about how to create your own brand.
This is how you present yourself to the world. This comprises of elements such as your logo, tagline, mission statement, and color palette. To develop an effective and recognizable brand identity, the key is consistency. Your logo should be the same across all platforms; your tagline should come up in every piece of content; your voice and tone should remain consistent, too.
One of the main ways that visitors will interact with your brand is through visually seeing it. They will see your logos, social media profiles, or your co-branding partnerships.
Building a recognizable brand identity means establishing continuity and presence across all your digital platforms and physical marketing materials. This doesn’t mean that you have content consistently on every platform right away, this just means creating your accounts and filling them out. When you have content post it on the other platforms as well if possible.
Starting off people just need to know that you are active and doing things.
Color is an important part of the branding and can set the tone for your business. From choosing a gender-neutral palette to selecting shades that suit your industry, there are many considerations when it comes to color selection.
Let’s all face it, choosing colors and talking about what seems so insignificant when you have 100 fires to put out in the business before you even wake up for the day seems insignificant. What you may not know is that choosing the right colors makes a big difference in how you and your company are perceived. Here is a list of colors and how they are viewed by your customers on a subconscious level.
Now that you have been equipped with this information you have to think back to the branding and core values of your company. How do you want to be perceived and what colors align with that? Here is a list of questions you should ask yourself to figure this out.
With an understanding of which colors best fit your brand's values, customer needs, and personal preferences in mind, it's time to narrow down the exact hue. Coolors.co is a great tool for picking out the perfect hex codes for your project. You can browse new palettes, use random color generators, or even make your own custom combination until you land on something that everyone will love. This chosen color should be suitable for digital platforms such as websites and social media, as well as physical printing materials.
Have you ever heard the saying: "A picture is worth a thousand words?"
Well, the same can be said about logos!
It took Apple a while to establish itself as one of the most recognizable tech companies in the world, but it was that iconic bite taken out of its logo that got them there faster.
If they had gone with something like “Amazingly Designed Computers” as their business name, then amazing might have been lost in the shuffle of all those other tech companies at the time.
But with that unique logo and creative name, they managed to leave an imprint on everyone’s minds.
Crafting an effective logo is a key component of creating a successful brand. Choosing the right color scheme, typography, shape symbolism, and composition can make all the difference in communicating your desired style and culture to potential customers, colleagues, and partners.
Think of what you want your business to represent – do you want it to be cheerful and friendly? Opt for fonts with rounded edges or vibrant colors. Or if you prefer a more authoritative persona then go for a timeless typeface or regal hue instead. Don't forget that keeping it simple makes it easier to remember so strive for overall consistency across all mediums as well.
Designing your perfect logo may take some time but don't give up – sketches are essential in discovering what image best reflects your mission statement. With patience and creativity, you'll find the ideal symbol that conveys exactly how you want your business to be seen!
Crafting a marketing strategy for small businesses should start with the basics: sales and brand-building. Establishing a solid base is essential before continuing to develop the higher levels of your business.
A marketing plan is essential for any business - start-up or established - to define objectives, target its audience effectively and determine the tactics needed to reach them. It also helps to manage finances, assign roles and allocate resources. In summary, a successful marketing plan is critical for the success of your business.
When developing your marketing plan there are six key steps:
Setting marketing goals is an important part of developing a successful marketing strategy. It is important to determine the practicality, feasibility, and effectiveness of your goals in order to ensure long-term success. Goals should be realistic, specific, and measurable so that you can track progress.
Some initial questions to ask when setting marketing goals are: what do you want to achieve, who do you want to reach and in what timeframe? It is also important to consider the following when setting goals:
You should review your goals regularly and measure the results against your expectations. This will help you continually learn and adjust as needed in order to achieve greater success next time around.
Although it's important to consider the bigger picture with respect to business marketing, people may still not know what they need in order to make progress. Here are some of the things that should be created:
This is a must in 2023 and is just one of the checkboxes when establishing your business. It’s the best way for potential customers to find out who you are, what products and services you offer, and how to reach out to you.
You can use many ways to reach out to your customers including search engine optimization, Ads, and social media to name a few. I’ll guide you through some of these in the sections below.
Create a website
The foundation of everything!
Websites are crucial tools for any business, as they allow you to showcase your brand, products, and services to a wide audience.
The ultimate goal of a website is to attract people to visit it, keep them engaged, and guide them toward taking the desired action, which could be making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or contacting your business.
A well-designed website should be able to sell your products or services, turn visitors into loyal customers who will promote your business, and even upsell them over time.
By keeping your audience engaged in the community, you can build lasting relationships with them and maintain a strong online presence.
Additionally, your website should include pertinent information about your products/services, contact information, and educational content for them to keep coming back.
In short, a website is a key component of any successful marketing strategy and can help you achieve your business goals.
Social media marketing is one of those things that is a must-have nowadays. It’s not only important to have social media accounts set up, but you have to actually post on them and engage with people who are engaging with your business. I know right, who would have thought haha. But it’s also a place you can showcase your brand a bit more and let people get to know you and your business.
There are many types of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, TicToc, Instagram, Pinterest, and many many more. You need to know which ones your ideal audience is on and get good at that. Ideally, you want to use the 80/20 rule when approaching marketing in general which means: give 80% of the time and ask 20% of the time.
So how do you give on social media? You become the Subject matter expert in a niche you decide on and provide valuable information on that niche (that you should have scheduled for the year ideally) to people. This nurtures those that maybe aren’t ready to purchase yet, but need some time. You provide valuable posts that create buzz and build your reputation. Then when you are ready to ask (or tell them about the promotion you’re having) the audience for something they are more inclined to read it and follow through with it.
You’ll want to create an engaging and memorable online presence, it's important to have a varied social media content strategy that includes different types of posts. Here are the different categories of posts:
Educational Posts: Provide helpful information or tips from your industry, products, or services in order to help your audience grow. (these are the ones from above that provide value)
Entertaining Posts: Engage your audience with fun posts such as memes, jokes, or stories.
Inspirational Posts: Motivate your followers with inspiring quotes, stories, or personal anecdotes.
Promotional Posts: Showcase special offers and discounts with promotional posts about your products or services.
Interactive Posts: Encourage engagement by asking questions, creating polls, or running contests.
User-Generated Content: Let customers express themselves by sharing reviews, photos, and videos of your brand.
By alternating between these post types, you'll be able to keep your social media content fresh and exciting!
Advertising is like adding fuel to the flame of everything else you are doing. Advertising can surely be an essential tool for success! Advertising can be on television, radio, print, online, or outdoor advertising. Here are a few tips on how to get started.
This is one of the most effective ways to get your message out and to your target audiences.
There are many places online where you can advertise your business, including:
