Learning how to grow your business is one of the most crucial components of maintaining your success and ensuring your financial security. In this article, we look at Effective Marketing on Budget – 10 Steps For Growing A Business
What exactly must you do to take your business one step further? How do you turn a comfortable source of income into a lucrative venture?
Below are some growth strategies that have been tried and tested by other thriving businesses.
With some research of your own and careful investment, the strategies can provide success for you too.
Table of Contents
Step 1. Have a plan
Starting your own business requires a plan. We cannot underestimate the importance of this. Before diving into work, create a plan!
The right way to devise a plan for your business is to try and envision your future. Think about five years ahead. Where do you see yourself?
If you picture yourself as a successful business owner, what is it that has created your success? Create goals and design a plan that is going to lead you to that success.
Picture the type of clients you would like your business to attract and tailor your marketing to suit them.
Step 2. Create a great logo and tagline
Most budding entrepreneurs overlook a logo when taking the first steps to develop their business. However, an excellent logo and a memorable tagline can work wonders for promoting and growing a business.
Creating a simple and clear logo is one of the best strategies for marketing. Decide on the one you like and use it to promote your business!
Use it on business cards, flyers, websites, and watch your business grow. The sooner you have your logo and tagline, the sooner your business can be identified by it!
Recognition is often key to growing your business.
Your logo should be easily replicated on print. It should as well be able to be resized in various formats for usage on different platforms, I.e., on email signatures or your website.
Your tagline should be a short, snappy way of communicating the quality of your services and what exactly a client should expect from using your business.
Step 3. Familiarize yourself with social media
We are all aware of the power that social media can have in this day and age. You can use it as a great promotional tool with some thought and planning.
As a business owner, you should aim to promote yourself and your services. Do it!
Keep your tone warm and positive on social media. Don’t be afraid to educate people on the benefits of your business. However, be mindful not to over-do this.
Social media provides a platform to engage with your clients on a more personable level. It’s also an excellent opportunity to connect with other freelancers, business owners, and exchange ideas.
Try to make use of many social media platforms as you can – the three main ones being Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
There are lengthy discussions that people need to hear about the power of social media in terms of self-promotion and marketing. The key points below will lend you some inspiration and help you along your way to success:
- Social media connects you with your clients – You can get to know them and learn of their likes and dislikes.
- Always fill your profile out completely to provide as much information to clients as they may require, but keep your bio brief and to the point.
- Offering sign-up opportunities provides another form of communication between you and your audience.
As stated above, social media allows you to understand what your clients like and dislike. By interacting with them on this platform, you can begin to take note of:
- Their hobbies
- The websites they commonly use
- The products they are currently investing in
- The kind of people they interact with – these could also be potential clients
The knowledge and understanding of your customer base are vital in terms of growing your business and tailoring your products and services to meet the customers’ needs.
Step 4. Participate in Trade shows
A lot of business owners will have been in the position of trying in vain to follow up on a sales lead, only to be consistently met with a mailbox message.
It’s frustrating when you try to promote yourself and generate interest around your business, but nobody seems to be picking up on it. Every business owner’s efforts fall on deaf ears at some point in their career.
Trade shows are ideal platforms for a business to promote its services through booklets and flyers, expand their customer base, and connect with business partners, new and old.
There are a lot of potential customers to be found at trade shows. Their reaction to your products and services may vary depending on their personal preferences, but it’s inspiring to know that they are at the show out of genuine interest.
You need to capitalize on this interest and create yourself a customer!
Step 5. Extend your market reach
The most successful businesses in the world have established their place in the market with thorough, smart research and extensive development in studying client needs and growth.
Coca-Cola, for example, is universally recognizable and one of the most popular soft drinks in the world. It originated as a product sold exclusively to pharmacies.
With a well-developed market reach strategy, the product continued to sell, and the business went from strength to strength.
Learning how to expand your customer base is crucial. Your aim should be to attract new customers consistently.
You can do this by promoting your business in a new location. It can either be physically, the opening of a store in a new city, or on a website with an online store.
The goal is to reach out to different demographics and tailor your marketing to suit each kind of customer.
Step 6. Video builds trust
Everybody craves for trust. Once you earn it, form a relationship. This applies to business relationships.
Once a customer trusts your business and your services, they will continue to use them and may even promote them due to that trust.
Video content is great for building trust on the internet. We live in an age where, for all the good that the internet has to offer, we are also aware of scams that can take place when dealing with any online trading.
It’s faceless and anonymous, so there’s not much to trust. However, video content can help you put a face to your business and a voice to your words. It’s a lot more personable and engaging with your audience.
Look at YouTube Vloggers, for example. They are some of the most influential people on the internet, and it’s because their videos provide a face, a friend, and an individual in whom you can place your trust.
Step 7.Build a sales funnel
You need a Sales Funnel to grow your business. It can involve a bit of work to get started, but once you have the appropriate processes in place to support the sales funnel, it’s a piece of cake!
There are numerous funnels you could employ, and you need to choose the appropriate one for your business. Your website’s homepage will be the first impression of your business for many potential clients.
Try to make your homepage appealing and encourage visitors to become subscribers. Subscription is key to communication.
Once you have obtained their contact details, you are in a position to engage with them and keep them updated on your products.
Step 8. Create a customer loyalty program
Rewarding your customers for their loyalty is an excellent tactic for maximizing your profits. Having a loyalty program in place ensures that your existing customers will return and keep your sales ticking over.
Research has shown that it can cost around three times as much to acquire a new customer than it can cost to maintain an existing one. If you provide an existing customer with a reason to keep investing in your products, it’ll pay dividends in the long-term.
Step 9. Diversify your products or services
Once you have established your main products and your highest selling items, develop other related products. This helps to maximize your profit and capitalize on what you already know about your customers’ preferences.
For example, think about a photographer who has spent a year primarily establishing himself in his field. He has managed to develop a strong base of clients. He could eventually branch out into selling photo frames or providing different framing and printing services.
If you don’t feel comfortable with expanding your product range, you can opt to develop a partnership with another business owner who specializes in your field.
The aim of diversifying your products is to expand your market reach and grow your customer base.
Step 10. Form strategic partnerships
Just as connecting and engaging with your customers is essential, so is developing relationships with other entrepreneurs. This could be in the form of partnership, sponsorship, or a short-term coalition.
It is a vital component for maintaining and eventually growing your business. The environment is very competitive. It is wise to have fellow entrepreneurs on board.
Always be on the lookout for potential partnerships with other companies. Remember to make the most of your social media platforms and reach out with business propositions, then watch your own business grow!
We hope you have found this article about Effective Marketing on Budget – 10 Steps For Growing A Business valuable and feel free to leave your comments below.
Author Bio
This article was contributed by Michel Foster of Mixam a company who offers high-quality online printing services for businesses and creative enthusiasts