A new year is upon us. After the challenges of 2020, we think it’s fair to say that we’re all ready for a new beginning. While the change of the calendar doesn’t guarantee instant success, it can mark the start of a reset for your business.
In fact, we’re doing just that at Beacon Marketing. We’re taking time to analyze our marketing efforts and see where and how we can improve how we promote ourselves.
How are we doing this? By looking at what we believe to be five essential elements to any successful marketing campaign. These elements are important because they identify who you are, what you do, and how you share your message with your target audience.
And if you analyze and combine these elements properly, you’ll have the foundation for a successful marketing campaign.
Let’s take a look!
Solidify Your Brand
Your brand is how people outside of your organization identify your business. Think of Apple, Nike, and Coca Cola. As you read the names of those businesses you can easily picture their logos, colors, and products. They have spent year and years and years, and a lot of money, establishing who they are so that we, as consumers, easily identify who they are and what they are selling.
You’re a small business owner, and you don’t have the budget of Apple or Nike, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. You can still establish your brand in much the same way, so that, over time, your target audience will begin to easily identify your business and what you can do for them.
Here are three things you can do to solidify your brand:
- Ensure the correct logo is being used – Over time, you may have updated or changed your logo. Make sure you have your most current logo in use on your website, social media platforms, email marketing, any print marketing, or anywhere else someone might see your business.
- Standardize colors and fonts – Use the same colors and fonts in your messaging. This will make it easier for your audience to identify your messaging.
- Settle on a tone for your message – Determine if you want to be authoritative, funny, or friendly. Figure out what words you use and words you don’t; the tones you use and the tones you don’t. The key here is to be authentic to who you are, and maintain that tone.
The above steps will allow you to solidify your brand across all platforms so that your business is easily identifiable with your target audience.
Understand Your UVP
Your UVP, or unique value proposition, is the thing that you provide for your customers that they cannot get anywhere else. The key for an effective UVP is that it must be of value to your target audience, because, remember, your marketing is all about them.
Some examples of good UVPs are:
- Easy access to freeways saving you time and money
- Decades of experience so you have the piece of mind knowing the job is done right
- We offer products and services that you cannot get anywhere else
Each of those examples are generic, but you can see how with some work they can be used to help a business stand out from their competitors. After all, that’s what marketing is all about: standing out so your audience can find you, then showing the how you solve their problem.
Take some time to understand what really sets your business apart and detail how you can include that in your marketing. (You can also include your UVP in your branding efforts.)
Engage Your Community
This is an important one here. No matter your business or industry, it’s safe to say that your customers do not want to be talked to. They want to be engaged.
What does this mean?
Engaging your community means participating in online communities and conversations. Start a Facebook group, comment on the Instagram post of businesses related to your industry or people who might be a member of your target audience, or ask your audience to complete questionnaires or surveys. Respond to comments, questions, emails, and DMs. Get a conversation going, and start building relationships!
Most of all, when you do get a response from your audience, make sure you are ready to address that person. Whether it is a question, comment, or even a complaint, if someone is taking the time to send you a message, you must respond in a timely manner.
Over time you will build a strong and loyal community that will eventually start spreading the word of your business for you.
Create Valuable Content
For any marketing campaign to be considered successful, it must garner attention. Otherwise, you are essentially screaming into the wind.
The best way to get attention is to provide content that addresses the needs and concerns of your target audience. Doing this will help solidify your brand by establishing your business as a trusted resource.
A lot goes into content marketing, too much for this blog. For more information on content marketing click here.
Build Relationships
Having trusted friends in your personal life is an essential part of living a happy and fulfilling life. The same is true for your business. Your business needs “friends” who you can trust for referrals, trades, or event general knowledge transfers.
Beacon Marketing has established several key relationships with other local businesses that have helped us grow over the last few years. We are currently looking to establish some online relationships with businesses outside of our city and state to help us reach out to a larger audience.
Do the same by reaching out to businesses in your area. Then expand by looking online for businesses in your industry or related industries. Having a strong network of businesses that know and trust your business will help lighten the load of your marketing. You’ll have businesses able to share leads or collaborate on projects, the result of which will be growth for your business (or even mutual growth for both of your businesses).
Whether you are just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, these elements can help you become a more effective and efficient marketer. The key is to identify your goals and outline a marketing strategy that will guide your marketing efforts. If you do that, there is no limit to what you can accomplish when it comes to promoting your business!
