You’ve taken the leap into entrepreneurship and started your own small business- congratulations! We’re giving you a huge virtual high five for bringing your dream to life. Chances are, as a business owner your expertise is in your industry and product offerings, rather than marketing or PR. Creating brand visibility might seem really intimidating; where do you start? And what does it mean if you have a super small budget to work with? The great news is that there are hundreds—if not thousands—of ways to market your new company without breaking the bank. Below, we’ve focused on 3 important promotional tactics to ensure your brand tackles the marketing game effectively.
KNOW THY TARGET CUSTOMER
We cannot stress this enough! Every man, woman and child in your area is NOT a target audience. Narrow down your ideal customer by creating a list of people who would:
- need or want your product
-AND- - be most likely to purchase it due to their gender, age, or other demographic information
When creating your buyer persona, think about factors such as:
- household income
- career path
- location
Doing your research to identify a specific subset of consumers allows you to spend your time and money where it counts. Even if you have the greatest product in the world, if you’re marketing it to the wrong audience, it’s not going to be successful. For example, if you’re selling a product that is ideal for men aged 60+, don’t waste your energy posting on a social media site that targets young female adults, 18-25.
Bottom line: know your audience, inside and out.
POST WITH A PLAN - USE SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGICALLY
Speaking of social media, websites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram allow small business owners to get their brand in front of a potentially large audience - seemingly free of cost. We say seemingly because often times business owners forget to factor in the cost of labor when it comes to time spent creating content, posting, and managing social media accounts.
Once you’ve identified which social sites you should have a presence on, create a few goals for each. To get started, keep your goals simple so you’re not overwhelmed. It can be as simple as aiming to increase the number of people reached week over week on your Facebook page, or increasing the monthly number of visitors sent to your website from your Instagram.
Last, pick at least 3-5 website analytics you will measure each week. This will ensure you’re in-tune with which post types are working best for you, and which aren’t. This way you won’t be wasting your time creating content that your audience simply isn’t responding to.
COLLABORATE, COLLABORATE, COLLABORATE
For a small business, word of mouth is King, but collaboration is the Queen...and we all know who runs the castle; the Queen of course! Lean on other local, on-brand businesses who can help you get the word out about your new business. Strive to cross promote with at least one other business in some capacity every month. Your collaborations can be as simple as sharing each other’s Facebook statuses once in order to expose your page to a new audience, or as complex as hosting an event or contest together. Visibility for your new brand through various partnerships can have a great impact.
In need of additional branding, social media, marketing or creative services help? Let's chat! Shoot us an email at info@mixmainemarketing.com or call us at (207) 620-0111.
