All right, entrepreneurs. You want to market your company without wasting a lot of money, but you’re not sure where to begin. You’re in good hands with your helpful personal marketer, so don’t worry. Here are the five steps to effective marketing, which, we promise you, are as simple as pie but without the calories. Have a coffee, relax, and become the marketer you were meant to be.
STEP 1: KNOW THYSELF...(AND THY TARGET AUDIENCE)
Take a hot minute and step back to consider who you are as a business before you set sail on your advertising journey around the sun. Sure, we are being philosophical here, but trust us, it’s important. Creating a message that attracts the attention of your customers will be easier if you are mindful of the personality, values, and unique selling proposition of your business.
Speaking of your audience, you need to know them like the back of your hand (assuming you’re familiar with your own hand, of course). Who are they? What are their pain points, and how can your product or service alleviate those issues? The more you know about your target audience, the better you’ll be at crafting advertisements that speak directly to them, which leads us to our next step.
STEP 2: CRAFT A KILLER MESSAGE (AND NOT THE JASON VOORHEES KIND)
Now that you know who you’re talking to, it’s time to develop a message that will leave them begging for more. Whether you’re promoting a new product or just looking to create general brand awareness, the key is to keep it simple and relatable. A good rule of thumb is to think of your message as an elevator pitch – you only have a few seconds to make an impression, so make it count!
Remember, your goal is to stand out from the crowd, so don’t be afraid to get creative and inject some humor into your message. Just make sure it aligns with your brand and your audience’s preferences (you wouldn’t want to crack an inappropriate joke, would you?).
STEP 3: CHOOSE YOUR ADVERTISING BATTLEFIELD (AKA CHANNELS)
Ready to unleash your advertising beast? Not so fast! You need to know where your target audience is hanging out – both online and offline.
If your audience is primarily on social media, it’s time to whip out those hashtags and trendy lingo. If they’re more into traditional media, then you might consider running print ads, radio spots, or even local TV commercials. The point is you want to choose channels that will reach your audience effectively and efficiently.
PRO TIP: Don’t just stick to one channel. Experiment with a mix to find the perfect advertising cocktail for your business.
STEP 4: SET A BUDGET (AND STICK TO IT, SCROOGE MCDUCK)
Ah, money – the root of all evil and the fuel of your advertising endeavors. Before you start splurging on every advertising opportunity that comes your way, set up a budget that makes sense for your business. You don’t want to end up like a gambler on a losing streak, throwing good money after bad.
When deciding your budget, consider factors like your overall marketing objectives, the channels you’ll be using, and the cost of producing your advertisements. And remember, sometimes less is more. A small, well-targeted campaign can have a more significant impact than a big-budget extravaganza that misses the mark.
STEP 5: MEASURE, TWEAK, REPEAT (THE MARKETER’S MANTRA)
Finally, it’s time to put your plan into action! But don’t just sit back and watch the magic happen. Track the performance of your campaign! But let’s not get all Field of Dreams with it! If you build it, customers won’t just come flocking to your door ready to throw their money at you – at least not all of the time. Sometimes. And when it does, that’s great! But most marketing needs some love and nurturing. Use the tools that you have at your disposal to measure. Are you getting more engagement on one type of social content than the other? Are you seeing certain keywords on your Google Ads performing better than others? Are those consumers from your Google Ads staying on your website for a while or are they leaving quickly (AKA “Bounce Rate”)? Then use that knowledge to your advantage by posting more of that same killer content, adjusting your budget to put more dollars towards those keywords, and beefing up highly trafficked pages to your site to offer the most value to your prospective customers. Then, do it all again! And again, and again. Trust me, each and every time you optimize your campaign it’ll perform that much better for you!
Marketing isn’t easy. It takes patience, knowledge, research, money, heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears. But you’re built for it, superstar. Go out there and get some! And when in doubt, reach out! Your friends at MDDC Advertising Services will help you. We’ll never let you down.