If you have the passion to start a new business, there’s no better time than right now to get going. Starting a new business is one thing; bringing in sales is quite another. You need to develop a good marketing strategy to be successful in your new endeavor. Freelancer Mum shares the goods.
Market Online and in Person
Businesses today employ both digital and in-person marketing strategies. The digital strategy typically begins with developing a website, then creating email and social media marketing campaigns.
Online website builders like Wix and Shopify make it easy to build a simple website. They also show you how to create marketing campaigns, including email marketing, Facebook Ads, and Google Ads Smart campaigns.
In-person events are also important. Your local chamber of commerce holds charity fundraisers, workshops, and business card exchanges. Trade shows are another way to market your products and services.
Network, Network, Network
Building a solid professional network is essential to a successful career. Past colleagues, bosses, alumni from your college, and friends can all be essential members of your network.
Attending trade shows and industry conferences puts you in touch with experts in your field and fellow entrepreneurs.
Don’t discount online networking. Send friend requests and chat with other entrepreneurs on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and StartupNation.
Go Back to School
If you’re like many seniors, you enjoy learning new things. So why not go “all in” and earn an MBA? You’ll benefit from the knowledge and experience you gain in accounting, finance, marketing, and strategic planning. Many schools now offer MBAs online, which is much less disruptive to your schedule.
Offer Coupons and Discounts
Encourage your customers to keep coming back by offering coupons and discounts for new products or services. In the long run, they’ll spend more money. In addition, if a customer saves money on one product during a special sale, they’ll be more likely to spend a little more on another purchase.
Conduct Customer Surveys
How do you know which of your marketing strategies are most effective? When should you change your marketing strategies? If you wait until your revenues begin to decline, it may be too late.
The key is to employ multiple marketing strategies and then run periodic customer surveys to understand the most effective approach. For example, surveys can ask customers how they learned about your company or its products and services. In addition, surveys give you feedback on which marketing channels are most effective and which are clunkers.
Document Management Is Essential
Since working files are saved in multiple formats, from Word documents to JPGs, your marketing team should employ a PDF merging tool that can convert these files into single PDFs that are simple to send, share, and review. One highly-rated PDF merger tool comes from the same company that invented the PDF: Adobe Acrobat. Individual PDF files can also be reordered, added, or deleted before merging into a single PDF.
Enjoy Yourself
You probably don’t have to start a new business at this time in your life; it’s something you genuinely want to do. So keep that in perspective as you begin your new adventure.