Every week, we answer a common question about marketing or business. This week, our question comes from a fan who entered our giveaway contest for a Fire 7 Tablet. Today, we will answer the following question: “how do I start marketing my small business?”
Find Your Target Market First
The first step to marketing your small business is to find out who your target audience is. Not sure how to do that? We’ve actually written a couple of posts on the subject:
In layman’s terms, your target audience are the people to whom you are selling your goods and services. These are the primary people your business is trying to attract. It is important to keep this in mind from the get-go, so you can properly market to your ideal audience.
Do your research on which medium(s) you want to market through. Marketing is an incredibly diverse profession. There are SO many different ways, methods, and channels through which you can market. To really drive the point home, consider that digital marketing alone includes social media, email, paid advertisements, and so much more.
The point is that you can engage your market in countless ways. You want to focus on the channels your target audience is already using. Once you settle on the right channels, then you focus on using the channels correctly, learning, for example, the nuances of Instagram or TikTok.
Lastly, knowing your audience helps you understand your business’s goals, both long-term and short-term. To market your business, you need to know where you currently are, and where you are trying to go. It’s a simple principle, but an important one.
From there, you can create a solid plan of action that assures you won’t spend unnecessary time or money on things that will not lead to you achieving your goals.
Specific Steps You Can Take
Let’s say you know your target audience, have considered different marketing channels, and have clear goals. Now it’s time to take action!
If you’re starting from scratch, some places you can start include:
- Creating a website through tools like Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress.
- Set up a mailing list for free through MailChimp.
- Set up social media accounts, if nothing else, to read what people have to say.
Even the steps above are still pretty broad. If you’re not sure where to start online, go to Facebook. You can create a page for your business for free. We’ve written at length on why we believe Facebook is particularly beneficial, but here’s the short version: lots of people and good ad tools. Facebook can be a great way to not only raise brand awareness but also promote and sell your product/service.
If you’re looking to do some research on your existing audience, look into Google Analytics. Setting up Google Analytics with your website makes it much easy to learn more about your customers. This is because Google Analytics analyzes your website’s data and creates reports for you. Understanding your data helps you find out what your customers like the most so you can give them more of it.
When you are starting out, one of the most important things you can do is raise brand awareness. As a small business starting out, getting people to notice you can be extremely difficult. A website, social media, mailing list, and Google Analytics for data tracking are a good place to start. Beyond that, you should experiment! Some businesses succeed through advertising, while others create content like blog posts or podcasts.
Final Thoughts
Starting the process of marketing for your business can often seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Take it one step at a time, define clear goals, and check in with them once in a while. And if you’re still stuck? That’s what we’re here for 😉
