Times are changing and the demand to increase efficiency and maximize exposure has never been so great. We understand the importance of this demand on business owners and though we would share 5 quick tips to make more sense of your next marketing campaign.

Understand Your Target Market

Getting to know your customers and their purchasing habits is key in the marketing process. By  focusing on a target market segment it’s easier to identify specific behaviors, needs wants of your end consumer. Once focus has been made it’s important that you not only maximize marketing efforts towards this group, but customize the products offered as well.

Write A Marketing Plan

Once a target market has been identified you need to develop your strategy in the form of a written marketing plan. The reasoning for this is to maintain consistency across the team and keep an overall focus on the end goals. This plan needs to cover all essential aspects of presenting and delivery of  your products to the customer. Here are just a few questions to ask yourself when creating this plan:

1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to be?
3. What opportunities exist in the environment?
4. How will we get there?
5. Who will do what?
6. How will we know we’ve arrived?

Design Advertising & Customer Communications

Advertising isn’t like the old days where you could place an ad in the newspaper, list the company in the Yellowpages, or mail out coupons. It’s a whole new world out there with the internet and if you’re not on top of your game you’re no where to be found. Consumers are bombarded with hundreds of marketing emails, ads on Facebook, and just about every website you go on. To stay ahead of the game you need to do something pretty special to stand out, so make sure your messages are clear and appeal to exactly the people you are trying to sell to. For example if your consumer is looking to buy a dog and you’re a pet store, create an ad about adopting a furry friend. This stands out from others saying adopt a dog here, or dog options now. Though it is important to use call-to-action words, don’t let that take away from the consumers main focus, they’re looking for a companion.

Make Sure Your Store Front Is In Pristine Order

Having a clean and inviting atmosphere is a big influence tool when it comes to getting potential customers in the door. It generates trust, motivates your staff and makes customers feel more comfortable doing business with you. This tip also applies to online businesses. We’ve all come across a website where you click on it because it sounds like what you’re looking for and then it hits you like a brick. The site is a horrible, poor navigation, flashing pictures everywhere, and no quality content anywhere to be found. Keeping an orderly yet insightful and content driven site that interacts with your consumers is very important when looking to convert. By creating an easy to navigate site with a clear action path you will see a much better return and interaction rate with both potential and returning consumers.

Last But Not Least Invest In Your Employees

Regardless the size of your business it’s imperative that you take care of those under you. Your employees are the face of the company and can make or break the customer experience. By investing in your employees and creating a growth plan you build both trust and motivation to work harder. We believe that success is built from within so get your employees involved in your marketing plan, ask for their ideas, and most importantly treat them as equals. Package happy employees with an awesome marketing plan and watch both customer satisfaction and sales grow.

There are countless tips and good ideas when it comes to marketing, it’s up to you and your employees to find what works best. Please share your thoughts and ideas with upcoming entrepreneurs below, we’d love to hear what you have to say.