Photo by CC user muneebfarman on pixabay
No matter what the size of your business, marketing it the correct way proves a necessity and not a choice.
As many business owners have discovered over the years, improper marketing leads to a number of issues, most notably lower revenues. When that occurs, the “closed” sign may come out on the door faster than one might like.
Take a moment and look to see if your business is passing the marketing test?
For those not up to speed on a marketing test, it simply means doing everything and anything possible to market your brand to as many viable consumers as possible.
Getting Your Brand Necessary Attention
In order to get your brand ready to market each and every day, there are a number of bases that must be covered.
These include:
- Website – Unless you are an older business that has staved-off getting a website, your online presence is all but crucial to the success of your brand. For starters, you need a website that is as organized as can be. Whether you are Nike, Apple, Walmart, tradebit, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s or any number of other top brands, your website does the bulk of the work for you. With that being the case, organization is critical. If you offer consumers a website that is comparable to being stuck in a maze, you may lose many of them permanently. If your site is full of one gaffe after another, can you really expect them to come back after a visit? No matter how many eyes have to review your site on a regular basis, make sure organization is never given a back seat to other needs on the site. If it looks good, people will come;
- Content – From online content to the content you send out in email, mobile and other forms of marketing make sure it resonates with consumers. Keep in mind that many consumers get hit over the head regularly with tons of marketing pitches. What you need is those marketing pitches that will ultimately separate your brand from the crowded field of brands. For example, look at your blog content. What is it (or maybe what isn’t doing it) that makes the content reel-in more business? Hopefully your content is both informative and authoritative, leading consumers to want to know more about your brand. If that’s the case, leaving them a call to action is a good tactic when you end each piece of content;
- Imagery – The images you select for both your website and the marketing pitches you send out to prospective customers proves more critical than you might realize. Face it; most people want to see images of happy people, not those who look miserable and/or uninspiring. When you send out images (and videos) that are positive, you’re more likely to get a positive response, oftentimes more business;
- Listening – One of the keys to being a great business owner is always listening to what consumers (both current and possible customers) have to say. Sure, you will do a ton of talking in your marketing pitches and other efforts to bring in more business, but listening to the public is something that you should never take for granted. The goal at the end of the day is having converted more possible customers into actual customers, whether you do it face-to-face or through online sales;
- Employees – Last but not least, your employees (for those running businesses that are more than one-person shows) are the bread and butter of your company. That said making sure you use them to their fullest abilities is something you need to always make a top priority. Whether it is providing solid customer service to clients, coming up with new and better ideas at office meetings on how to grow your brand, or pitching in and helping others in the office when things get too busy, your workers can take your brand as far as they want to. Leaning on them to help you in marketing your brand should be a given, especially since many of them have so various ideas and insights.
Passing the marketing test is not like a quiz or test when you were in school.
An ‘F’ back then may have only meant a little yelling from the parents.
Getting an ‘F’ as a business owner can be a mark no brand owner wants on his or her report card.