No advertising! Or how to start promoting your own business?

So, you've established your business, set up the organizational process, settled the legal details, and now you're faced with the question: what are the first steps to take to promote it? We offer you an initial step-by-step guide to help you get started.

Analysis of the audience and competitors

Of course, with the development of information technology, the most popular promotion is now online marketing, especially SMM (social media advertising). But if your business is local (for example, you sell drinks in a park), you may not need the Internet. A few brightly colored signs that attract attention in the most crowded places nearby and successful marketing moves (we'll talk about them later) will be enough. However, if you are, for example, selling goods in an online store, then you cannot do without the Internet.

To understand what exactly you need from advertising and how much of it you need to engage in at the initial stage, you need to analyze two things: the advertising activity of your competitors (where and how often they use advertising, how effective it is) and an analysis of your audience (as much detail as possible: gender, age, occupation, interests, etc.). Advertising for men and women is different, isn't it? What if you include age in this filter? Add a little marital status? :) Who is your client? Who is the one who pays the money and makes the purchase decision?

If you conduct such an analysis, it will be easier for you to understand where to find your audience and how to engage them competently.

Finding your uniqueness

At the same time, it is important not to forget that you must be unique for your audience! If you are engaged in gift design, it should be "with a twist", not like what is done in the store around the corner. If you are an educational institution, then your programs, even if they are based on a classical basis, should be fresh and innovative. It is important to understand what to focus on in your business. It can be a unique product or the best specialists (which is typical for medical services, for example).

This is where competitor analysis comes in handy. Create a table and write down what they do and what you do. Try to abstract yourself and step out of the role of a business owner, look at the situation from above and highlight the strengths of your business.

If you have a shoe store, perhaps you update your assortment more often, or your suppliers will give a head start to Italian manufacturers, or perhaps visitors to your store will be able not only to choose shoes, but also to have a cup of coffee in a relaxed atmosphere (by the way, coffee shops are in demand)? Why not mention it? If you don't talk about it, who will know about it?

Creating a marketing plan

Despite its creative nature, advertising loves order and frequency. Be sure to create a step-by-step marketing plan with the exact number of publications or promotions per month and follow it strictly. Any business has a "wow effect" and a "cumulative effect". The influx of customers to a new unexplored idea can be sharp, and just as sharply fade away. But if you systematically attract the attention of potential buyers, an increase in sales, albeit gradually, is inevitable. Building a positive image of the company is as necessary as attracting an audience. And the emergence of regular and loyal customers (for this purpose, we connect a loyalty system - discounts, gifts) will be a sure indicator that everything is going well.

It's good to think about a marketing plan. But as a rule, this is where it all ends. This is where a calendar (we use Google Calendar for this) or a diary can help you.

The information on the website (if you have one) or in social networks needs to be constantly updated. Live communication with your customers. Don't put pressure on your page visitors with constant advertising. Share with them stories, useful information, interesting thoughts, experiences, photos with short comments, and advice. In general, post what you would read, or, to be more precise, your target audience would read.

Marketing "chips"

Now let's talk about creativity. You have already realized what your personality is. Now it's time to express it vividly! Marketing campaigns for different types of business can be completely different. We wrote about their diversity and implementation in Torgsoft here.

There are social campaigns (according to some reports, 41% of buyers buy a product because it is associated with some environmental or social mission), word of mouth - informal ways of transmitting oral information about a product or service from consumer to consumer, event marketing, focused on sales through events (opening, presentation, exhibition or celebration). Word of mouth marketing can also be used in outdoor advertising.

Here's an example of a great advertisement for a flower shop with a big sign in the window that reads: "How angry is she?" And a few answers: a) a small bouquet; b) a bigger bouquet; c) a huge gorgeous bouquet of flowers.

There are a lot of such ads on the Internet, and watching them may give you a creative idea! Austin Kleon's book "Steal Like an Artist" may be useful for you to use this technique. Learn to observe and choose the best ideas to promote your business, the ones that are already working, adding your own personality to them. And don't forget to use humor - it always attracts people.

The choice of marketing tools is always individual and requires some experimentation - be creative!

Need more information? Read about advertising for business on our website:

How to advertise your store?

To be or not to be, car branding?

Author: Natalia Grabovska