Getting the Word Out: Important Steps You Should Take for Marketing Your New Business

Most all business comprise selling some sort of service, but just as crucial is your ability to sell yourself. Strong marketing is an important pillar of a successful business right the way through, but it’s especially important in the beginning when no one knows who you are.

There’s a lot to think about, too – stuff like your company message, branding & styling, websites and social media, community outreach, and much more. It can certainly be tough to get the ball rolling, but with a steadfast, meticulous approach, you’ll be off to a winner in no time. 

Of course, knowing where to start is half the battle, so in this article, we’re going to go through some of the most important areas to focus as you work to get your business off the ground

Branding and Styling 

Branding is one of the first elements you should think about, as it governs the entire look and feel of everything you do afterwards. Obviously, this is very much so a personal thing: there are endless ways you can design brand assets like logos, color pallets, typography, and posters and webpages, but branding as a concept goes deeper than that. You’ll need to concretelty identify your base ideology and objectives first, as this drives all the other stuff (in many ways, it’s just as much about what not to do!)

Given the competitive landscape, the businesses that physically catch the eye and stand out are going to do the best, so developing branding that distinguishes you from your competitors as much as possible should be your main focus.

Another key element is properly identifying your target audience, as flashy branding isn’t going to help you much if you don’t know who you’re selling to! 

Investing in Branded Merchandise

People love free stuff, and getting your brand on that stuff is going to help get your name out there to as many people as possible.

Of course, you should be mindful of the sort of items you’ve chosen to plaster your brand onto – make sure to use multi-use items if possible. For example, Branded drink bottles are a great item to go for because they’re something people use everyday: every time the person has a drink, they see your name. The same goes for other drinking utensils like cups and glasses, and pens and keyrings are always a good bet in this regard, too.

You’ll also need to decide upon a method for distributing these products. A simple but effective way is to hand them out during consultations: when you meet customers in your office, for example, it’s often customary to have them leave with one of your branded pens (or whatever items you’ve chosen). It’s also worthwhile to hand them out at your stall at events fairs, and if you sell products online, you can include them as a freebie in the packaging. 

Don’t forget: alongside your logo and name, have your website and social media accounts printed on these products as well (there’s nothing worse than people wanting to find you online but not being able to!)

Building a website

For many businesses today, their website represents their main ‘hub’. More so than your physical office (if you have one at all), this is where customers find all the necessary information about your company, browse your products, sign up for services, and interact with you directly – so you need to make certain it not only looks great, but functions well. 

Thankfully, gone are the days when you had to know HTML coding to develop a website. Nowadays, most people just sign up for one of the many web development subscription services, which handle your domain and everything on the backend for you, and provide you with the ability to design your site within the app. 

This means that for the most part, all you have to think about is how to arrange things and how to insert your branding. It can take a while to set up, but take the time, because it’s undoubtably one of the most important elements for getting things right from the start. 

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Image credit: Pexels

Long-Form Content Marketing

Your website doesn’t just represent an online base for organising your operations – it’s also key for establishing another important element of your business: long-form content marketing. 

Content marketing involves strategically creating and uploading on-brand content to engage with your target audience. Social media is a key part of the equation here (as we discuss below), but your website is a powerful asset aswell. 

Hosting blogs, for example, is an excellent way to reach people with the art of long-form content. With blogs, you can provide rich, expansive, and informative pieces on any element of your brand you wish to explore in further details. This covers the stuff you don’t have the space for on social media or the time to go through in a one-on-one conversation, and it helps get people invested in the intricacies of what you’re doing while everything else takes care of the bigger picture. 

Blogs also allow you to showcase that you actually know what you’re talking about: you’ll be able to delive into more complicated topics which adds an extra layer of credibility to your company. With a strong focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), your blogs also work overtime to draw traffic to your website and generate those all important clicks.

Another method for long-form content marketing is to use podcasts. This can be a little more difficult to set up and can be quite the time investment, but a podcast following straddles the line between the in-person, community feel of physical outreach and the accessble nature of online content.‍

The Power of Social Media

Your presence in the digital realm is only going to become more important, and if there’s one crucial area of thast domain you need to master, it’s social media. With just about everyone owning a smartphone and a social media account, there’s never been a better time to get your message out there – but you have to know what you’re doing. 

Familiarity with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok are one thing, but knowing how to successfully make content for them is another. Given the nature of these platforms, you’ll want to make sure you’re putting out quality short form content, which could be in the form of pictures, infographics, or short videos. You or others on your team will need to learn how to design these assets – free resources exist that you can learn to use, or you could double down on the Adobe suite of software if you’re willing to learn or have people in the know. 

Once you start to get some followers, you need to keep them! Engaging with your audience by responding to messages and replying to comments goes a long way; social media is a great way to build a relationship with your customers, but you have to keep on top of it. 

Also, don’t foget about LinkedIn: distinct in fostering a far more professional environment than the other big players in social media, LinkedIn offers you the ability to successfully network with other individuals and businesses in the digital realm, so sign-up, create both company and individual pages, and integrate the platform into your workflow. 

Community Outreach

In an increasingly digital (and especially post-COVID) world, meeting customers face-to-face has seen a steep drop off – but that element is always going to be important. We’re social animals, after all, and there’s nothing like a one-on-one human interaction to build a relationship with a client. 

Community outreach can come in many different forms. One way could be booking a slot for a stall at an event to spread the word about your business – check online for what’s available both in your local area and further afield. You could also opt for engaging with charities or putting on talks or seminars.

Not only does this sort of work build those important, yet often-overlooked aspects of human interaction, it also provides the opportunity for direct feedback on what you’re doing right and what you could improve on; use these events as opportunities to ask people what they think and what they want – you could even use surveys to accomplish this goal in a more systematic way. 

Wrapping Up

A strong marketing profile is at the cornerstone of any great business – more often than not, it makes the differences between a business failing or succeeding. Each of the segments above comprise a holistic approach to ensuring your marketing is rock solid, but remember: nothing beats experience. 

These pillars of marketing success will prove invaluable in cementing your brand as a force to be reckoned with, but you’ll learn the most by testing the waters for yourself and discovering how these individual elements come together in your specific case. There will be ups and downs, but that’s all part of the journey. Hunker down on the fundamentals, and you’ll be fit to weather whatever storm and reap the benefits of each success!

Image credit: Pexels

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