Marketing is the backbone of any business. You can’t sell your products or services if your potential customers don’t know about them and aren’t convinced that you are the best out there. Whether you’re a fresh startup for a company that’s been in the game for over 100 years, here are some marketing strategies that you need to get started on right now.
Search Engine Marketing
This isn’t your mom’s advertising campaign. It’s no longer enough to have a physical marketing presence. These days, most consumers discover new products over the internet using, most of all, tools like Google. Search engines drive the modern-day consumer’s purchasing choices by exposing them to new types of products, products that they wouldn’t have bought otherwise, and influencing their evaluations about which companies offer the best products and services.
Think about how you make a very simple purchasing decision. For example, where to get sandwiches at lunch. If you aren’t already tuned into the sandwich scene in your area, you’re almost certainly going to turn to Google. You might enter a query like “best sandwiches near me.” This will return a long list of pages that Google thinks are relevant to your search, but you’re probably not going to look at any of those past the first ten.
This means that those first ten businesses get the best shot at wooing you and those at the very top probably get an even better chance, if consumers feel satisfied by the first few options they’re given. You might be thinking “those lucky bastards,” but luck has nothing to do with it. The businesses that make the top of Google’s search results are there thanks to a carefully crafted Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) campaign.
If you’re not engaged in SEO, you need to start doing that right this instant. You can get started with free site checkup tools before getting into the nitty gritty of SEO.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
What’s your marketing budget? Now how does that stand in relation to the overall value of your business? If you can’t answer these questions, then you have some work to do.
It can be intimidating to think about the amount of money that major corporations pour into their marketing campaigns. Millions of dollars each year that you can’t hope to match. However, these numbers need to be understood in context. The companies that invest this much are doing so because it’s a small amount compared to the overall value of their company. They’re comfortable with this expenditure because they’ve done a complete business valuation. They know how much their assets are worth and, in light of that knowledge, a million dollar marketing budget isn’t that bad.
These giants of industry aren’t just winging it either. They’re making well-informed financial decisions about the future of their business with precise data provided by an inhouse or outsourced accounting firm.
The business world is developing quickly, but by staying up-to-date with modern strategies for running your business, you can be assured that you have a bright future ahead.