No matter how big or small the business, marketing is essential to its success. And no matter how large its marketing budget, no business wants to waste its time or money on pursuing dead-end leads.
In his article, 7 Ways to Avoid Marketing to the Wrong People, AJ Agrawal tells us that if you are marketing to the wrong people, your business is unlikely to succeed. Of course, figuring out who exactly you should be marketing to can be a difficult task. Especially when you are just getting your business up and running.
Thankfully, Agrawal has some helpful tips to help. His first tip is to avoid casting your marketing net too wide.
It’s tempting to go for the biggest audience, but working in a niche is more effective. Defining your target market will provide a solid foundation, as well as strict parameters that will focus your efforts. Try not to think of it as exclusion, but a way to simplify and streamline campaigns.
He also encourages businesses to – among other things – align content strictly to personas, segment marketing databases, and look at reconverting existing customers.
Agrawal cites ProOpinion, a professional network that promotes success in business, which says that 39 percent of small business owners don’t invest in any type of marketing.
That’s despite the fact that effective marketing is their main profit driver. These businesses need to look at ways to allocate a small budget to marketing, and use that budget with laser-guided precision to achieve high ROI.
At GoLeads, we help businesses of all sizes get the most out of every one of their marketing dollars. We do this by helping these businesses identify their target audience and develop the strategies to get noticed by that audience. We’d love to do the same for you.
Are You Marketing to the Wrong People?
UncategorizedNo matter how big or small the business, marketing is essential to its success. And no matter how large its marketing budget, no business wants to waste its time or money on pursuing dead-end leads.
In his article, 7 Ways to Avoid Marketing to the Wrong People, AJ Agrawal tells us that if you are marketing to the wrong people, your business is unlikely to succeed. Of course, figuring out who exactly you should be marketing to can be a difficult task. Especially when you are just getting your business up and running.
Thankfully, Agrawal has some helpful tips to help. His first tip is to avoid casting your marketing net too wide.
It’s tempting to go for the biggest audience, but working in a niche is more effective. Defining your target market will provide a solid foundation, as well as strict parameters that will focus your efforts. Try not to think of it as exclusion, but a way to simplify and streamline campaigns.
He also encourages businesses to – among other things – align content strictly to personas, segment marketing databases, and look at reconverting existing customers.
Agrawal cites ProOpinion, a professional network that promotes success in business, which says that 39 percent of small business owners don’t invest in any type of marketing.
That’s despite the fact that effective marketing is their main profit driver. These businesses need to look at ways to allocate a small budget to marketing, and use that budget with laser-guided precision to achieve high ROI.
At GoLeads, we help businesses of all sizes get the most out of every one of their marketing dollars. We do this by helping these businesses identify their target audience and develop the strategies to get noticed by that audience. We’d love to do the same for you.
Social Media vs. Website: What’s a Small Business to Do?
Social MediaSmall businesses with tight budgets are understandably cautious about where they invest their limited marketing dollars. This leaves many business owners wondering if they are better off skipping the costs of investing in a website and instead concentrating only on social media.
What many business owners do not realize is that a website can be as simple or as sophisticated as their budget dictates. And even if you start with a very basic design, you can build on that design as needed or when more marketing dollars become available.
Many people believe that they can make up for not having a website by increasing their social media presence. While the best case scenario would be to have a website and a social media presence, if you must make a decision between the two, a website is in almost all cases the best way to go.
Social media is appealing to businesses with very little money to spend on marketing because social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are simple to set up and are free. Further, they allow businesses to engage with their customers without worrying about the overhead of a website.
The problem with diving into social media with no website to link it to is that you are at the mercy of the social media provider’s terms and conditions. You also have few options when it comes to layout. Further, the fact that social media sites encourage back and forth means that you may have people posting things on your social media accounts that you do not want posted.
While developing a website costs more to create and maintain than social media, it is well worth the effort. Here are some other advantages of a website for your business:
It is always difficult to decide where your marketing dollars would be best spent. Creating and maintaining a website is one decision that is almost always in the best interest of your business.
Quality Content is More Important than Ever
Content MarketingProducing quality content is becoming more and more important for companies looking to market their products and services, generate sales leads, and get noticed by the search engines. Unfortunately, producing such content is proving increasingly difficult as the marketplace becomes more crowded and the competition gets tougher.
So how can you make sure that your content stands out from the crowd? What follows are some helpful tips and small changes you can make to ensure that your content doesn’t get overlooked.
Many businesses believe that getting their content noticed involves making huge, sweeping changes to their posts. The fact is, sometimes just a small amount of tweaking can make a big difference. After all, when it comes to content, the way you are saying things can be just as important as what you are saying.
The Many Benefits of Quality Content
Content MarketingChanges in the world of search engine optimization (SEO) mean that quality content is more important than ever. While keywords were once the major factor in getting high search engine rankings, today it is engaging, shareable content that is the name of the game.
If you have spent a great deal of time and resources creating content that contained as many keywords as possible, these changes may seem daunting. In truth, the shift to writing quality content is good news for businesses. Why? Because now you can focus on giving your customers what they really need instead of just trying to get noticed through the use of keywords.
So what is considered good content? It is content that communicates with customers and prospects. It brings people the information and advice that they need to succeed in their industry. It solves problems.
It connects, educates and inspires.
One thing good content is not is a sales pitch or an effort to get sales leads. Instead, it is valuable information that people and businesses need. When you consistently provide your target audience high-quality content you will come to be recognized as a thought leader – and ultimately someone who they will want to do business with. In other words, you will increase sales without selling.
Another benefit of great content is that it will encourage people to share your content and engage with you. And when this happens, your audience will grow even more.
Remember, good content:
Solves a problem.
Engages.
Provides value.
Is consistent.
Finally, no matter how important the topic, no one is going to read your content if it puts them to sleep. A great story must keep a reader’s attention. And while it is admittedly tough to make certain products and services sound like great literature, you should try your best to make your content as interesting as possible.
How to Get Your Company Some Free Press
Content MarketingAdvertising your product or service in a newspaper or on TV can cost a lot of money. In some cases, one television ad can eat up an entire year’s marketing budget, or more. If you are like many small businesses, this type of advertising is just not feasible.
One way to get some media attention for your company – without the huge price tag – is to become the focus of a feature story. The key, according to Mark Nowlan in his article How to Attract Attention with a Feature Article, is to emphasize information over outright promotion. By doing so, it is more likely that a reporter or editor will use your story just as you pitch it.
A feature is an in-depth look at a topic, product or industry–it’s a complex story designed to be read at a leisurely pace. And a feature can benefit your company by linking your brand or product to a larger trend or industry focus while also showcasing you, the entrepreneur, as a thought-leader in your field.
What many people fail to realize about the news industry is that journalists are always on the lookout for feature stories that they can have on hand to be printed or broadcast when there is a shortage of breaking news or on what are commonly referred to as slow news days.
In his article, Nowlan gives you a step-by-step guide to pitching your idea for a feature article to reporters. While such free publicity may seem too good to be true, you might be pleasantly surprised at the interest a quality feature story can generate from the news media. But be patient, sometimes it can take weeks or months before you are contacted regarding your story. If your story is used, however, it will no doubt be worth the wait.