marketing strategy drawn on white board

3 Marketing Strategies That Will Change Your Business Forever

by Marketing

Did you know that 99.9 percent of businesses in the United States are small businesses? With such a crowded market, it takes a lot of thought, time, and effort to get a new business up and running.

That effort shouldn’t falter just because your business has launched. You’re likely looking for a strategy to grow your business to increase revenue and brand recognition. 

The right marketing strategies can make or break your profit margins. How do you know what strategies are effective, and which strategies are best for your business?

Read on to learn about three marketing strategies that will change your business forever. 

1. Social Media Marketing Strategies

Over fifty percent of users on social media utilize those sites to check out products before buying them. Simply having a wide-ranging social media presence will allow you to reach many potential customers.

Social media is all about pumping out content, and most users eat up a good social media campaign. From giveaway contests to charity fundraisers, the right social media campaign is a great strategy to draw in your target market. 

The age of social media has also created a new and unique way of marketing. Before the social media boom, you’d have to seek out high-demand celebrities to endorse your brand. 

Today, social media influencers are all over the internet and easy to find. Reaching out to a few influencers with just a couple thousand followers each can introduce your brand to a slew of potential customers.

2. Understanding Search Engine Optimization

You can’t have a completely successful marketing plan without understanding search engine optimization (SEO). Utilizing SEO allows you to increase the traffic to your website through search engine results like Google.

There are many strategies to improve your SEO, like making your website easily navigable and using the right keywords to get your site in the results. A great way to incorporate SEO improvements is to start a blog. 

Using a blog is an easy way to link back to other pages on your website, which allows search engines to ‘crawl’ your page. The easier it is to crawl around your site, the higher it shows up in search engine results.

A blog is also a great way to use keywords and key phrases that will boost your place in a search engine’s results. Be sure to use keywords with purpose, because too many keywords can penalize your SEO.

3. Utilize Lead Magnets

A lead magnet allows a business to trade a sample of their goods or services for a potential customer’s contact information. We’ve seen them on many websites: “Enter your email address and get a free PDF now!”

This marketing strategy gives potential customers a reason to cough up their contact information. It’s also an easy way to find out who is interested in your product or service. 

A good lead magnet promises to solve a specific problem with highly valued information and a quick solution. These include checklists, cheat sheets, templates, and similar toolkits.

Get Growing

With these three marketing strategies, you have a starting point for improving your business’ growth. Now it’s up to you to start implementing. 

Need some help? Get in touch with me and I’ll be happy to provide my expertise. 

businessman using laptop

Point of Difference Marketing: How to Stand out in a Crowded Niche

by Marketing

No matter what kind of business you’re in, you may experience a crowded field of competition. From home goods to healthcare entrepreneurship, your marketing plan is key to setting your business apart from the rest.

That’s where point of difference marketing comes in. You can use this fundamental concept to stand out from the rest of the pack. 

Are you looking to add an effective marketing tool to your toolbox? Learn more about point of difference marketing and how it can help you stand out in a crowded niche.

What is Point of Difference Marketing (POD)?

Simply put, point of difference marketing is your unique selling proposition. It’s what sets you apart from other businesses or products in your industry.

For example, if you have a plumbing business, there are undoubtedly other plumbers in your market area. What differentiates your service? It might be a price point, a guarantee on your work, or schedule flexibility.

Make Your Mark: 5 Ways to Stand Out

You can use your points of difference to market your business and generate leads. It does take work, but that hard work will pay off! Let’s take a look at five sure-fire ways to make your firm stand out in a crowded field.

1. Do a Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis consists of comprehensively researching your competitors and breaking down their similarities, differences, and successes. Which companies have a large share of the market? How do they market themselves?

Competitive analysis is a massive task, but it is a crucial first step in positioning your brand. Seeing what works for other companies can be inspiring. It can also give you ideas for your unique marketing path.

2. Choose Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition should be clear, direct, and simply state what your business stands for. Instead of trying to compete head-to-head with other companies, draw out the thread that gives your company its sparkle.

The unique selling point may be something simple, like being the only plumber in the area who provides emergency weekend services. It may be a charitable dedication that adds emotional content to your business. Either way, it’s a great way to stand out.

3. Pay Attention to Quality

Every consumer is looking to get the best quality goods for the best price. One excellent way to set your business apart is to focus on one aspect of this equation. Reaching for the top spot in customer reviews pays off in marketing, as well as the rating of your business.

4. Disrupt the Status Quo

Disruption happens when you take a straightforward part of your industry’s accepted wisdom and turn it on its head. It’s not so simple to do, but you can often find a way to bring in a new customer base or provide a service in a simpler way. Your marketing plan will write itself!

5. Remember We’re All Human

Especially in online businesses, it’s often easy to forget that there are actual human beings on the other side of the transaction. Restore humanity to your marketing.

You may use an emotional appeal or add an element of surprise or humor. These are all clear and direct ways to position your brand in the spotlight.

Need Help?

Some markets are overcrowded. It can feel like a daily uphill struggle to craft your unique selling point. Don’t get discouraged.

If you’re interested in asking me to help you understand your point of difference marketing options, please feel free to contact me today to get started.

New Product Launch Marketing Commercial Innovation Concept

Put Up or Shut Up: The No Frills Guide to Launching a Product

by Entrepreneurship

Once you’ve chosen a product to sell, you have to start thinking about how to launch it. While it may seem daunting, following a proven process can help.

This no-frills guide will help you follow the necessary steps to launch any product to your target audience. 

Keep reading to learn about launching a product and everything that entails so you can have a successful product launch.

1. User Testing

The first thing you have to do long before the launch is to make sure your product is ready for the general public and that it’s something people will want and be willing to pay for.

Gather a group of 20 – 30 people to test your product. Get feedback from them and use that to make any changes to your product long before the launch date.

2. Preparations

The more you prepare for the launch, the more successful it will be. Here are a few of the things you need to do to get ready for launch day.

Choose a Launch Date

Find a date that works for you and that doesn’t coincide with any other similar product launches. Stick with that date and work backward as you plan your days and weeks leading up to the launch.

Select a Platform

Another decision you need to make is what platform you’ll use to launch your product. Consider where your audience spends most of their time.

Make a Checklist

There are many things you’ll need to do before and on launch day. Keep a checklist handy and make sure anybody you have working with you knows what their roles are as well.

Set Launch Goals

Although there are many things you can’t control like how many people end up signing up for your product, there are other things you can. Focus on the things you can control when setting goals so you don’t set yourself up for disappointment.

3. Build Hype

The sooner you start getting people excited about your product, the better your launch will go. Share your story, especially if you’re a small company because people love to connect with the person behind the product.

4. Launch Day!

On launch day, there’s going to be a lot to do. Take a deep breath and pull out your launch day checklist. Focus on getting everything done and give yourself plenty of time to interact with new users as much as possible.

These new connections will help you get more valuable feedback about what additional features you may consider adding or other products you could launch in the future.

5. More Marketing

Think of your launch day as the middle point of a successful product launch. Once your product is out there, you should begin marketing it even more. Use social media and user success stories to continue widening your audience.

Need Help Launching a Product?

Now you know how to launch a new product whether you’re just starting your business or have been an entrepreneur for a while. As you can see, the more work you put in before the launch, the better it will be.

If you have questions about launching a product, contact me. I would be more than happy to guide you through the process.

Marketing business concept on the virtual screen.

6 Digital Marketing Best Practices You Should Adopt in 2020 and Beyond

by Marketing

Small businesses run on great digital marketing strategies.

Marketing these days is primarily performed online. If you run a small business, you need to have your ear to the ground all of the time in order to keep up with the ever-changing digital marketing landscape.

An understanding of these can help you appeal to new audiences. If you neglect digital marketing, your business can easily fade into obscurity. Today, we’re going to discuss five of the digital marketing best practices to adopt in 2020 and beyond.

1. SEO

SEO and all of its subsects remain a hugely important practice. If done correctly, you can make your business rise above the rest. Because it’s always changing, you have to pay attention to make it work.

So many things factor into SEO that it can be difficult to keep track of. Focus on a steady stream of content, promoting good reviews, and backlinks and you’ll have a jump on it.

2. Social Media Marketing

Social media is another mainstay of digital marketing. Big platforms give you access to millions of people that you can try and appeal to. It also gives you the opportunity to engage your followers to find out what they like and what they don’t.

Unlike any other form of marketing before it, this engagement allows you to adapt and develop new marketing strategies to appeal directly to your desired audience.

3. Strong Content

Before we had an understanding of SEO and what people actually get out of it, content creation had too strong a focus on appealing to search terms and not enough of a focus on the actual quality of the content. That’s all changed now.

If you’re not giving your audience informative and entertaining content, and a steady stream of it, you’re not doing it right. Not only does this affect your ranking on SERPs, but you can lose your credibility. Many companies are making content creation a priority in terms of resource allocation.

4. Voice Search

With the advent of smartphones and tablets in the last 10-12 years, we’re seeing voice search become more and more prominent. This has gotten an even bigger boost in the last few years with smart home devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

The impact this has had on SEO has been immense. Before, keyword research would be restricted to terms and short phrases, but now long-tail keywords are more representative of how people actually search online.

5. Personalization

Companies have a lot more access to their customers’ data than ever before. There are good and bad sides to this. The bad is that we’ve seen an uptick in data breaches, leading to the leaking of important information.

The good is that businesses can provide more personalization in marketing strategies, which customers have responded very positively to. Being able to cater your message to not just a specific audience, but specific individuals has revolutionized digital marketing as we know it. 

Finding The Next Digital Marketing Best Practices

The next digital marketing best practices are right under our nose. What we’ve talked about in this post will continue to grow and adapt to changes in consumer behavior. Stay on top of new trends and you’ll be able to create great digital marketing strategies moving forward.

To get help with your business’s marketing practices, consult with Dr. Dan Schneider.