When people ask me for advice about marketing a new business, I typically give some variation on the following generic marketing plan that I’ve evolved over the last few years. Every business is different, so some aspects of it might need to be tweeked a bit for your needs, but this is what I’ve found to be a pretty good start and it costs almost nothing.
Part 1 – Accounts Setup
Are you on Facebook? Get on there and find everyone you’ve ever met. Also start a fan page for your business.
Are you on LinkedIn? Get on LinkedIn and connect with everyone you know from business.
Do you network? Join 1-2 networking groups and start meeting other business people. here in Indiana we have Rainmakers and BNI (as well as a few others), so find out what’s you’ve got in your area and get out there and start meeting some other business owners.
Do you Twitter? If you live in a city of 200k or more people, chances are a lot of them are on Twitter. If you’re in a smaller town you might need to do some research to make sure it makes sense.
Start an email list. Go to MailChimp.com, get a free account and start collecting email addresses from people you meet. Ask them if it’s okay for you to send them emails from time to time.
Get a basic website. Find someone who knows how to build wordpress websites for cheap. Make sure it’s set up so you can post blog articles. Also be sure to get a good domain name.
Part 2 – Your Strategy
The idea of this marketing plan is to get your marketing message in front of as many people as possible. If you’re brand new, then there’s a good chance that not many people know about you and what you do. I recommend a combination of business networking, social media networking, and email marketing.
If you’re brand new, then you really can’t attend enough business networking events. You need to meet other business people, rub elbows, tell your story, hand out your business card, and collect cards from the people you meet.
You’re going to want to start connecting with these people on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Make sure you ask people when you meet them, “Is it okay if I connect with you on Facebook?”
You’re also going to want to start collecting email addresses for your eMail marketing. Make sure you ask them, “Is it okay if I add you to my email list?”
The idea is to keep advertising your marketing message and create relationships with these people so that you become branded as the go-to person in your field. It won’t happen over night, but I guarantee that if you are consistently working this system you WILL get business.
Part 3 – Your Day-to-day Tactics
Business Networking – Go to 1-2 networking events per week. Try to meet as many people as possible at each event. You’re going to want to go for quantity not quality. If someone seems like a great strategic fit, or if they seem to need your services you can always get together with them outside the event. You need to tell as many people as possible what you do and get their permission to be friends online and add them to your email list.
Online Social Networking – After you meet new people, connect with them online and send them a short message saying “nice to meet you, looking forward to chatting again in the future.” Use the L-TECS system every day. Listen, Talk, Engage, Create, and Share. Listen by reading what your contacts have posted. Talk by posting small snippets about what you do (and what you’re doing) and asking questions. Engage by commenting on other people’s stuff. Create blog articles, pictures, videos, or audio recordings. Share interesting links and ReTweet or ‘Like’ peoples stuff on Twitter and Facebook.
Email Marketing – Send out an email alert every few weeks that tells the story of what you’ve been up to. Share the blog articles you’ve written. Stuff you’ve posted on your website, and invite people to the networking events you will be attending. Be sure to add new people to your email list as you meet them, but again be sure to ask for permission.
Part 4 – Kick Ass
You’re a new business and you’re building your brand, so it is imperative that you do your absolute best, fastest, and most impressive work all the time. You don’t have the luxury that established players in your market do. You need to be on top of things to let people know that yours is a business worth referring.
Sound like a lot? That’s what you sign up for when you start a small business.
Colin-
All of the tactics that you have outlined will work extremely well IF the company has already done Phase 1 of strategy development which includes a clear definition of a specific targeted audience. This definition allows you to construct meaningful messages instead of random content that truly engages the people most likely to buy.
You are correct as always, Lorraine. I would say that BEFORE starting a business the entrepreneur should answer 2 questions.
1. What will we do?
2. Who will we do it for?
The answers will serve most of the early ‘marketing message’ needs. It seems that it is easier to drill down a target audience over time.
When I first started I thought I would be serving mostly Business to Business professional services companies. Now I mostly service clients who do high-end business to consumer. When I first started I just didn’t know that that would be a good niche, but now it seems obvious. I think in the extreme startup phase it is easy to pick a vertical, but harder to pick the RIGHT vertical.