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Whether you are a new business or a business that has been established for a long time, your marketing should ALWAYS start with a marketing plan.

MARKETING PLAN - STEP 1 - DO THIS FIRST!

Create Your Marketing Plan.

Your marketing plan doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to be well thought out so that it works for your business and your target market. Don’t worry, we will help you with this.

Every business is different so depending on your business, some marketing strategies might need to take priority over other strategies. You just need to figure out which strategies need to be implemented now and which ones can wait.

For most businesses, we HIGHLY recommend that you focus on getting your marketing prerequisites in order before you focus on any of the additional marketing channels and/or strategies.

MARKETING PREREQUISITES - STEP 2 - DO THIS NEXT

The following marketing prerequisites are the foundation of your marketing plan so it’s important that you address these first before you spend any time or money on any other marketing strategies.

PREREQUISITE #1 - BRANDING

BRANDING – PROFESSIONALIZE YOUR GRAPHICS AND YOUR COPY

The foundation of any marketing campaign starts with your branding. Are the graphics for all of your marketing materials for your business professional or can they use some work? Does the content listed on your website, flyers, or any of your other marketing mediums actually help you bring in customers or do you think some fresh new creative copy might help? If you have any doubts about your branding, then we highly suggest that you work on your branding BEFORE you spend any time or money on any other forms of marketing.

We Define Branding Into 2 Parts: Graphics & Copywriting

Graphics

These are the visual elements that your customers will first see and judge your products from. This includes your logo, product pictures, website images, social media pictures, and everything graphical around your brand and products. Professional graphics always result in more customers and more sales.

Copywriting

Content that is short and to the point almost always results in higher conversion rates (sales). People are too busy to read novels, so unless your product or niche requires a lengthy explanation, keep it short, simple, and to the point when you can. Just don’t forget to use keywords that you want to be found in Google for.

We have professional graphic designers, product photographers, and copywriters on hand ready to help you with maximize your branding, so if you could use our help, Let’s Talk!

PREREQUISITE #2 - WEB DEVELOPMENT

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT – DEVELOP YOUR WEBSITE WITH SCALABILITY IN MIND

Every business needs a professional website to communicate to their customer who they are and what they do. You can go the DIY route and build your own website if you are on a tight budget. If you do choose to go the DIY route, we highly recommend choosing a content management system (cms) that can handle everything that you throw at it. Next, make a list of the features that you want your website to have. Finally, make sure you choose a reliable hosting provider.

Content Management System (CMS) – Pick a scalable content management system (CMS). We highly recommend WordPress as it’s the most popular CMS in the world and it’s the most scalable. Need we say more?

Website Features (Plugins) – Make a list of special features that you want your website to do. For example, if you want your website visitors to book appointments directly on your website, then you need an online booking plugin.

Hosting – Pick a reliable hosting company and server. We recommend only hosting your website only on Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), or DigitalOcean servers. Why? Speed, Security, and SEO (SSS).

We have AMAZING web developers on our marketing team, so if you would like us to develop, re-develop, fix, add features, or maintain your existing website, Let’s Talk!

PREREQUISITE #3 - SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA – Choose Your Social Media Platforms and Then Add Content

Social media is a great way to draw attention and help give credibility to your business and/or your products. To get started, all you need to do is set up an account, build your profile, write creative content, and post regularly. You can promote your business organically through these platforms or through paid advertising like Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns. Social media is powerful!

If you sell business-to-business (B2B) products or services, then LinkedIn should be at the top of your social media efforts. LinkedIn is great for networking and getting in touch with others in your niche. You can also run ads as well for additional B2B networking opportunities.

Facebook

Having a business Facebook page for (B2B) or (B2C) is usually a great idea for every business. Once you set up your Facebook Business page, you will then have a plethora of tools that will allow you to drive more attention to your website and/or e-commerce store.

Instagram

Both product and service-based businesses generally do very well on Instagram since it’s easy to promote your business using images. It’s highly recommended to set up an Instagram account whether you sell B2B or B2C because you can do so much with it.

Twitter

This is a great platform to quickly communicate with your followers in 280 characters or less. It’s also perfect for networking! You can make new product announcements, advertise specials, follow other companies/people in your niche, and much more.

YouTube

Videos are a great way to advertise your products and services and YouTube is the best for this. The videos that you create can also be embedded in your website and e-commerce stores as well as your other social media accounts.

TikTok

TikTok is the newest social media platform on this list. If you have exciting content that you want to go viral then TikTok might best the best option for you. It’s a great option for both (B2B) and (B2C) companies in both product and service-based businesses.

Reddit is a great resource to find your customers in very specific niches. If you can contribute valuable content in the subreddits that fit your business niche, then you will get upvotes that will help increase your karma and brand recognition.

Discord

Discord is an amazing platform for both (B2B) and (B2C) businesses that want to create or join communities in very specific niches. For example, if you’re in the business of camping, you can chat with other campers looking to give and receive camping info.

Social media can be a very powerful marketing strategy, so make sure that you take advantage of at least 1 or 2 of these social media platforms. Keeping up with all of the demands that social media requires can be very time-consuming, so if you need help creating content and/or managing these social media accounts, then Let’s Talk!