There are always going to be those things that seem really daunting when you’re thinking about starting a business. For one, there’s the idea of starting a business itself. For a lot of people, it’s something that they’d love to do, but the idea is just so overwhelming itself. And then, there’s the idea of getting customers. Because without then, you don’t really have a business. Sales and marketing can seem complicated and chaotic when you’re not in the know. And even when you have experience, you have to approach them in an entirely different way when you’re looking to launch a new business. Because every business is personal. And the way in which you’ll promote it and aim to get traction with customers is so different.
However, when you do want to launch a successful business, you do need to make sure that you’re approaching things in the right way. You’ll want to come up with ideas that can all form a marketing plan. In order to get the kind of results you want with whatever kind of business you’re looking to start, you’ll want to know how you’re going to approach promotion, and what sort of different tactics you need to focus on. So let’s take a look at seven different ways you could do this to inspire you.
Social Media Engagement
Firstly, you may find that you want to work on your social media engagement. We all know that we can access our ideal customer with social media – but it’s also easy to get wrapped up in the numbers. When really, you need to be thinking about actually targeting your audience and engaging with them. Engaged followers are more likely to become customers.
Events
Next up, there’s events. These days, a lot of the marketing you do is all online. So why not mix things up with a little in person marketing too? Events can work for creatives, for B2C and B2B. You can host intimate dinners, parties, meetups, and conferences – each give you the change to connect with your audience more.
Lead Generation
The next thing to think about is lead generation. Because when you know that you want to be getting custom, you need leads. When you have clients or you offer a service, this can be even more important – but it’s also the case when it comes to B2B too. So, maybe you need to think of some creative ways to generate more leads? It’s important to test different ideas here too.
Email Marketing
From here, we then have email marketing. This can often be overlooked, but it’s such a key marketing tool. With email, you’re able to get direct to your customer – conversion rates can be incredible too. So you’ll want to think about ways to gather sign ups early on. And then, you’ll want to aim to really engage your customers and see what results you can get.
Visibility
But then also, it could be that you need visibility. When you have a creative business idea, such as music or writing, you’ll often need to get noticed- and that can be the key when looking for representation. You can need to get free SoundCloud plays or readers interested in what you have to say, with a blog. So perhaps you need to be focusing on how you can engage with an audience, and get them interested in what you’re producing.
Analytics
Then, you’ve got your analytics too. Maybe for you, you want to be able to see real tangible results from what you’re doing? When that’s the case, you definitely want to be able to take a look at your analytics to determine how your audience are engaging with your site. This can then help you to make changes to the marketing tactics that you’re using, and even changes to your site in general too.
Sales
Finally, you’re then going to want to make sure that you’re taking a look at something like your sales, in order to determine the success of your marketing and promotions. And sure, sometimes it’s not all about making that sale initial. Sometimes your goals area little more centric to things like leads or sign ups, but inevitable, everything boils down to sales. So, don’t forget to track your sales in line with different campaigns, so you can see what works.