Erica Silva, Negosentro | If you have recently ventured into the corporate world, chances are you have a limited budget but great aspirations for your business. For your business to grow and your products to be noticed, you need to invest in an astute marketing campaign and generate leads that can be monetized to gain revenues.
Consequently, a prominent portion of a business’s budget is used for marketing and paid advertisements. For larger enterprises, the marketing budget is usually recommended to be around 6 to 12% of their gross or project revenue, while for startups, it should be around 12 to 20% of the projected revenues which can be determined by conducting sales forecasting.
However, the good news is that the current era provides you with ample opportunities to market your product while remaining within your budget. To begin with, prioritize your marketing channels in accordance with the essence of your product. For example, if your potential consumer base consists of the older generation, social media marketing may not be the best way to go about it. On the other hand, if you’re target market is millennials, social media is a must-have. Since most businesses today target millennial purchasers, here’s what you can do;
Establish a prominent presence on social media
Social media marketing strategies are an ideal route to take when initiating your marketing campaign. You can set up your accounts on numerous social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+. But before you do so, perform thorough research about what works, especially in your relative field.
Stay active with regular posts and answer your customers’ questions promptly. If you are short on time and cannot produce new content, share previous posts, especially the ones with the greatest engagements. Interact with the influencers and other accounts of your field to gain access into their pool of followers thus increasing your visibility. You can also include quotes or facts from the influencers in your post which may compel them to share your post on their accounts.
Focus on a single social platform
Don’t be the “Jack of all trades, and master of none”. Begin by creating an account on one or two social media channels; Facebook and Instagram enjoy the greatest user traction and are the preferred social marketing platforms. Streamline your preferred social channel and concentrate all your efforts and resources to generate maximum number of leads from it. Branch out only when you have the time and resources but not before that. There is nothing more unprofessional and detrimental to your brand’s image then an abandoned account on social media.
Invest in social media post boost
You cannot rely on organic reach due to the multitude of posting on any social media newsfeed every day. You have to pay for your post to reach maximum number of users and be more visible.
Facebook provides reasonable and effective post boosting options and advertising opportunities. Ideally, you should only promote content that offers something valuable to the customers, as compared to relentless self-advertisement, as this subtle form of marketing attracts more potential customers. Create a referrals and customer loyalty-program
Word of mouth or referrals from loyal customers can really help your business rope in more customers. If you have been fulfilling your end of the bargain and selling authentic products or services, then your social media followers and your current customers must have recommended you to their friends and family.
However, you should also establish a customer-reward program where you can offer special discounts or a free giveaway to your email subscribers. These subscribers in return will promote your business helping you secure more leads. After all, who doesn’t want to be part of an exclusive group that is being offered great deals?
You can also request your customers to leave behind a review because according to statistics, 88% customers consider an online review to be equivalent of a personal recommendation. Hence, the review section of your business page can also serve as a crucial marketing tool.
Use content marketing
Content marketing is another form of marketing that does not require significant investment yet still yields results. Ideally, you should post regular content on your web page that can be anything including a well-constructed blog posts, engaging videos, and interesting infographics. Your posts should provide useful information to the viewers to help them relate to your product or service.
Content marketing can substantially increase traffic to your website, especially if you use relevant SEO keywords. The content can also be posted on social media to keep that channel of digital media appropriately active as well. If you are short of time, you can also employ blog management services from third parties who are experts in producing content that can provide leverage to your business.
Employ email marketing
Before you can employ email marketing, you need to provide incentives to your potential customers and social media followers in exchange for their contact information. You can offer a discount on their first purchase or a free trial period on your service. Organically generated emails list has a greater chance of lead conversion since the prospects share their personal information willingly.
As a matter of fact, email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing techniques as it is believed to yield a 400% or more return of investment (ROI). However, it is also a tricky business; your outgoing emails should be consistent yet non-invasive as too many emails quickly turn into spam which provide no benefits to either party.
Once you have established a successful marketing strategy, focus on implementing a competent CRM pipeline management system that will help you keep track of your leads, manage your customers and organize sales information. This will help you identify the proficiency of your marketing campaign.
ABOUT Erica Silva
Erica Silva is a blogger who loves to discover and explore the world around her. She writes on everything from marketing to technology, science and brain health. She enjoys sharing her discoveries and experiences with readers and believes her blogs can make the world a better place.
Find her on Twitter: @ericadsilva1
