5 Marketing Tips for First Time Business Owners

This is a guest post from Market Smartly, specialising in smart marketing techniques for small businesses throughout Australia and New Zealand

Plenty of you lovely parents these days are starting your own business is an exciting and often daunting time. You may have your product or service ready and your office space organised but have you planned your marketing? Marketing is one of the most important factors in running a successful business. Here are five tips to help first time business owners.

Tip 1: Forget Traditional Marketing

Marketing has changed dramatically over recent years. Traditional approaches are expensive and in many cases they are no longer effective. You need to catch up with what works today. With the advent of social networking it is possible for small business owners to advertise their products and services to a massive audience for very little money. Whereas newspaper and magazine advertisements might have been the way to go 20 years ago, a strong social media presence will be much more impactful in today’s social media savvy marketplace.

You really need to do some research and find out what is working right now. The marketing space is changing quickly so check out the latest information to stay on top of the wave. Market Smartly can point you in the right direction to discover and exploit the latest trends in marketing.

Tip 2: It’s All about Content

Content Marketing is all about creating relevant, useful content to inform your marketplace. Good content in the form of blogs, articles and websites is used to market your business. In a nutshell, you need to create a website that is jam packed with free information that is of value to your prospective clients, while also offering potential clients the opportunity to buy your goods or services. The information you create should be closely linked to your product/service offering.

The content must be of high quality if it is going to work for you. Publishing automated or poorly written content will only make you look bad. Google has become better and better at separating the wheat from the chaff and will rank your website accordingly.

Tip 3: Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective and targeted forms of marketing for your small business. Firstly, you will need to build up an email database. Ask customers and contacts for their email address and ask them if they would like to receive information from you from time to time on special offers and news. Another good way to build your list is to add a subscriber form to your website. Make sure your communications are filled with interesting news or offers and you will soon grow your database.

Tip 4: A Good Website

Your website allows your business to be found 24 hours a day. Make sure it is informative and easy to navigate. Your website should clearly describe what you do, what services or products you offer. A good website should help to generate highly qualified leads for your business.

Tip 5: Do Your Research

Research your competitors thoroughly. You need to have a really solid understanding of what they offer and what they are charging for that offering. Find out what your competitors are up to and beat it with better prices, better products or better service.