Starting a business from scratch is a hugely daunting prospect, with so much to learn and put in place beyond your own personal experience and skill set.
Cornerstone Your Business outsourced marketing manager Jess regularly assists new start-ups with their marketing; guiding them through the whole process so their business branding is defined from the beginning, and that everything is in place to get those new clients rolling in.
However, with so much cost incurred from launching a start-up, marketing can get put to the bottom of the list. So Jess has put together her ‘Start-up Marketing Essentials’ below, covering everything to make your business visible... but on a budget!
Know your audience
The first rule of marketing is to know your audience. Who are you selling your brand to? Once you know the answer to that question you can target your marketing accordingly; whether it’s paid for Facebook adverts narrowed down to users in a certain locality, or advertising in national media to gain a wider reach.
So before you even start, do your research. What does your ideal client look like? Are they a certain age or gender? What is their spending power? Will they buy from you as a one-off purchase or do they have potential to be loyal to your brand for many years? Once you’ve begun answering these questions and painted a picture of your client base in your head, then you can target your marketing to this group specifically and reap the rewards accordingly.
Set the tone
How do you want people to feel when they see your brand? Setting the tone for your branding is essential, and should resonate in every outward facing thing you do; from your logo to your content. Think about what font you choose; what colours and how those colours might come across to your audience; what ‘voice’ you want to use (chatty and relaxed or formal and professional); is photography important to what you do and should the imagery be candid or staged?
If time allows, creating a Style Guide for your business, which includes tone of voice and best practice, can save a lot of time going forward, as you can then send this out to anyone working for your business, such as designers, printers, copywriters and photographers, so they can brand your business in line with your wishes.
Get social
Picking the right social media platforms for your business is a superb, free, way to market your business from launch. At Cornerstone Your Business we can guide you through those that will work best for your business, and which, if any, might be worth additional investment.
As they don’t cost a thing, getting your business on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are a good place to start, and also mean you have secured the correct handles (names) for your business on those platforms.
Discover WordPress
If you’re restricted by budget then choosing a WordPress site for your business website is a great option, as it’s easy to use and cheap! “Choose a flexible offer that your business can grow with as services develop,” says Jess, that way you can keep adding to your site as and when your business requires it.
Get to know Google
Another free way to market your business which we can support you with is Google My Business.
Jess has created this video on how it can be such an important marketing tool, particularly if you’re seeking out a client base in your locality.
Don’t forget stationery
Once you’ve got your logo and branding sorted, be sure to order your stationery so that e
verything your business sends out looks professional. We have printers we can recommend to create a package of envelopes, headed paper, business cards and anything else you might need.
Don’t forget, anything you can create with your branding on is a means of getting your business name out there... so think of other places you could use your logo where it will get seen and gain brand recognition.
These are just some of our top tips on marketing essentials for new businesses on a budget. Here at Cornerstone Your Business we can assist start-ups with a bespoke marketing package starting from just £1,500; setting your business on the right course from the get-go. Give us a call to find out more on: 07929 905229.