Optimize Your Business Marketing Strategy With 5 Modern Steps

Marketing has changed significantly over the past 20 years, specifically in advertising.

In the past, if a business wanted to advertise, it would contact various suppliers of advertising media, such as the local newspaper, radio station or TV network. The business would then talk to an advertising sales person, who would walk them through the process of getting their ad out to customers.

Then, good advertising sales people would discuss things like matching the right target market to the business based on time of day, or positioning the advertisement correctly in a newspaper. Even poor advertising sales people would at least try to sell you the largest package (aka more exposure) in their media kit. Either way, these advertising sales people would control the amount of marketing access, which actually was a good thing for the typical business owner.

As well, using any of the three mediums mentioned earlier, an average business would get access to the typical consumer, as most people read the paper, watched some TV, and listened to the local radio station.

Now, things are very different.

The variety of media is huge. The typical consumer … well there really is no typical consumer anymore. If you think you could get access to your target market using solely the media (radio, TV, and newspaper), you are mistaken. The internet has taken over market share from all those.

I think the biggest difference in marketing now, mainly advertising, is the power and control has shifted to the business owner.

You may think this is a good thing; unfortunately, your typical business owner is not a marketing expert. They do not understand targeting and the repetitive nature of advertising.

As well, many marketing myths are not prevalent. Chief among them is the belief, all you need to do is create a pretty website and people will find your business and become your customer. Another myth is social media is simply a matter of creating a Facebook page and making a couple posts a week on it.

Neither of these marketing strategies will yield any results for the typical business. The internet has taken over as the primary advertising media, and you need to use it effectively.

Here are 5 tips to help you market your business effectively:

1. Invest in marketing.
   Think ROI (Return on Investment). Run the numbers. Determine a realistic new sales target you want to gain by your marketing strategies, and then determine a budget that works within those targets. Track monthly.
2. Realize the internet, primarily your website, is not a stand-alone marketing strategy, and it has to have on-going marketing activity.
   That may mean updating content, adding blog posts or videos, or it may be ongoing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) efforts. It may also mean using traditional media to drive traffic to your website or effectively using social media to attract new visitors to your website.
3. Realize you need expert advice.
   Find someone who can understand your business, your objectives, and is willing to work with you to develop lasting on-going strategies. Look at the long term ROI of hiring this type of expertise.
4. Education and training are the key to on-going success.
   Marketing is about activity, and you need someone to actively market your business. You and your staff need to be knowledgeable about how the latest marketing strategies work. Your marketing expert should help with the knowledge transfer.
5. At the end of the day, good marketing can only bring the customer to you.
   You still need to do two key things: provide high quality product or service and build a relationship. Therefore, work with your marketing expert to build a customer relationship plan.