Marketing has always been a key element of running your own successful business, and in the current climate of incredible new technologies and social media it is more important than ever.
Marketing brings in new clients, keeps us in touch with old clients, helps to shape businesses and even the products it creates; its importance really can not be overstated.
If your business is beginning to expand and you’re starting to feel like you have missed opportunities for growth, or perhaps your business is already established and you’re looking to expand into new markets; then you’ve likely looked into new and more efficient marketing strategies already.
After a quick, explorative search on the internet you may have come across a bunch of statistics and jargon like ROIs, SEO and B2B – it can get pretty confusing for anyone.
So how on earth is an ordinary person supposed to become a marketing whizz?
Well there are a few things you can do that will make your life a whole lot easier- it’s more important now than ever before as a staggering 80% of marketers say that their industry has changed more in the last 3 years than it has in the last 50!
Let’s take a look at what you need to know in order to streamline your marketing efficiency, and stay on top of your business’s success.
Marketing in Simple Terms
Marketing essentially exists with the sole intention of reaching as many people as possible in a way that will convert them into customers with the smallest amount of effort and expenditure.
Marketing is not sales, but if done correctly it makes selling much easier.
It’s a simple goal, but it has plenty of steps and complications at every turn, and it’s something that many small businesses don’t manage to utilise fully.
So what can be done?
Well, there are many books that can offer help in developing your marketing prowess and even firms that specialise perfecting the marketing process who will take control of your strategy and improve it in every way.
But there are things you can do in-house that will see improvements too.
Have a Good Strategy
Having a robust marketing strategy is crucial, and without a strategy that works it can be easy to get lost or bogged down very quickly.
A good strategy will essentially allow you to make your customer’s experience as easy as possible and that means more sales.
Remember the horrible ROI acronym from earlier? That actually stands for ‘Return On Investment’, and helps you to justify the money you can spend on marketing strategies and methods depending on monetary return.
It seems that the businesses that are offering their customers the easiest possible experience are seeing more success, and how can it be easy for the customer if the strategy is convoluted and messy on the business end.
Get your strategy broken into stages, and write down your goals and steps to keep you on track as you go.
Software is your Best Friend
A large part of marketing is data analysis – thousands of data points taken from customers, surveys, trends, spending habits and other places make up the logic behind marketing strategies.
It is inevitable then, that technology would play a massive part in marketing- what else would be able to compile thousands of pieces of data into quantitative and useful pieces of information.
You’ll also find mobile applications and customer management systems that allow you to identify and monitor customers habits and purchases. You’ll be able to keep them informed at the touch of a button, and even monitor the progress of your business. “Ensure the hundreds of hours you have invested in developing your app are rewarded by making sure it reaches your target audience,” explains KAU Media Group.
If it feels like too much work to keep track of your strategy, then it probably is. Technology can help simplify things for you – and isn’t that the end goal?
Be Specific About Your Audience
If things feel spread thin and frenetic, then simplifying your targeted audience can be a great place to start streamlining.
Perhaps, instead of trying to reach the widest possible audience and appealing en masse, re-engaging with your core audience could be the key to success.
Focus on the returning customer who has brought you business in the past. Identify them, and their needs then focus your energies there. After all, there is no better customer than the one who already exists.
Geo-targeting is Crucial
During the pandemic things obviously became difficult for millions of people.
Besides everything else that happened, marketing trends changed and the importance of geo-targeting was diminished- largely because everyone was stuck at home.
But now that we are on the path back to normality, shops are filling up and location-based marketing will return to importance.
Targeting people in certain areas that might relate to your business will keep you in their minds, and when they search for services that you can provide; there you shall be.
Good Old Fashioned Email
Email marketing has existed since the very first emails were being sent in the early 70s. It has remained the most successful and useful form of marketing since its inception.
In fact, a 2019 study suggested that the ROI for email marketing equates to $42 for every $1 spent. That is a staggering statistic, especially when you take into account all the new and technology-heavy ways to market products.
Email marketing is simple to produce, maintain and track; and it allows you to reach an incredible amount of people who are specifically interested in interacting with your product.
It just goes to show that sometimes the old ways are the best.
It’s Easier than you Think
It is pretty much impossible to succeed in a modern business without some kind of marketing strategy in place- but it does not have to have a gigantic budget.
Sometimes simplicity and efficiency will be your most desirable goals, and streamlining your processes and methods will give you the highest reward.
Make sure you are doing the simple things well before you look to expand. Keep engaging your core market and returning customers, and don’t be afraid to increase your budget and allow professionals to give you a base on which to stand.