Blog

If you’ve got a brand new business, or are looking to grow an existing one, the first question that people ask is, how do I market my new business? The good news is that there are so many ways to market your company. You can advertise on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter; use SEO (search engine optimization) so that your website comes up when people search for specific keywords; create a valuable blog where you share useful information with your audience; and much more.

With all of these great ways to market your business in mind, let’s break them down in this blog so you can learn how to get started!

How do I market my new business?

• Market research: The first step in marketing your business is to conduct market research, which means gathering information about the people you want to sell to. This can be done through online surveys and focus groups or by talking to potential customers. You’ll need this information for many of the following steps.
• Target markets: Once you’ve conducted your market research, it’s time to determine who exactly you want as customers. If there is an underserved community in your area ( i.e. elderly women, middle-aged men), then that’s who you should target first!
• Unique selling proposition (USP): A USP is what makes a product different from its competitors’ offerings. It must be something that sets your product apart from others on the market and makes it stand out among similar offerings within the same industry category; otherwise, why would anyone buy yours instead of theirs? Your USP should ideally be something unique about how you do business—for example, “I only sell locally grown produce” or “I offer free delivery every day between 10 AM and 12 PM.”

Your brand is who you are.

Your brand is who you are. It’s your reputation, and how people perceive you. Your brand is what you say about yourself and your business—and it’s what the customer says to others about your business. Your brand is the promise that you make to customers, which they then carry with them into the marketplace. They tell their friends and family members how great of an experience they had with your company; if they had a bad experience, they might not recommend it at all!

The goal of marketing is to establish a strong presence in as many places as possible so that people can find out about what you’re offering even when they’re not looking for it specifically on Google or Facebook or elsewhere online (though those platforms should still be part of any strategy).

Your goal is to stand out for what you do well. So start by researching your industry and target market.

The first step in marketing your business is to get clear on who you are and what you want to create. You can’t market what you don’t know, so start by researching your industry and target market.

Understand the market you are in:

• Understand the competition – what are they doing well? What is missing from their offerings that would add value for clients? Where do they fit into the larger ecosystem of needs of your ideal clients, who are they competing with, and how do they differentiate themselves?
• Understand the needs of your ideal client – what problems do they want to be solved or opportunities do they want to pursue at this stage of their lives (if any)? Are there other people that could also benefit from solving these problems/pursuing these opportunities (family members/friends) – how big is this potential customer base? How does it compare against competitors’ existing customer bases? Is there room for more than one company serving them (meaning demand for those services exceeds supply)? Take time here because it’s important!

Know your unique selling proposition, and how it aligns with your brand and clients.

Let’s delve deeper into what your business’ USP means:

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is a simple and memorable way to express what you do so that people will know what they’re getting when they choose to work with you. The best USPs clearly state why someone should choose your product or service over the competition’s, in terms of its features, price, quality, and customer support.

To create an effective USP:

• Know your audience: You need to know who you’re trying to reach before setting out on this journey. What kind of people are your clients? What do they like about themselves? How do they want others to see them? Your answers will help inform how quickly and easily people can relate back to their own lives when talking about yours. For example: “I’m easygoing but efficient,” “I’m passionate about cooking,” “I don’t take myself too seriously.”

Research your competitors, their target markets, and their marketing avenues, so that you know how to distinguish yourself from them.

We can’t stress enough the importance of competitor research. You’ll need to research your competitors, their target markets, and the ways they market themselves. Ask yourself: What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? Who do they serve best and what kind of customers do they attract? How do they define themselves in relation to other brands like theirs?

This information will help you create a marketing plan that distinguishes you from other businesses in your industry. This is important because it gives you an edge over competitors that don’t have a clear definition or understanding of who their customers are or what makes them special.

Do keyword research for SEO.

Keyword research is a critical first step in the SEO process. It helps you identify what people are searching for online, which keywords have the most traffic, and what your competitors are doing to rank well in search engines.

Keyword research can be done manually or through software tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, and Ahrefs. There are many other options as well!

Know who your biggest fans are.

It’s important to know who your biggest fans are. Your biggest fan is the person who loves you most, the one who believes in you and what you do, no matter what.

Ask yourself: Who are these people? What do they like about me? What do they value about me? What would they like to see more of from me? How can we get closer together and build a relationship that helps us both succeed?

Once you know who your biggest fans are, consider what kind of content they enjoy reading. Do they prefer emails or blog posts? Do they want longer articles or shorter ones (like quick tips)?

Determine a budget and plan for the coming year.

When planning your marketing budget, you need to consider three things: how much money you have to spend on marketing; how much money you need to make from your business; and what would happen if you did no marketing at all.

For example, if your business is just starting out and has very little capital, it may be unrealistic for you to set aside more than $500 per month for marketing expenses. If so, then it’s likely that this amount will be enough to get the word out about your new business in a way that helps generate enough revenue so that sales can start coming in consistently right away.

Set goals that you can achieve with your current resources.

• Set measurable goals that you can attain with your current resources.
• Be sure the goals are relevant to your business and your customers’ needs and wants.
• Set time-bound goals, so you know when it’s time to move on from a task or campaign.
• Make realistic expectations for yourself, your team, and your budget before setting any objectives or targets for growth in sales volume or profit margin. If necessary, ask for help from colleagues—such as an accountant if you want advice on how much cash flow is available for investments in marketing campaigns over several months ahead at different levels of costs per month (e.g., $1K/month vs $3K/month).

Write down your positioning statement.

You’re a business owner, and you know that marketing is important to the success of your company. But what does that mean exactly? And how do you get started? Marketing is simply communicating your value proposition to potential customers in a way that makes them want to buy from you. So before we go further, let’s talk about creating a positioning statement — which will help guide all of your other marketing efforts.

A positioning statement is a short phrase or sentence describing what makes your product or service different from others available on the market today; it should be memorable and unique so people can easily identify what separates you from the competition. If possible, try not to use any jargon or technical terms when writing yours — instead, focus on simple phrases like “We make beautiful websites” or “We help busy people get more done.”

Plan how to nurture and retain customers before they become customers.

Nurturing and retention are two of the most effective ways to grow your business. When you nurture customers, they’re more likely to become repeat customers and brand advocates. And when you retain customers, they’ll stay with you longer—and spend more money with you over time.

To turn prospective customers into paying ones, it’s important to understand what drives their decision-making process. You can do this by asking questions like: Why did they choose my business? How often have they bought from us before? Why did they stop buying from us (if applicable)? With this information in hand, you can better tailor your marketing efforts around the needs that matter most to them—all while ensuring that their experience is quick and easy every step of the way.

Include seasonal offers or one-off campaigns as part of your general marketing plans to support products or services that need an extra boost at certain times of the year, or after an introduction to the market.

Seasonal offers or one-off campaigns are an excellent way of supporting products or services that need an extra boost at certain times of the year. This could be in response to a drop in sales during a particular season, or after their introduction to the market.

For example, if you sell cosmetics online and notice that sales for your lipstick collection slow down in December and January, try offering discounted lipsticks as part of your New Year’s sale campaign. You could also send out emails with exclusive discounts for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day!

It’s important to remember that seasonal offers should always be backed up by regular marketing strategies so you don’t lose momentum when they come to an end.

Make a list of critical touchpoints for lead conversions and customer retention, and map them out throughout the year so that you know how many campaigns you need to plan for each month. This includes email campaigns, free offers, newsletters, paid advertising, etc.

For example:

• Critical Touchpoint 1 – Monthly newsletter offering a free ebook download on a topic related to my business (this will be sent out every month).
• Critical Touchpoint 2 – Weekly blog posts about industry trends or tips for my target audience (this will be published every Thursday).

Conclusion

Now that you know your positioning statement and have chosen a few key marketing channels, it’s time to get started. Remember that your goals are milestones that you want to hit within the next year or so. You may not see results overnight, but they will come with time if you keep at it!

If you are looking for help marketing your business, feel free to reach out to us at Reversed Out Creative. 

---

---

Next Article: Radio Advertising In 2022