Advertisement has always been a part of business. After all, it doesn’t matter if you have a great product or service and a perfect business model; if no one knows your business, how will they engage with it? But as our society moves increasingly online, marketing has become more and more essential. You don’t just put the word out once about your business. You need to constantly spread the word if you want a steady cash flow. Here are a few of our tips to up your marketing game and start making money.
Use Social Media
One of the first things your potential customers will do when they’re curious about your business is look it up on social media. It’s where most of your customer base is, and it offers them a chance to truly see what your business is about, as well as a chance to reach out to you conveniently if they have any questions. In today’s world, if you’re not on social media, you’re likely to actively lose business.
That said, you don’t need to be on every social media site. Incorporate some marketing research to determine which platforms your target audience most frequently uses and focus your efforts there. Just make sure you’re able to stay active on any social media platform you use, because an inactive social media platform is almost worse than no platforms at all.
Create a Marketing Calendar
Marketing can feel overwhelming at first. There’s so much you have to do, and you have to be consistent about it in order to be effective. It helps to stay organized. Create a marketing calendar that can mark out when you’ll begin certain marketing campaigns and for how long, as well as what days you should be posting on social media, what days you plan to blog, etc. Rather than feeling daunted by the mountain of marketing you need to do, you can take one or two steps at a time.
Have Dedicated Marketing Personnel
If you want to up your marketing game, chances are you won’t be able to do it alone. Entrepreneurs have enough to worry about with running their business, and a few hours of marketing on the side won’t take your business to the next level. This is where you might want to include a marketing department of your business or, if you don’t have the personnel for it, outsource your marketing to a team of experts.
Mix Up the Content Formats
Digital content is king when it comes to marketing these days. But not just one form of content: blogs, infographics, videos, social media posts. Different customers will be drawn in by different things. To truly hold their interests, mix up your content. Think of the message you’re trying to convey. A short, snappy announcement or call to action might be better served in a tweet, while helpful industry info can work well for a blog or infographic. In some cases, video tutorials or ads might serve you well.
Update Your Website
Website trends are always changing. What you had when you started your business might look old and out of date now, even if it was only a few years ago. That’s why it’s a good idea to look at current website trends and make updates where you can. Your website should always look fresh and on top of the trends, which requires some constant research to be sure that your understanding of the trends is still current.
Create Evergreen Content
Some marketing content won’t come and go with the trends, and the more you use these, the easier your life will be. This includes informational PDFs and whitepapers, infographics, videos, and podcasts. There are even evergreen social media posts that you can schedule to come out every so often, so there will be days where you might not have to worry about updating social media. These are the pieces of content that aren’t based on a time of year or a specific event and can be relevant over and over.
Hold Sales or Giveaways
Sometimes to make more money, you have to give something for less money. Self-published authors will often, when publishing a new book in the series, sell all of their previous books for remarkably low costs in hopes that readers will read the new books quickly in preparation for the new one. Some companies give out free PDFs or other goodies in exchange for purchasing their products. It’s not only a great way to draw attention to your business, but a great way to endear yourself to customers.
When you start to make a plan to up your marketing strategy, one of the first things you’ll want to consider is your budget. Coming up with a marketing budget can be a strain, which is why it can help to have financial consultants on your side who can help you determine how much you can and should allocate towards marketing. Contact Bottom Line Consulting today to learn more about our services or get started with a free, no-obligation consultation.