Simply having the best product on the market isn’t enough to secure your sales and ensure you’re driving traffic to your stores or online. This requires you to put effort into creating a marketing strategy that will promote your products or services as best as it can. You have to carefully plan a campaign that’s not only going to show what your product or service is all about but also drive people in the right direction to purchasing. 

Having the right marketing behind you is an essential part of being successful and it can be completed without having the shed out large amounts of funds. Often small business owners can feel lost and like they’re treading water when it comes to marketing their products and services but it can be simpler than you think. There is no need to feel intimated when it comes to marketing. Even if you’re competing against larger more established competitors it’s a possibility to have an excellent marketing strategy that drives the sales to your stores and website. You need to focus on increasing brand awareness, gaining new customers, retaining existing customers and driving more traffic to your websites. 

When thinking about marketing, it’s important to understand that it’s not going to happen overnight, therefore, time and commitment are needed in order to succeed. Whether you’re marketing just one product or you’re looking at marketing your business as a whole to drive sales the same still applies. You need to make sure you complete extensive research and really get to know the customers that you want to target. If you start with these basic principls then you’re on the right track to succeeding. 

Marketing for any business is the backbone for driving sales and this is even more applicable to a small business or start-up company that is fairly new to the market. You need to be able to show clearly that the product or services that you have to offer are better or at least equal to your competitors. 

Have a look below at some of the marketing techniques that you should be considering using as a small business: 

Make Sure You Can Measure You Goals

When looking to start any marketing campaign it’s essential to have realistic goals to work towards. You can’t just go with the flow when it comes to marketing, you need to have a plan in place and in order to have a plan you need goals to aim for. A critical piece of the puzzle for any marketing campaign is to set yourself a goal. There are numerous steps involved in creating a marketing goal in order to launch a campaign successfully. The best way to think about them is to use the common technique S.M.A.R.T. By setting yourself S.M.A.R.T goals you are making sure that they’re not only realistic but also can be monitored. Setting S.M.A.R.T goals includes: 

  • Specific: You need to make sure you are aware of what, where, when, who and why you’re marketing this product/service.       
  • Measurable: Set a way that you can measure your success in the campaign. 
  • Attainable: Set yourself a goal that you want to achieve but is also realistic. 
  • Realistic: It’s good to aim high but it’s also good to be realistic and know what CAN be achieved in the time frame you’re looking at. Make sure you have short term goals as well as long term, this will make them more realistic. 
  • Timed: Kno and understand that a goal should be timed, you should always have a time frame in mind when setting goals this way you can review them and identify any problems. 

Understand Your Target Market

You’re going to be wasting a lot of time if you aim for absolutely everyone when it comes to marketing. It’s important to identify and then get to know your target marketing when dealing with any products and services. It’s very rare that you will have a product or service that is going to appeal to everyone. You don’t want to risk spending valuable time, money and energy on promoting your business to an audience that has no or little interest in what you’re offering.

This is when you should be thinking about market research, it will enable you to narrow down your target audience and begin to understand what makes them tick and therefore what marketing will draw them in. You should be thinking about areas such as: 

  • Age 
  • Gender
  • Location
  • Wants/Needs
  • Any other area that will help you to discover a demographic

Think About Volunteer Groups

Volunteer groups are a great way to promote any business. It will not only help to promote your company’s name and get it in the public eye but it will also be helping a good cause. Have a look and see if there are any upcoming events that you would like to support, and then have yourself or your employees volunteer to help out. A great way to do this is to set up a donation point in your offices or staff rooms of stores where your employees can donate as and when. 

Networking Is Your Best Friend

Networking is a fantastic way to get the word out about your business, products, and services. There are several different trade shows where you’re able to promote and show off what you have to offer, It will enable you to get out of the office and interact with other professionals. Depending on the type os event you attend will depend on whether they’re in the same industry as you. Aiming for a show that solely promotes your industry is the best that you can aim for. These events are great for getting your name known and also for a way of learning how to improve. Often you will find that there will be a motivational speaker or two that you can learn a few things from.  It’s best to go to these events with the view of creating professional connections rather than to sell your products. The connections you make could be a great way of having referrals in the future. 

Think About Your Social Media Presence

Social media has become a huge part of every business marketing methods. This is because we live in a digital age and most people are now on at least one form of social media. From checking the news on their Facebook feeds to sharing pictures on Instagram people now tend to be online throughout the day, making it a great way of reaching out to your potential customers. You should look to set up business accounts on popular platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This not only allows you the opportunity to show your customers your great products and services but it also allows you to have fantastic customer engagement. You will find that social media is the key to driving sales to your website. 

Make Sure Your Website Is Maintained

It has become an essential part of any business to have a website that not only works properly but is kept up to date and responsive. Most customers will want to be able to find a business online before they even consider using a product or service form them making it crucial to be online. Not only should you make sure that new products are added or outdated products are deleted, but it’s also important to add fresh content to the products you already have listed on your website. It’s a good idea to ass new images, offers and regularly post on your blog (if you have one) to kee your website inline with your social media and also interesting to your customers. Regularly updating your website also means that you have a better ranking on search engine results. 

Start A Blog On Your Website 

A really great way of showing that you have expertise in a particular area is to have a blog space on your website. Not only is it a great method for driving sales to your website it is also a fantastic way to interact and share your knowledge with your customers. Showing that you have certain skills and are willing to share your knowledge builds up trust with any potential and existing customers. You should make sure that you set a realistic pace with the amount of content you’re posting and also think carefully about making it relevant to the products and services that you offer. If you don’t have people that specialized in this area you can always look to outsource. If you do decide to use outsourcing it’s important to make sure you are using someone that is either skilled in the same areas or are able to learn about your wants and needs for the business. 

These are just a few areas to get you started with a successful marketing campaign, there are others that you can use. These techniques are a good starting point for any small business. Do you have any other techniques that you can share in the comments section below?