Marketing

It is often said that “Every business needs to be marketed.” The first step to succeeding in business is understanding how you’re going to market and advertise your product or service. You can have the best idea in the world, but if no one knows about it, then it doesn’t matter!
In the most basic sense, marketing is “a way of getting your product or service in front of more people who might want it.” But what does that really entail? This article will introduce the concept of marketing that a new business owner needs to know. Ready? Let’s dig in!

But First, What Are the Advantages of Marketing?
Marketing is not only critical for your business but also beneficial. Here are two main benefits of marketing your business.
Marketing Creates Awareness of Your Brand—Effective marketing strategies will help you inform many people about your business. For example, if you’re opening a new restaurant in town, creating awareness will come from putting up flyers about the grand opening or sending out invitations.
It Boosts Your Sales and Revenues—When you use marketing, your products and services are more visible to potential customers which result in increased sales and revenue.

The 7 Principles of Marketing
Before you get started in marketing, you must understand the 7 basic principles of marketing. These principles include:
Product—This refers to the goods and services your small business offers to your customers. A good marketing practice is to ensure your product solves your target customers’ problems.
Price—Price is the value of the goods or services that you offer. To get the best price for your products, you will need to follow a pricing strategy.
Promotion—Promotion refers to all the activities your small business uses to reach potential customers about your products—for example, social media marketing, billboards, and more.
Place—This refers to the place where your products are made or where your customers can access your products. For example, if your small business deals with braiding your client’s hair, the ‘place’ is the salon.
People—“People” refers to all the human effort that can be found on the entire product journey. They include your employees and your customers. Applying marketing aspects such as excellent customer service and providing a good experience to your customers is key to the success of your small business.
Process—This refers to all the activities involved in creating your products and moving them to your customers.
Physical Evidence/Packaging—Physical evidence refers to the feel and looks of your business to your customers. This can be represented by business cards, logos, signage, and other forms of branding. It informs a potential customer about your business, so make it memorable.

Simple Steps to Create a Good Marketing Strategy
Identify Your Brand—Create a brand that will represent your company’s values and ethos. This will be seen in your logo, colors, and images.
Conduct Market Research—This is necessary to understand who your buyer persona is, what their challenges are, and how best to reach them. Also, conduct a competitor analysis of other businesses in your location and industry to learn how they market.
Create a Website—This is the foundation of your marketing plan as it is where you will send traffic and have people buy and contact you.
Outline the Marketing Objectives—Write down the goals of your marketing efforts. Examples include getting more leads, creating awareness, downloading a free giveaway for their email address, and more. Each of these goals should be developed into a marketing campaign.
Use Marketing Channels —Use the relevant marketing channels that your target customer is likely to see. For example, LinkedIn is a platform to find corporate clients, while Snapchat would be ideal for audiences between 15-25 years.

Other marketing channels to consider include:
Video and Content Marketing
Digital Advertising
Search Engine Optimization
Telemarketing
Direct Marketing
Paid Advertising
Influencer Marketing
In conclusion, marketing is an essential part of any new business’s success. It’s also an investment in the future of your company, so be consistent and experiment with different channels. Analyze the results to figure out the most effective channels that work for your business.
We hope this introduction to marketing has helped you understand what it truly is and set you on the path to create a great marketing strategy that will work towards the success of your businesses!