If you’re thinking of, or have launched, your own business, you’ll know there is a lot to getting it off the ground. Launching your own business takes a lot of permits, pennies, and paperwork. But once it’s done you can relax, right?
Nope. Once your business is off the ground, it’s time to get your customers. And that can take just as much effort. The good news there is that it can be delegated out, or entirely a DIY project, depending on your resources.
Another bit of good news is that marketing, especially online, has changed drastically over the past couple of years. The lockdowns changed a lot of things, and even marketing was affected. By getting out in front of the new evolutionary changes to the internet, you can use these changes to their full effect now, before they become old hat and have to change again.
So, if you’re ready to market your new business, get started today by following our guide to get all eyes on you.
Host an industry event
Industry events can be very beneficial to a business. If you take a little time out of your day-to-day operations, you can network with industry peers, gain insights from speeches, and gain new skills from workshops.
So, imagine how beneficial it would be to host your own industry event. Not only could you take part in all of this, but with you giving the speeches, and your name on everything at the event, it’s sure to be the case that no one forgets your name.
If you’re looking for an established event organizer in the UK to help you set up your industry event, look to RX Global for expert advice and support to help promote your business to a wider community anywhere in the UK.
Stand for something
User habits are changing, thanks in large part to us all being stuck inside for months on end. One major change is that users are researching brands before they buy from them. Users have absorbed the point of “vote with your wallet” and will look up a brand to see if their priorities align with theirs.
This doesn’t have to be controversial if you don’t want it to be. There are certain things that everyone can get on board with, like making cruelty-free makeup and sustainable items. Small businesses and minority-run businesses is also something that a majority of people can get behind. But if you really don’t want to ruffle any feathers, your products can stand up for themselves. Dollar Shave Club stands for affordable and superior shaving items. Better Help stands for affordable therapy that can be done over the phone, etc.
Once you’ve figured out what you stand for, make sure everyone knows about your marketing.
Work with the communities
Users are finding their own people on social media nowadays. Sometimes this is done organically, through the algorithms of TikTok and YouTube showing users more of what they are engaging with, and sometimes they have to physically search for their fellow men through Reddit forums and Facebook groups.
But as with every group of people, there are obvious leaders. Online, this is likely to be the users that are engaging most and have the most followers. These users can be called micro-influencers: influencers with a decent following but a niche interest. They are often not an influencer simply selling themselves, but usually just engaging with a community or genre, such as book lovers, LGBT users, small businesses, etc.
These micro-influencers can solve a growing problem across social media. Users don’t trust influencers anymore. A lot have exposed themselves for being only in it for the money and willing to shill anything, whereas micro-influencers have the trust of their community because they are into the same things that the community are and they are more humble than the perceived image of the big Instagram influencer, who is usually flaunting a lavish lifestyle.
You might also gain a customer for life by working with micro-influencers. If they promote an item that will positively affect the whole community, you will have a niche and dedicated group of people believing that your item works for them and repeatedly buying it in the future.
Create quality content
As mentioned, user habits are changing on social media, and one of them, the most alarming to businesses, is that users are becoming more aware of adverts. They can spot them at a glance and swiftly swipe past without paying any attention.
The attempts by platforms to make advertising ethical boil down to making users well aware that they are looking at an advert, so marketers have to change tactics. It is no longer the point to trick customers into looking at your product, but to make your advertisement as entertaining as possible so it is worth the users’ time to look at your product. It’s the difference between your bog-standard cleaning item showcasing a housewife cleaning her kitchen, versus the famed M&M or Old Spice campaigns.
And it isn’t as difficult as you’d think. There are a lot of ways you can engage your audience. Cleaning items, for example, can tap into the cleaning genre of TikTok, or the Oddly Satisfying genre of YouTube by simply demonstrating the products. You get to show how good they are and scratch an itch in your viewers’ brain.
There are also ideas like behind the scenes looks, how the items are made, how they’re used, skits with your team members and much more.
Understand the data
The problem is a lot of this would be greatly advanced by the use of some data. All these methods fire back data from your viewers. They can give a wealth of information on who is buying your items, what they’re into and where they are coming from, but you need to be able to understand it and then to use it to your advantage.
The good thing here is that there is no big secret. There are a number of guides found online that will outline concepts like SEO, keyword research, affiliate marketing, etc. And if you feel you need someone to explain it to you, you can take a course on a subscription website like Skillshare or LinkedIn Learning for a deep dive.
