It’s easy enough to start a new business, but the real challenge lies in surviving fierce competition and stimulating growth over the years. One of the main reasons that most businesses face a very difficult time is the lack of a proper marketing plan and minimal focus on branding. After all, only when you can properly market your products to your target segment will you have the opportunity to generate income to move your business forward.
While business success is highly dependent on the concerted effort of several important functions, during the first few years it is more important to focus on the brand. Your branding effort must be strong enough to not only present your business name to your target segments, but also to create an impact on them. For a new business, the marketing and branding strategy should ideally be able to establish its presence, create name recognition, build credibility among the target market segment, and contribute to its status and reputation. Here are seven tips that would really help you achieve success with your new business.
- Write your business plan – This should be the first step. Probably the biggest and most common mistake most entrepreneurs make is not creating proper documentation of their business plan. We all know what we plan to do; however, it is important to write it down in a formal business plan. It is always easier to follow a written plan. Your business plan should contain the description of your business. Objectives, marketing strategy and budget, business overview, facilities and infrastructure, product and service description, industry overview, regulatory issues, implementation plan, and financial plan.
- Focus on your brand – Do your best to promote your brand. Get a professionally designed logo that justifiably represents your business to the people. Have your business cards, letterheads, brochures and collateral designed and printed by a professional printer and designer. Make sure your logo design is placed correctly on all of these. Don’t be fooled by those cheap DIY branding solutions and logos, they might save you some $$ to start with, but they would actually hurt your brand image.
- Create a web presence – It is very important for all companies, regardless of their size, to have their own website. Most consumers do their initial research on the web before making a purchasing decision. It is important that they can find it at that stage. Additionally, a website adds value to your brand and gives you an additional means of communicating with your customers. Get your website designed and developed by professional web developers. Ideally, your website should be an extension of your brand and provide complementary information to that of your brochures and printed materials. Try to update your website frequently with useful information, this gives your visitors a reason to visit your website regularly.
- Create an advertising strategy – Most business organizations invest in advertising, but often a business does not get the maximum return on the investment in advertising because the advertising strategy is not effective or sometimes there is not even a fixed strategy. Make sure your ad is specifically targeted at your market; For example, if you have a local store, it doesn’t make sense for you to advertise on a global medium, but the local newspaper is a much better option for you. Be consistent in your advertising effort. The more your customers see your business ad, the more impact it will have on them. It has been observed that a 5 minute ad movie served 10 times creates a greater impact on the consumer than a 50 minute ad movie. For the composition of your ad, it is always advisable to consult a public relations agency. If you’re trying it yourself, make sure your ad leaves your customers with good reason to contact you and that your brand and USP are presented correctly.
- Advertising is the key – Yes, do your best to put your business at the forefront. There are several things you can do for advertising purposes. Submit a press release announcing the grand opening of your new business, with a brief description of your products and services. Keep your press release short, error-free, and interesting. Write letters to local newspaper and magazine editors about your industry and product. Send out more press releases to communicate other business events. For example, if you win an entrepreneurial award, get membership in a professional organization, offer services to any charity, or even if you are hiring a recognized industry for a key position in your business. Try writing articles and reviews for local publications and industry magazines. This would help build your credibility as an expert and would also add value to your company’s brand. The amount of trust people place in these experts is far greater than what you can get by buying the best ad space in major magazines.
- Business networks – Word of mouth is undoubtedly the best form of advertising and the more you expand your commercial network, the more publicity you can have. Try joining professional organizations in your industry; be a member of the Chamber of Commerce; attend networking meetings and special events that give you the opportunity to interact with more people. Volunteer to join an NGO, partner with a charity or a school board. Not only will you pay your community, but you will also put yourself and your business in front of the public.
- Measure, analyze and decide – Actually, they should be continuous processes in the life cycle of your business. You have submitted a business plan, but this does not mean that you will blindly follow it. Measure the result you get from all the efforts you put into your business. See if it’s more or less than you projected. Analyze the reasons for any variation, whether positive or negative, and then use the results of this analysis to make informed decisions for the future. You should keep in mind that you should not be too quick to judge anything. To get a decent understanding of your business processes, you need to give them plenty of time to run, which will allow you to have enough data to perform a fruitful analysis.
