Marketing is the most common problem when starting a small business. People often turn to communication agencies, saying: “I placed some advertisements, but they don’t seem to work”. In other words, they are saying that those advertisements did not bring in new customers and did not generate the sales they had budgeted for.
Marketing Is More Than Just Advertising
New small businesses forget that marketing is much more than just advertising. Marketing and advertising are not synonymous, and “place some advertising” is not a good marketing strategy to guarantee the success of a small business. Marketing is an ever-changing process. It never corresponds to an isolated event. This process involves planning goals and implementing (most often, a series of implementations) strategies to achieve all of the intended purposes. This does not mean that marketing must be a complicated process, but it is undoubtedly true that we need to know the techniques and tools that can, in some way, achieve the objectives set in the strategic phase. For this reason, today we want to propose six simple strategies that can be used to increase customers and sales:
Offer Free Training Courses And Workshops
These events must be related to your products and services; they must take place at your company headquarters, in a space specifically dedicated to such events, or at the center of a university faculty, which could be actively involved in the training course. A good move is to identify a specific reference target to address the training interventions. For example, a company that produces home accessories could organize workshops on how to decorate the house for the holidays or how to decorate a home garden. A yoga instructor could create yoga workshops for men only or pregnant women only.
Get In Touch With Local Companies And Local Associations
There are also many freelancers and several individual firms with whom you can get in touch and find food for thought for new projects. The benefits of these relationship marketing activities are enormous. Initially, they are handy for making your business, products and services known; when you are recognizable, your contacts will start talking about you with them, activating a virtuous circle that will bring new references and new customers. Local business organizations are also great opportunities to create and participate in cooperative marketing strategies, with unique market fairs, industry festivals or other events of various kinds.
Actively Participate In Philanthropic Events
Thanks to this strategy, you will make people talk about you on paper printing and even more about digital printing. This procedure will surely bring you new customers. An example? A local artist painted paper bags from a grocery store, which were sold to customers. For each sachet used, part of the proceeds generated during the day was destined for a non-profit organization committed to supporting orphans and vulnerable children worldwide. And you don’t have to break your head to create new events. You can rely on humanitarian associations, participating in the events in a visible way, perhaps becoming an official sponsor.
Create A Blog For Your Company
Use it to create an audience of people who might be interested in your products and services. Creating a blog is as simple as making a website and is also a smart choice. You will only have to write and publish content that deals with your products and services and how your target market is moving.
Sign Up For Twitter And Take Advantage Of Your Company Profile
If you have time to follow the social networks of the moment, do it. But if you don’t have a lot of time, choose Twitter. Twitter is the social network to use because it is fast and straightforward. The only important trick? Avoid using Twitter solely and exclusively to promote your products, but try to define a marketing strategy that allows you to find and communicate with people with your exact vision and values who could be at what you do.
Ask Your Customers To Talk About You
This advice is especially suitable for those who run a service-based business because asking word of mouth to your satisfied customers is a fair and straightforward procedure, but we always forget about it. A free and effective strategy, but consistently the most failed. Because? Embarrass you? Don’t you know how to do it? Read our next article, “How to ask customers to implement a healthy word of mouth” . We will tell you how to overcome your fears.
Also Read: Lead Generation: What Are The Consequences For CRM?