How do I get started with marketing as a small business?
I feel like I'm drowning in marketing ideas and making little progress on all platforms. Do I go through social media? Do I do cross-promotions? How do I get the word out there for my business?! I would appreciate any tips or advice with this one.
Oh, the overwhelm Yee! Yes, it can be very daunting at first - and it is a very big question. Firstly, and one thing I would love to be tattooed on every small business owners mind in regards to marketing is constant and consistent. One thing I have all my clients do is a really simple marketing calendar that has all their activities mapped out, this keeps the ‘big picture’ in mind and allows for easy tracking of activities Know, there is a marines rule of three which means you are only able to truly focus on three things at one time - keep this in mind to avoid the overwhelm. For example, pick three marketing activities that support your overall strategy So for your social media, pick three platforms and post three times a day or three times a week depending on the platform. Do it, and do it well and CONSISTENTLY.... you will gain momentum. For Joint Ventures - pick three you want to secure and go for it. (I suggest picking some you're not fussed about to practice on too) The rule of three will help with overwhelm. PS.... This is for 'newbies'... eventually you will want to create a complex matrix. The more complex the harder it is for your competition to copy or to penetrate as generally they only see a part of the matrix, not all of it.
Hi Rebecca, that's where I would suggest some automation. If you are talking social media specificaly,, I would suggest something like buffer or hoot suite. This way you can post over multiple platforms at one time, or at least schedule easier. Be mindful that each medium has a slightly different audience so be careful not to post the same content in the same way over all the sites. You will also be able to track much easier, where you are getting most engagement from this way.
Yee, inspired by your question, I started writing an answer but soon realised it was turning into something more. For the detailed response, see my new article: Suffering from marketing overwhelm?
And for the short response, segment your audience, then apply my variation of the Rule of Three.
The whole thing can be quite overwhelming, I agree. There's traditional or offline marketing and now, of course, you also have to think about online and mobile or digital marketing. If you're interested in search engine marketing and social media, it would help if you know even just a little bit about search engine marketing. You might want to check out the brief case studies of two different companies we posted on http://www.sourcefit.com/case-study-seo-sem. One company is a Canadian online travel and leisure business and the other is from the social networking industry.
Rebecca Carroll-Bell at RCB Mediation Services
The Rule of 3s sounds brilliant! When do you know something is not working and its time to bin it and try something new. For example move focus from one social media platform to another?