We work our butts off, right? Marketing is some pretty hard stuff and this one concept can make or break your business that you have worked crazy hard to build from the bottom up. I get it. By marketing wiser and efficiently, you will save a lot of time and money and of course both of those things are crucial as business owners!
I have yet to come up with a solid marketing strategy that I have found to be a catch all solution for my business. But along the way, as I have been researching like a mad woman, I found eight incredible tips that can improve anyone’s current marketing strategy.
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1 | Target your real audience.
You spend money and time on marketing. Are you marketing to the right people? Narrow in your focus. What does your ideal customer look like? Make a list of the details. Age, family, job, where they like to spend their money and the months they spend more money in, etc. Really get detailed about this because down the road, you will be thanking yourself. Investing time into targeting who your real audience is crucial.
2 | Build the trust you have with your current clients + customers.
Treat them right, because they told you outright they have trust in you by spending their time reading your articles, buying your products, and going to your webinars (if you do those). So don’t be ungrateful to all the people trailing behind you. They rock. Respond to as many emails as you possibly can in the nicest most detailed (yet time efficient) way possible. It is the little things that make a big difference!
3 | Have a brand. Stick to your brand.
This is so important! Don’t break the rules of your brand for anyone, because again you worked so hard to build this brand. Be loyal to keeping that message alive!
4 | Be timely.
It’s professional and it is also convenient. No one likes to work with someone who isn’t scheduled and always on time. Customers will notice when you ship an item late and it arrives nowhere near on time. Clients will notice when you promise a completed logo in five days and six days later you have yet to email them back about their incomplete logo that is nowhere near being finished. Don’t be that person. Timeliness is a daily goal that every entrepreneur/business type person needs to actively pursue.
5 | Discounts and freebies are da bomb and you should do it.
It’s awesome. Seriously. Sales go up, you gain more subscribers and potential customers, and people get free stuff. I love giving out free stuff personally because it really helps me connect with my readers. I get to give them little gifts just for following along & it’s such a joy! For example, 26 free stock photography images get sent straight to your inbox. How easy and fun and free.
6 | Social media is important but don’t skip out on something even more important.
Yes, social media is important. It’s a way to send out a message except on steroids, because millions of people are able to like, favorite, and share. Don’t skip out on building your email list, though. The importance of email marketing is pretty high up on the scale of being successful. So get to building so your success will go crazy high! Grabbing emails is awesome because someone basically says “yeah, here’s my e-mail, I trust you to send me quality content and you can message me about whatever you are doing at this address.” It makes my heart happy when I see my e-mail list steadily increasing!
7 | Loyalty programs are really cool and you should give it a try.
Unless you’re too cool and you currently have a loyalty program, then you should totally start one as soon as possible. Have a system to where people have points added and they can do something with all of those points like get a larger % off their final total after 10 purchases. You can adapt this scenario to fit your business better but I hope you understood where I was going with that! An awesome example of this is Starbucks, which I personally don’t like (I know, I’m the worst ‘white girl’ on this planet) but they are genius when it comes to this strategy. On the Starbucks app is a reward system and once you purchase so many Starbucks drinks you get a drink for free. How neat! This keep Starbuck’s loyal fans, loyal. Which is huge when you own a business!
8 | Invest in a designer, it’s a must and I’ll tell you why.
I’m not just throwing this tip out there because I’m a designer, I’m throwing this tip out there because it is one of the most crucial marketing tips I could possibly stress to anyone starting a business. Your design decides what the first impression of your business will be, how much money you will make, and determine how long people will stay on your website. As a designer, I also make sure all my clients are SEO-optimized so when I hand them over their user account for their website, they are all set! A designer can provide skills that have taken them years to acquire, I got a college degree in Web Design and Interactive Media so that I can be the best I can be for my clients! There’s a lot of amazing designers out there that would be more than happy to help you with a website and any other design work you need. Feel free to fill out my contact form here or email me at chat@maraburkes.com if you have any questions at all.
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