Setting up your own business is both daunting and exciting. The initial rush of actually deciding to go for it and come up with your brand is then tempered by the very real issues of cash flow and sales. Getting a handle on all that running a business entails is vital so that you succeed in the long term. With the Small Business Association estimating that around 30% of all new small businesses fail within two years, it is crucial to be one of the 70% that do not.
Of course, with so much to think about as a new business owner, it can be hard to know where to start! This is especially true if it is your first time running your own company as a new entrepreneur. Even when you have worked out where you need to focus on most, you may not know exactly how to go about it.
Marketing is key to future business success
One area of your start-up that you should pay attention to from the off is marketing. This is important as it will help make your new business visible to the public and attract customers. Effective marketing will build your reputation and tell people what you do, where you are, and why they should choose you. With this and excellent service levels in place, you should be well on the road to making money.
If you are needing a few tips on the best marketing advice for new businesses, then the below should help.
Use social media to provide value – take a tip from Viabrance
Many people think that marketing is all about the hard sell – as this Viabrance guide shows though, nothing could be further from the truth in modern times. Many modern consumers like to first know about the brand they will buy from and feel they get something back in return.
By taking the time to post useful and authoritative content on social media platforms, you will be doing just that. As the guide from Viabrance shows, tying a piece of content into your brand in a way that simply gives valuable information to consumers is a great way to organically introduce them to what you do.
Social media marketing is very powerful in its own right, and this is a great way to harness that power. This can also be a good strategy to follow in relation to running your own company blog on which to post useful and informative articles.
Get involved with video marketing
The whole digital marketing sector is huge now, and one rapidly growing niche within it is video marketing. This is simply making your own videos to market your brand or products to consumers. Popular online video-sharing sites such as Vimeo or YouTube have literally millions of users, which is a real gold mine for a start-up trying to gain traction. Even better, the sites are free to use, and you can produce your own videos on a half-decent smartphone now for cost-effective marketing. With 75% of all online content that is viewed containing video, you cannot ignore this.
Try email marketing
Email marketing has been around for a while now, which might make you wonder if it is out of date. This is not the case at all, and using emails to market your services direct to customers is a superb tip. Once you have collected email addresses from customers with their consent, you can use them to send out regular newsletters, offers or info about one-off events. Just be sure to make some of this contact non-commercial so that they do not feel like you are always trying to sell to them.
Sponsor an event
This may not be something that you would instantly think of, but paying out a small fee to sponsor a respected local event is a good option. This gives your new business not only extra visibility to lots of people but also instant credibility by being associated with the event itself. The usual arrangement is that you would pay a fee to sponsor the event and then be allowed to put up banners and other marketing materials when it is running to promote your business. Just be sure to sponsor something that can be connected in some way to what you do!
Get going today to market your start-up like a pro
If you get your marketing right, then it is a good bet that you will get your business right. Hopefully, the above tips have given you some fresh and interesting ways to go about it, without costing the Earth! By taking steps to continually market your business, you will then be perfectly placed to grow for long-term success.