When it comes to running a business, no matter how big or small, marketing and advertising is oftentimes the biggest challenge. Promoting the business you’ve worked so diligently to create may seem like a daunting task, but the worst mistake a small- and medium-sized business owner can make is to be nervous and tentative when it comes to the marketing process.
Marketing is about promoting your business and building recognition and confidence in your overall brand. So it’s better to be aggressive rather than shy. Don’t just dip your toe into marketing, do a cannonball off the high dive and enjoy the reach and effects of your splash landing.
A lot of small business owners start their marketing endeavors with a blog. This is because they’ve been told by various sources that blogging is a great and inexpensive marketing ploy. However, in order to maintain a successful blog, you need to post new and interesting content regularly. When blogging is your only means of marketing and you don’t have writing experience or a great deal to say, a blog goes from being a great idea to a burden that takes up a lot of time with disappointing results.
Instead of frustrating yourself with marketing efforts, get to know some of the ways you can generate more leads for your business. Because with a little guidance, you can learn to market like an expert.
Getting Started: Figuring Out Your First Leads — A Step In The Right Direction
Getting started with lead generation boils down to getting potential clients to know that your business is there to serve their needs. The first hurdle to overcome is getting your business discovered by customers, which you can tackle by generating search engine results through SEO marketing, or AdWords marketing (i.e. by using keywords on your webpage or blog to draw searches to your page over that of others).
The Second Phase: Generating Even More Leads and Interest
The next step is to build up your leads and increase the number of potential clients with each endeavor. For this phase, you might want to move from SEO and keyword-based marketing to a social media marketing campaign.
Depending on the nature of your business, you may choose Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media platforms as your first foray. But remember, the more platforms you use, the more leads you will generate from wider demographics. Join and engage in relevant groups and pages in the area of business you participate in to establish a reputation as a local industry leader.
On top of expanding your social media presence and reach, you might also consider creating other media, such as podcasts or ask-me-anything live video segments. Utilize all the communication channels afforded to you when spreading this media, including SEO keyword marketing and the social media platforms that are generating your leads and prospects.
The Third Phase: Trying a Little Bit of Everything
Successful marketing and lead generation depend on three things: maintaining a great and reputable business, creating high-quality marketing content, and diversifying your efforts. Once you have succeeded in getting your business discovered and are generating leads from blogging, podcasts, and social media marketing, you need to experiment with new marketing avenues.
You may want to expand your efforts into email and newsletter campaigns to generate leads or to keep current leads interested and engaged. Another option is to create an app for mobile devices that is specifically developed for your business. Creating marketing and ad content to be displayed on other apps is also an option, as is further expanding your social media reach by engaging in new and up-and-coming platforms.
With this lead generation process in mind, you will be able to better market your small business and create excellent and relevant content that can help your business grow and bring in more clients.
