Marketing is never more important than when you first start up your business. Clients won’t come knocking unless they know about you, and what you can offer them. So from the moment you open up shop, you need to be driving a strong marketing strategy and program. Obviously your greatest limitation as a start-up is going to be cash flow. However, when it comes to marketing, effective doesn’t have to equal expensive, and a small marketing budget can be overcome by investing time in planning and scheduling. In the early days, focusing on building brand awareness and a strong online presence are great foundations from which to launch your marketing. Here’s 5 essential things to consider for your marketing when starting a business;
- Your Brand – your logo or brand will be your most used item so why would you spend the least on the thing you will use the most? Think about what you want your business or brand to stand for then take the time and money to articulate that in verbal and visual formats. Spending a bit upfront will save you down the track. Make sure the look and colours of your brand tell people about your brand. Get it made in various formats for later use and get a style guide developed to ensure consistent use of your brand moving forward. Take the time to write or get written an elevator pitch as well as a business description for future listings.
- Plan, Plan, Plan – I can’t say it enough… Write a business plan and a marketing plan. You wouldn’t build a house without building plans so why would you build a business without plans. If you don’t have time or expertise then get a marketing professional like Blaze Marketing to help but it is worth getting a plan up front so you know what direction you are heading and are staying focused with both your activities and your budget spending. For more detailed information on putting together a marketing plan, read my Marketing Insights blog, ‘No plan at all or a plan to succeed’.
- Make it Actionable – an overarching marketing plan is great so you know where you are heading and stay focussed but it only comes to life when you action it. So develop a marketing calendar or priority marketing program so you break it down into bite size actionable components and implement it each week and each month. You also need to assign ownership so it happens. Whether it is you, a staff member or an outsourced marketing team, like Blaze Marketing, just make sure it’s clear who is responsible for driving your marketing forward.
- Get Online – everything is digital in this age and best of all its cost effective and measurable so get online. Build a website, make it search engine optimised (SEO), build targeted and regularly updated social media sites, blog frequently and consider online advertising like Google Paid Searches or LinkedIn/Facebook Ads
- Be Realistic – understand it takes time and that limited budget means limited time spent on your marketing. You can’t compare yourself to a business that pays for a full time marketing manager or marketing team if you are only investing in one or two days a month if that. So expect to have to set some time and budget aside for marketing and align the results with the amount invested. Understand that it takes time to build marketing momentum and that if you stay focussed you will get there.
At this early stage of the game, marketing is all about getting your name and number out there in front of the buying public: put your logo on show, write blog posts that people will want to like and share, join industry events and work your elevator pitch. Don’t hold back: making the most of every marketing opportunity from day one will ensure your business gets off to a cracking start.
