What are the Best Marketing Strategies Involved in Entrepreneurship?

What are the Best Marketing Strategies Involved in Entrepreneurship

Growing a business, branching out, and (of course), making a larger profit are the main goals of every entrepreneur. However, that is not a simple task.

Becoming an entrepreneur and starting a business from scratch is an all-around challenge. It requires your full attention and involvement. For that reason, it is crucial that you take advantage of every opportunity that could facilitate the process of running your own business.

On the road to success, there are effective marketing strategies to help out along the way.

Get started

First of all, when starting a business, there are things that need to be done in a certain order before you even get to developing a proper marketing strategy.

Once you thought about and created a plan, or rather a rough outline for your business idea, it is time to start making some actual steps in order to achieve your goals:

  • calculating your budget and potential expenses
  • considering alternative financing
  • naming the company
  • determining the business structure
  • registering a company, etc.

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Hiring staff

marketing strategy - hiring staff

No one person can do everything. So it is important to know when to delegate, outsource, and hire professionals. Unfortunately, the current situation with coronavirus drastically transformed the work environment, and knowing how to outsource and hire remote developers can be even more difficult and riskier.

But done correctly and with proper employee onboarding and training, it will make the rest of the process run much more smoothly. That way you, your employees, and the company, in general, will be able to reach higher levels of productivity. 

Finding the right candidates for the job can be a tricky, time-consuming, and overall tiring task. 

After gathering a team, another thing to consider is your target demographic. Then you can start thinking about the right marketing strategy for your company.

The best marketing strategies

It is not just about reaching a larger audience but reaching the right kind of audience and take it from there.

In other words, it is paramount that you establish your target demographic. 

Only after you did that, once you aim your focus on a specific group of people that will respond to your type of business (or product), it is time to expand that customer base.

Knowing your target audience is an uncompromising point in order to develop a perfect marketing strategy that will attract and then maintain their attention.

Always keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, and to get (positive) results you need to tailor your business and marketing strategy to fit your customer’s needs and wants.

The constantly evolving process of marketing strategies has to accommodate the ever-changing online community and online purchasing habits. Especially in the present world dictated by the global epidemic of COVID-19, keeping up with these changes seems more important (and challenging) than ever.

Social media

Social media platforms are swiftly becoming a crucial and, let’s be honest, an unavoidable part of modern marketing. It is affordable and it is a good fit for today’s instant culture. 

That is the vital thing to remember, marketing strategies are constantly evolving and changing in order to satisfy the needs of the average consumer. 

And social media platforms give you a chance to establish a good customer relationship in the most direct way. The immediate accessibility of these platforms through devices such as mobile phones, laptops, and tablets makes it probably the most powerful marketing strategy.

Over-the-phone marketing and emails, even though they are still used, are not quite enough anymore. Customers demand fast responses and a more personalized marketing approach. They want to be connected to their favorite brand and that is an aspect of marketing that social media excel at.

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You can branch out to multiple social media channels or decide to focus your attention on the one that suits your target demographic the most.

social media apps

It is an opportunity to tell your story and add emotions. People respond better to a personal experience that they can relate to, rather than a strictly formal and business-oriented approach (but it still has to maintain its professional appearance that customers can trust).

However, managing your social media account is an around-the-clock job. So investing in social media management tools and having all the different features at your disposal is a great idea (if your budget allows it of course).

Instagram

marketing strategy - instagram

By now, everyone is already familiar with Instagram as a highly-influential social media channel and with all the useful options it can offer.

It is primarily a platform based on engaging visual content. An important thing to have in mind is to create a visually cohesive profile that reflects your brand in the clearest and most appealing manner.

A visually and aesthetically strong representation of your brand is the first thing that an Instagram user sees and is drawn to. Any sort of written explanation is secondary.  

Facebook

Today Facebook is rarely utilized as a primary platform for a marketing strategy. It is slowly being replaced by other social media channels with a wider reach and bigger influence.

In that sense, Facebook is better used as an additional source to complement the main channel (for example you can connect the Facebook page with the business website, another social media account, etc).

One aspect of this platform, however, still remains an efficient marketing method – Facebook ads (and Instagram ads, since the two platforms are connected). It functions by targeting specific features of the customers, such as: 

  • interest
  • age
  • sex
  • geographical location
  • online behavior
  • relationship status, etc.

Youtube

combining youtube with your business

Creating video content or even tutorials (depending on the type of your business/product) is a highly effective way of getting your message across.

Provide your customers with all the information in an interesting way that will increase their engagement. Video content like explainer videos can guide them through the authentic story of your company, and as a result, boost your visibility and sales.

Youtubers (the successful ones at least) know exactly how to present themselves or the product they are promoting. So creating good video content that your customers will respond to is not as easy as it might seem and it takes some thought and practice.

In case you are not sure where to start, you can try using a video proposal template, or a more specific Youtube Intro Maker. It will help you get an idea of a proper video structure that will potentially attract as many viewers as possible.

LinkedIn

Everyone that started their own business has heard of LinkedIn. But it is more important to know how to use it the right way in order to introduce yourself and your business to the world. Again, posting regularly is producing more reach, especially if you manage to make your post go viral.

Unlike some other platforms, it is not just about reaching your target audience, it is also a place to make connections with other entrepreneurs. Sharing stories and comparing notes can be beneficial for everyone involved. Some of those connections can grow to be profitable collaborations and partnering opportunities so doing smart LinkedIn outreach is a must.

Influencers 

marketing strategy - influencers

Yet another marketing strategy that has been increasing its significance in the recent past is teaming up with social media influencers. Whether you pay them or offer free products or services, it can be a fruitful collaboration for both parties involved in the deal.

That is how social media works, the more people see, mention, and share your product, the bigger the reach. And there is no one better to start that campaign and generate the reach than an influencer with a lot of followers.

Just be cautious not to overdo this type of paid promotion and choose carefully the person for the collaboration. 

People are starting to doubt influencers that accept too many advertisement deals since it creates the appearance of someone who would promote anything for a paycheck, no matter the quality. It is needless to say that could reflect negatively on your business reputation.

Blogs

In the year 2021, blogging may seem a bit outdated as it doesn’t have quite the reach that social media can provide today. With so much information being available online today people seem to gravitate more towards the more visually rich and stimulating methods of presentation in the form of pictures and videos rather than written material.

However, blogging could be a useful tool if it is combined with other platforms. For example, it can be a part of your business website or it can be connected to your social media account, offering some additional details and information for those who are interested to learn more.

With blogging, it is all about quality content and link building according to 52% of digital marketers. Add value to mundane writing by answering questions, posting creative ideas that are related to your product, talking about some of your business secrets and advice, etc. If you are new to the world of blogging you can always consult various online tools for bloggers.

Search engine optimization

local SEO lead generation

For most new entrepreneurs who are starting their business for the first time, search engine optimization can sound like an intimidating term. Once you get past that initial thought you will realize just how useful SEO can be for your business venture.

What exactly is SEO?

It is a method of manipulating and persuading a search engine such as Google (and its algorithms) to recommend your content to the consumers as a perfect solution for their inquiries. 

SEO exists to bring valuable traffic to your website without you additionally paying for the rankings and better rankings potentially mean more sales.

How do you make SEO work to your advantage?

The main thing you need to focus on is well-thought-out keywords. Another term that fits even better is search queries. Because it is not just one word, it is the combination of words that a consumer is most likely to look for.

Something to remember at this point is to carefully choose the keywords not to spam as many as possible. More keywords will not bring you better rankings. In this sense, it is quality over quantity.

Website

Customers often make their decision based on first impressions so make sure to build a website that is aesthetically appealing and easy to navigate. You want the customers to spend a lot of time exploring the website, sharing it with their friends, and coming back for more.

marketing strategy - website

But for creating and maintaining your online presence, chances are, you are going to need to hire remote developers. (unless you have some previous experience yourself).

Customer service

In addition to a visually effective website is good customer service that needs to follow.

Collecting customer feedback is absolutely essential. It will navigate your marketing strategy and redirect it if necessary.

Making sure that your customers feel heard and that they can see the effort for their needs to be met will strengthen their loyalty to your brand. Don’t forget, a satisfied customer is a requiring customer.

Affiliate program

Expanding your company by reaching out to the right partners can be such an instigator of growth for your business. An affiliate program is designed to assist one another in a way that is beneficial for all parties. But finding the perfect partner to team up with is not without a few obstacles.

You can start by shifting your focus to other companies, trying to learn as much as possible, and finding the right fit for your own company. It undoubtedly takes time and persistence so try not to be immediately discouraged. 

You can also gradually adapt and change your marketing strategy to include other businesses by trying some of the best B2B marketing strategies. It changes the dynamic, from the more emotionally-driven one of B2C marketing to the more professionally-based one of B2B.

Email marketing

One thing is sure, generic template emails and automated messages are not going to get the job done anymore. Sure, it is an easier approach but those types of emails are usually left unopened and buried amongst the rest of the mail, never to be read.

Just like messages on social media, not only do they need to match the tone of voice of your brand but it should also be personalized for every customer. So once again, customer feedback and information need to be gathered and analyzed in order to customize the messages.

As your business grows, it will be more and more challenging to keep track of all the emails that have to be sent, replied to, or changed. Luckily, there are numerous email marketing tips and online tools such as HubSpot, Benchmark, Mailchimp, etc to help you organize and optimize your email marketing strategy.

Print media

A lot of young entrepreneurs see print media as a thing of the past, a dying breed of marketing. And yes, the print media has lost its previous influence as a leading method of marketing, but it is still used today. Not just that, but in certain niches where the power of the word is still strong, it thrives.

Again, it all depends on the type of business you are running and the type of customers you are trying to reach.

But in general, most entrepreneurs are choosing online marketing strategies to advertise their companies since it is more efficient and usually more affordable. 

Honestly speaking, print media is best used in conjunction with online-based marketing strategies as it is rarely as effective on its own.

Local events

Another way of shifting the focus from strictly online marketing strategies is to get involved with your local community.

Visit events that are closely related to your business niche and make valuable contacts with other entrepreneurs as well as potential customers.

marketing strategy - live events

A strong bond with your local community can only reflect positively on your company’s image, growth, and at the end of the day, profitability.

Word of mouth recommendation and referral is a marketing tools that should never be underestimated. It implies a certain dose of trustworthiness that no online strategy can match.

Final thoughts

Keep in mind that, in business, there is no magic solution. The same goes for different marketing strategies. All of them demand investment in the form of time, effort, and money.

But, done properly, it will be well worth it. A good marketing strategy will provide your business with an opportunity to expand, evolve, and increase profit.

Being informed about any new marketing trend and implementing them quickly, could be a leg up your business needs in the extremely competitive entrepreneurial world.

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