This week, we will be looking at marketing platforms and which ones to use to advertise your business.
The challenge that many people starting a business find, is that they don’t have the financial or human resources that big companies have to successfully market their product.
When starting out on your own, you are going to be a lot of this alone, but you still have to do it. It is important that customers can find you and your products and quickly.
Here are my 2 top tips for marketing your products yourself:
• BE SMART!
For small businesses, small business owners and individuals, a lot of your marketing effort will be DIY. You are probably going to do it all yourself to begin with so being smart with your time and money is important. Know your limits and concentrate on the things that are going to generate income the quickest.
• BE FRUGAL!
You don’t have money to throw around. You need to do your research. You need to know who your product appeals to. Who are your customers and where are they based? Just because a marketing effort works for company A, does not mean it will work for company B. Use all of the free marketing tools out there that you can.
So, what platforms are out there for you to use?
• Website
Tons of information can be on your website, however It’s got to be simple, not cluttered, not out of date. Simple. Just have your contact information, what you do and how people can buy from you.
• Vlogs/Blogs
You have to publish helpful content that makes you the go-to person when people have problems. The more people know that you are knowledgeable about these problems and issues, the more they can come to you. This also drives traffic to your website and social media platforms.
• Webinars and Podcasts
A podcast is also a marketing effort if you link it or connect it to your business. Another positive of this is that you can do offline or online events meaning you can plan out some monthly offline posts, and engage with your audience during the online events.
• Social Media
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram etc. This is the most popular form of marketing for most new and established businesses. Used correctly it can prove very effective and it is very low budget. However, it is cluttered. Everyone is there. It is noisy. This means you have to creatively stand out and raise your head above the parapet.
So remember, marketing is important, and although you may be doing a lot of it alone in the beginning, it is important that you do market yourself and your products. Its important to also remember that you can’t be effective on all platforms and only time will tell the platforms that work for you the best, but in the meantime you have to do the work, it takes time, but you have to be consistent.
You may have no experience in this, but they are skills that you can easily pick up. There are some very useful online tutorials that can guide you through post scheduling and other marketing tools out there for you to use, so be sure to use everything that the internet offers you to get your name out there!
Next week will be looking at some of the books that I recommend a business owner to read.