Sales and Marketing - Jen Jordan
Jen Jordan brings a wealth of life and leadership experiences to her writing. After 10 years creating a variety of content for a nonprofit, Jen decided to establish her own writing business. She specializes in creating high quality blog and website content for small businesses. When she's not writing, Jen is a competitive triathlete with a goal of completing a triathlon in all 50 states.
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3 Steps Toward Creating A Marketing System for Your BusinessMarketing is such a broad term that can encompass so many different activities, from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid advertising to website designs and content. Even your business’s social media posts are part of your marketing. These days it’s not enough to write the occasional blog post or pay for the odd social media or direct mail campaign to get the word out about your business. The kind of marketing that gets long-term, sustainable results requires a thoughtful strategy that you’re constantly adjusting and refining as your business grows. In short, throwing time, energy, and resources into marketing tactics (like SEO, advertising, websites, etc.) without having a larger strategy to tie it all together is inefficient and less effective. After all, Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, wrote, "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without Strategy is the noise before defeat." Here are three steps to help you begin building a marketing strategy for your business. 1. Start with your ideal customer. An effective strategy always begins with knowing your ideal customer, their core problems, and your product or service’s value to help solve that problem. If you don’t understand your ideal customer, then it’s very challenging to create marketing content that will speak directly to them. Many businesses go to great lengths to learn all about their ideal customers and even create mock "profiles" of them. Once you understand your ideal customer, it’s much easier to choose which marketing tactics will reach them effectively and what message will resonate with them. For example, suppose your ideal customer is a 35-year-old full-time working mom with a medium-size lawn who doesn’t have time for weekend lawn chores. Then you can highlight the time-saving benefits of your subscription lawn-care services in your marketing content. 2. Direct your customer’s purchasing journey. The digital age has dramatically changed how customers shop and make decisions. People can go online to compare thousands of products or options, read websites, and even get insider information from customer reviews. It’s critical to take control of your customer’s purchasing journey from beginning to end. Savvy business owners plot out how they want ideal customers to discover their business and learn about the products and services. They intentionally create opportunities for potential customers to grow to like and trust their business and even try it out before making a purchase. It’s also essential to plan out what you’ll do after customers make a purchase to help them become repeat customers and even refer your business to others! All these things depend on your marketing strategy and the tactics you choose to accomplish each step. 3. Create a significant online presence. Did you know the average person who uses the internet is online for about 6.5 hours each day? It’s critical to create a broad online presence so your ideal clients can find you easily. An extensive online presence doesn’t necessarily require a significant investment. Take advantage of the free or low-cost options and consistently update and create new, helpful content. Add photos, reviews, and contact information to all your social media pages. Ensure happy customers can leave reviews on your website and Google My Business page. Make sure your website is optimized so it will show up in search results. Make sure you use consistent branding and wording across all these platforms to create a recognizable, trustworthy image for your business. Finally, marketing isn’t something you can set up to run on its own. Having a strong marketing plan helps you create a schedule for your marketing, so it becomes a consistent, effective, year-round effort. Creating a marketing strategy doesn’t need to be costly. However, investing in the right marketing strategy for your business will save you from wasting money on less effective marketing tactics and ensure you’re getting great results from all your marketing efforts. Works cited: https://ducttapemarketing.com/marketing-system-7-steps/ https://mcbreenmarketing.com/build-marketing-system-in-4-steps/ https://www.business2community.com/small-business/marketing-important-small-business-0611576 https://articles.bplans.com/why-small-businesses-need-a-marketing-strategy/ https://www.engagebay.com/blog/5-reasons-small-businesses-need-marketing-automation/ |
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