Entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small businesses are often challenged by the sheer scope of work necessary to be successful. Marketing is one area that can be particularly challenging, especially for entrepreneurs in the early days of their business. They know they have to do it, and are confident that they can, but also have pretty much EVERYTHING else on their plate.
But a well-executed marketing plan can make all the difference in a small business or start-up’s success. Still, marketing requires time, money and resources – all of which are probably in short supply if your business is in its early stages. But there’s hope – with focus and smart strategies, your company can execute a smart marketing plan, designed for growth.
Lead Generation
Leads = customers, meaning you can’t grow without leads. And a recent survey found that nearly 40 percent of small businesses are concerned about lead generation. Successful marketing strategies for entrepreneurs and start-ups use a three-pronged approach to building the lead pipeline:
Target your customers: build buyer personas, understand who they are, what they are looking for, and what their greatest pain points are.
Develop targeted content that speaks to that customer specifically
Make sure you are capturing not just their contact info, but good data about how they interact with your content so you can continue to target and interact with them later.
Related Post: Best Practices In Lead Generation
Visibility
You can’t turn leads into customers if they can’t even find you in the first place. Today, the first step for almost all consumers on the hunt for a new product or service is the internet. So, it stands to reason that the bulk of your effort should go into improving your online presence.
Related Post: 3 Reasons Your Small Business Needs a Blog
Start with your website – whether you hire a web designer, or build and maintain your site yourself, make sure you site is optimized to load quickly, work well on mobile devices, and is easy to navigate. Beyond that, you’ll want to sure you’re incorporating these best practices:
Make it very clear what you do – and leave no doubt as to what product/service you are selling
Lay out your value proposition in simple language that helps the potential customer see “what’s in it for them.”
Show off what it is like to work with your company – include customer testimonials and/or case studies, and make your customer service/support information prominent on the site, so potential leads can see that your organization is service oriented and easy to reach.
Have a clear call to action. Don’t just tell them what you do – drive them to get in touch with you today
Make sure your site is about the customer – not about you. People want to work with companies that understand them. Your website is often the first impression they’ll get of your company, so make them feel like you really “get” their pain points.
Once you’ve built the site, you’ll want to focus on adding relevant content regularly (think blogs, whitepapers, customer case studies, etc.) and driving traffic to the site via PR campaigns, social media, paid Google and social ads, and other strategies that drive backlinks and traffic.
Related Post: The Inbound Marketing Guide for Entrepreneurs
Be Smart With Your Resources
For many entrepreneurs, time is the most valuable of all resources. That is why it is critically important to make sure that you market smart. You don’t have time to waste on broad based marketing campaigns that may or may not pay off.
Strategic marketing campaigns for your entrepreneurial business will be based on (a) a clear understanding of your customer and what they need to close the sale; (b) a product or service that meets their needs and solves their problems; (c) clear, concise content that delivers value to the customer and makes them want to hear more from you; and (d) a real understanding of where and how to reach those customers online using a variety of tools.