Marketing The Business
One of the key elements to growth is getting your product or service in front of potential new customers. There are loads of ways to market your goods or services, and sometimes it can be hard to know which one is right for your business. There’s no mystery about marketing. It’s about a good product, finding ways to let people know about it – and making sure you deliver on your promise.
Key Aspects of marketing:
- Brand – Understanding the difference between logo and brand can make a big difference to the effectiveness of the business. Everything you and your staff do affects your brand. Read the Business Wales guide Branding (Business Wales website) within the Marketing Zone – it might throw up some interesting and potentially valuable ideas for your business.
- Advertising – Who needs advertising? The answer is – most businesses. Advertising isn’t just about huge advertising campaigns, it can be as simple as popping flyers through letter boxes or pinning up a note about what you’re offering at your nearby newsagent’s or Post Office. Advertising is a great way to generate interest in your business, increase sales, introduce a new product, attract new customers and to gain exposure of your brand/ image. Read further information on effective advertising (Business Wales website) through the Business Wales Marketing Zone.
- PR – The most common way to ‘land’ a story in your local paper is by writing a Press Release – keep it short, snappy, informative and written in newspaper- style language. Getting your name in the local paper for the right reason can be great for your business. It raises your profile and makes would-be customers more likely to come to you than a rival – simply because they’ve heard of you or been reminded of you. Because they get loads of these every day, it’s worth putting some effort in to making yours as good as possible. Read some useful information on the Business Wales Marketing Zone on writing an effective Press Release (Business Wales website).
- Web/ Social Media – More and more small businesses are setting up websites as more people are turning to the web for information therefore a website is an essential part of the marketing strategy. Read the Business Wales guide on Your Website (Business Wales website) for a few ideas on how to create the perfect website. Setting up social media accounts is also a new way of connecting and communicating with customers. But it’s very important to choose the ones that are relevant to your business. Read some useful guides on the Business Wales website for using social media (Business Wales website) to its full advantage.
- Marketing on a shoestring budget – Consider using flyers, they’re cheap and easy to produce and can be used on a door- to-door walkabout, as ads in local shops and Post Offices. Read more on the Business Wales website on how to get more from your marketing budget (Business Wales website)