Being a business professional or a successful startup doesn’t mean that you’re going to be naturally skilled at marketing. Marketing is a significant field and profession all in itself, and while good marketing can always be learned, many business professionals may feel on the back foot if they’re not familiar with effective marketing techniques.
While there are always ways to improve your marketing, such as employing someone else to do it for you or learning some key skills yourself, what matters more is that it’s not neglected, even if your expertise lies elsewhere.
To allow yourself to feel more confident and comfortable with marketing, here are some top tips for beginners.
Get to Know All Relevant Channels
In order to market effectively, you first need to know which platforms and channels are available to you to use as marketing. There are many great options, but it’s also important to hone in on the ones which are best suited for your particular business and then tailor each piece of content (rather than posting identical marketing content to every platform).
Some of the key marketing channels you should be aware of include:
- Social Media (all platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube)
- Your own website and blog
- Your own SEO efforts for search engines
- Free or paid advertising
- Guest posting
Know Who You’re Marketing To
Success with marketing isn’t just about what you produce; it’s about knowing who you’re marketing to. You can’t hope to create relevant promotional material that packs a punch if you have no idea who your target consumer is.
Therefore, consumer research is just as crucial within your marketing strategy as the content itself. Take the time to get to know your target audience, how to engage with them, the type of advertising they like to see, and how you can best connect.
Perfect Your Website
If you’re working hard to improve your SEO and have people land on your business website, then you want that website to be the best it can be as part of your marketing strategy. Getting consumers to land on your site is half the battle; keeping them there is where you need to take that one step further.
Concentrating on building and maintaining a business website with engaging content is therefore crucial to any marketing strategy. You can also find website support if you’re struggling with time management or need professional services to help you to ensure that even after your website is built that you help close on hand.
Using and Understanding Data is Key
Putting engaging and relevant content out there is great, but you need to know whether it’s working. Therefore, within your strategy, plan for data gathering and analysis to learn how your marketing material is doing within the consumer market.
Collecting data and knowing how to analyze it is key. You can use programs such as Google Analytics to better understand your business interactions. However, you should also pay attention to feedback data on posts you make, for example.
SEO is a Must
If you’ve only heard of SEO in passing, then it’s time to familiarize yourself with it in detail. This is crucial if you’re looking for long-term success. SEO means knowing exactly how to market your business and use the right keywords to get the right attention from search engines and your consumers.
You should implement SEO into everything you do. From website content, blog posts, product descriptions, to social media posts, to name a few.
Learn what your consumers are searching for and tailor your target keywords to that.
If you’re new to the field, then a lot of initial effort will be about research. But, once you’re comfortable and confident with who your target market is, marketing will become a lot easier.