Running a business is hard. It’s draining, whether you’re a C-level executive at the top of a major corporation or a sole proprietor running a taco stand. Your livelihood and financial stability depends on getting more customers through your door and having more money leftover at the end of the month than you started with.
So this is why marketing is a big deal to you and everyone who works at your company. Marketing makes or breaks a business, so you need to know what kind of marketing strategy will work for you and bring in the best ROI.
The tough part is that there’s no single best answer that works for everyone. One type of marketing might be excellent for one company, yet it won’t do much for another company. So how will you know? Basically, you just have to get busy and try out several different strategies for yourself and measure the results. Just make sure that you don’t make too many changes at once, since this can make it impossible to know which tactics worked well and which ones didn’t.
Here are three types of marketing that you should try out for your business.
Digital Marketing for Website Traffic
First of all, internet marketing is a must. No other type of marketing offers as much bang for your buck. You can set up a company website for less than $100 and then scale it up from there. Social media is free too. So there’s no excuse not to start with marketing your business online.
Start a blog and some social channels and start putting out content every week. Track your stats and see which types of content get the best response. Inbound and channel marketing can take a while at first to get things rolling, but within a couple months you will start getting some traffic, and you can analyze your results from there.
Traditional Media Advertising Campaigns for Brand Awareness
Traditional marketing is still alive and well, so you’ll want to invest some effort there too. If you can afford big media, then regular spots on television and radio can work wonders for your brand. Think of how many brands have become household names over the years simply because their customer base watched their TV commercials throughout their lives. The same should be happening for your brand.
Companies with lower budgets can still take advantage of local radio spots, newspaper ads and even billboards and vehicle wraps. But the key here is that you need to go in for the long term. It takes time to build brand awareness, but the rewards are totally worth the time and expense.
Cheap Offline Marketing for Small Biz Startups
There are a host of other tactics that you can use besides electronic media and the internet. Old school guerilla marketing tactics still work really well today. For less than $1,000 you can have a thousand flyers printed up and distributed throughout your local service area. Include a coupon, and you should get a pretty decent response that is measurable and scalable.
You can also print up pens and other merchandise with your company logo and website printed on them and then just give them away to keep your brand top of mind. Popular choices include ballpoint pens, bumper stickers, notepads, T-shirts, and tote bags, but with a little creativity and research you can come up with hundreds of other ideas too.
Getting your brand name and logo in front of your customer base is crucial to the success of your business. Start with one of the above suggestions, stick with it for several months, track your results and then make adjustments as necessary to optimize your conversions. Then try it again with another type of marketing. Eventually, you’ll find the right mix of marketing strategies that will work for your company and your budget.
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