When I go to meet with people to market my services and business, many of them tend to think I have been in business for much longer than I have been when I tell them how old the business is. They are like, “but you are everywhereâ€, and I see your name and business all over the place. When they say this, I smile in inside. Some of them that are closer than others, I tell them, “it is my marketingâ€. Many people know about Elevato and they know about me, because of the marketing I have been doing.
Many are surprised that the business started just nine months ago. So today, I will like to share some of the marketing activities I have used to ensure my business has share of mind with my customers and potential customers. But, please note that you should evaluate your business and its peculiarity and pick and choose out of the options below in terms of relevance to your business.
Strategies to adopt:
Social Media
I wrote an article some months ago, titled, “Embrace Social Media, Or Dieâ€, this statement becomes more pertinent every day. Many people scoff at the idea of social media. Some disdain the medium and I shake my head, because they are living in the past. Firstly, it is the cheapest means for getting your message across to your potential customers and the future.
Secondly, it is not going away. Thirdly, other forms of connecting with your market or potential customers will continue to diminish with the passage of time. Fourthly, everybody is on it and you cannot afford to be missing in action.
Start to post about your products and your services. Post anything that your audience will find relevant and be able to connect to you. Learn about your audience and your industry and communicate to them in the lingo that will connect but ensure that you uphold the values of your brand as you do this.
Video Tutorials
I started this process and have not been consistent, but it has been a lapse on my part, as it is a very powerful marketing tool to communicate with your audience. Creating video tutorials is one of the most effective ways to get word out on your services or products.
According to R.L. Adams, “YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world behind Google. Whenever someone wants to learn something visually, they head there. You’ve likely done it yourself countless times. So just ask yourself what you could teach in your business that would help consumers solve some pain point? What got you into business in the first place?â€
Blogging
If you have not started blogging about your business, start now! You would be surprised that you can actually write. Again, I started blogging, when I conceived my business and wanted to share my knowledge and thoughts with my audience and customers and found out that I could actually string words together in an interesting way. So, in addition to sharing my knowledge and expertise with my audience, I got the pleasure of discovering that I actually enjoyed writing and could try to be good at it.
One way of doing this is to either use your own platform or use other people’s platforms, e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, Quora, etc. These platforms have massive audiences, that you get immediate reach to your current and potential customers.
However, ensure that you blog effectively. Provide relevant and valuable content otherwise you also end up hurting yourself and brand if your content is thin.
Influencers
In order to get the word out to a wider audience larger than yours to boost your visibility on social media when you have not built up the critical mass on your own platforms, you can leverage influencers. Ensure you use the best fit influencer for your business. If you are in the consulting or accounting business world, the kind of influencer you will need, will be different from an influencer of an entertainer, because the audience that each influencer has relates to the interest they push.
Find the right influencer for your niche to ensure you are targeting the right audience to get the best results for the objective you want to achieve.
LinkedIn
This I am yet to try, but is on my marketing to do list. This is to use video and more visuals in my LinkedIn profile. I was talking to a very senior business executive today, who told me he saw the update to my profile on LinkedIn last week. He was pleased to tell me, “I go there but say nothing, I just look. In fact, my profile is about 20 years oldâ€. In my mind, I was like “how smart can you beâ€.
Please update your profile regularly. My first job as Elevato was from my LinkedIn profile. I have had headhunters reaching out to me all the time because of my LinkedIn profile. Upload your video. We are advised to use video to introduce ourselves and our business. Those who have used it, say it makes your profile a lot more personal. We are told that when it is done right, it can be produce powerful and effective results.
If you have lots of connections on LinkedIn and you’re not really posting on there, start immediately. I post an article on LinkedIn, every week. You can reach a large audience, especially when your posts go viral. This is a great place to convey your entrepreneurial journey. Talk about your challenges and tell stories. The more effective your stories, the larger your potential reach when you go viral.
You can also reach out to other businesses and collaborate with like-minded entrepreneurs on LinkedIn. It’s a great go-to resource for all things business and too many people overlook this.
As you can see, marketing your business does not have to be so expensive. All it takes is some of your time and creativity, which we can all do. Get committed, take control and start marketing your business.
