You have your business idea and essentials ready and you can’t wait to start marketing what you do but you’re not sure where to start? I have put together 10 Effective Ways for Business Owners to Start Marketing your business today, based on my own experience.
Marketing is a critical factor for the success of any business. Without marketing it is difficult to grow and connect to the people that want your services and products. However most people don’t enjoy marketing, they feel awkward about it and don’t want to always be banging about their business.
Or they don’t to be a pushy salesperson harassing people to buy their products.
But it doesn’t need to be that way. As a business owner, it is essential to market your services effectively to attract customers and generate sales. In this perspective, marketing is connecting with the right people that want to do business with you.
If you’re just starting out and wondering how to kickstart your marketing efforts, we are going to cover the ten ways to help you market your business today.
10 Effective Ways for Business Owners to Start Marketing their business today
Table of Contents
1. Define Your Target Audience
The process of defining your target audience is one that allows business owners to look at the potential market and picture space in it for their business. Part of defining your audience is thinking about who your service or product is for.
What is the age group? Where do they live? What are their interests and needs?
This knowledge will enable you to tailor your marketing messages and choose the right platforms to reach them effectively.
2. Develop a Strong Brand Identity
Creating a compelling brand identity is crucial as it makes you memorable and people remember visuals and colour. At the same time your brand should reflect your values, your vision, and your unique selling propositions, what makes you different from others offering the same.
Investing in a professionally designed logo, website, photography and marketing materials to establish a consistent and memorable brand presence can make a big difference.
However if you are keen to get started and test the waters you can start with minimal requirements and complete them over time. I started with a basic website, a logo and the priority for me was to get my name out there, meet people and build a client base. Other people have done it differently with a memorable brand from the start which has driven the interest and the sales.
See what works best for you.
3. Build an Online Presence
In today’s digital age, having an online presence is crucial. Build a user-friendly website that showcases your products or services.
Optimise it for search engines to improve visibility. Leverage social media platforms relevant to your audience to engage with potential customers and share valuable content.
Sharing what you do, why you do it and how you do it is a great start. Keep it consistent and engage with other accounts for your account to be seen and to build connections.
In my experience when I started I used facebook for a lot of my connections with families that wanted to book family photoshoots. I used facebook groups and I had a facebook page. Then I started using instagram and recently I have added Linkedin and slowly getting my head around Pinterest.
But don’t feel overwhelmed, start with one platform of your choice and focus on that as time and your energy is your most precious commodity. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin.
4. Content Marketing
Develop a content marketing strategy to provide valuable information and establish yourself as an industry expert. Create blog posts, videos, infographics, and podcasts that educate and entertain your target audience. Share this content on your website, social media, and other relevant platforms.
This is another important step and it can take a while to view the whole content your produce as an overall unity. It has taken me all these years to think of it as a whole for all my social media posts, blogs, stories, reels, videos, researching keywords etc.
Ideally it should be part of the same strategy, your content strategy that positions you as the expert in your field.
After all, even if there are other people doing the same as you, what makes your services unique is you and the way you do it. So remember that, as sometimes we make it overly complicated.
5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a big one and it is a bit technical and therefore puts people off. Start slowly to understand the terms, the principles, how it works, what matters etc. There are many tools out there, many experts and it is good to be familiar.
Google has a lot of free resources and you learn via Google academy and also Primer which I have found really useful.
If you already know a good SEO expert give them a try and see how it works for your budget. It is an investment as the results are not quick but they build overtime.
Investing in SEO improves your website’s visibility on search engines when people look for services or products like yours.
In a very basic way, the key blocks of SEO are to:
- Optimising your website’s structure
- On page optimisation for headings, meta descriptions, url links, structure and keyword density
- Research and use relevant keywords that people use when searching for services or products like yours
- Create high-quality backlinks to other websites that have a high authority and make your content more visible and searchable.
A higher search engine ranking will drive organic traffic to your website and increase your chances of attracting potential customers.
Remember all of this takes time to understand, learn, try and test and implement, so be patient with yourself and the results.
Some SEO resources.
Some of the big names and big companies out there are Neil Patel and Ubersuggest, Semrush, Rankmath, Yeost SEO. You can sign up for the free versions and receive their updates and track your website’s ranking and keywords – they do it for you and you receive an update every time there is a change.
Yoast SEO and Rankmath in the free version can show you how to improve the content for SEO on your pages and posts and you can follow their recommendations.
Google Search Console and Google Analytics are also part of the tool kit that helps with keeping an eye on how is the website doing.
6. Email Marketing
Collecting email addresses from your website visitors and customers is another marketing activity.
To collect the emails you can create a valuable product that you give for free and in exchange people give you their email address by signing-up for the product. Usually a download or something you send by email can be a take away you’re happy for people to have, a workbook, a book, a guide or a course ,you decide.
Once you have an email list, it doesn’t have to be big, you can start sending regular updates, promotions, and valuable content to your subscribers. Personalise your emails and segment your audience for better engagement and higher conversion rates.
I haven’t had a huge success with email marketing, I am at a very basic newsletter to existing and interested clients. I have created a number of guides over time but i haven’t mastered the lead magnet approach yet but i’m working on it. I am working on a branding bundle as a lead magnet where I give away a branding guide pdf and a branding clarity questionnaire to business owners that want to go through the process themselves. I offer that as part of my personal branding approach but as 121 work it is expensive and focuses on each client at the time. For work that people can do on their own, I would be happy to give a version of it to build my email list.
7. Social Media Advertising
Leverage social media advertising platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, to reach your target audience directly. Develop targeted ad campaigns based on demographics, interests, and behaviours. Monitor and optimise your campaigns for better results.
It can get complicated and again if you know an expert rely on them or start by learning yourself bit by bit.
Be mindful of scams and know that if your add account is forged and used by fake accounts facebook wont do anything about it. It happened to me and lucky ny bank was able to claw the payment back but facebook hasn’t closed the accounts ever after reporting. So I am now relying more on good ads.
8. Influencer Marketing
Collaborate with influencers or industry experts who have a significant following in your niche. Their endorsement of your product or service can create a buzz and increase brand awareness. Choose influencers whose audience aligns with your target market for maximum impact.
I have never done this myself but I know of other businesses who have and have had great results. Worth exploring and testing out.
9. Customer Referral Program
Encourage your satisfied customers to refer your business to their friends and family by offering incentives or discounts. Word-of-mouth marketing is powerful and can generate new leads and customers. Provide exceptional customer service to increase the likelihood of referrals.
This is a good thing to do and something I haven’t mastered fully yet.
10. Networking and Partnerships
Attend industry events, conferences, and local business gatherings to network with like-minded individuals and potential partners. Collaborate with complementary businesses to cross-promote each other’s products or services. Building relationships can lead to valuable opportunities and widen your reach.
I love networking and have been in many networking groups and I created my own for the purpose of connecting and growing with other local businesses in South West London.
It is a good thing to do for the business and for yourself as a business owner.
To wrap up
Marketing your business or product is an ongoing process that requires creativity, consistency, and adaptability. By implementing these 10 effective ways for business owners to start marketing your business today, you can start reaching your target audience and driving growth. Remember to monitor and analyse your marketing efforts to optimise your strategies for better results.