10 Essential Marketing Tips Your Business Should Know

Successfully marketing your business can sometimes feel like a mysterious mix of luck and skill. But it is an essential business activity that you must get right in order for your business to thrive.

Here are 10 essential marketing tips, sourced from various brand campaigns that have been successful and not-so-successful campaigns.

#1 You MUST know your customers

Any quality online business marketing course identifies customer demographics as a crucial step in any marketing campaign, whether it is a multinational company heading a multi-million-pound campaign or a local shop putting leaflets through doors.

If you don’t know who you want to connect with, then you won’t know which marketing vehicle will reach them best.

#2 An awareness of the current marketing environment

What trends are currently working with customers? What is the next big thing?

Many years ago, it would have been thought impossible to connect with customers in real time or that they would have a public forum with which to slam a brand when they get it wrong. But in today’s world, there are such public forums and you need to know what the current consumer behaviours and expectations are.

#3 You design the campaign and products with your customers in mind

The traditional marketing formula holds true – you need to identify the problem that your product solves and how this benefits the customer?

For example, chopping vegetables can be a shore which is why every busy family household needs your vegetable chopping piece of kit.

You need to present your product in the best possible light but also relate it to the lives of your customers.

#4 Ensure efficiency behind the scenes

You have a great marketing campaign. You are offering a significant saving to anyone who buys online… except they can’t because the 15% code you have given out doesn’t work.

Or your website it too clunky is keeps running slow or worse still, falls off the ether. Or, customers cannot find what they are looking for online.

These are just a few examples of the background inefficiency that customers don’t want to see.

#5 Disruptive marketing can work

Disruptive marketing is where your message is everywhere, and quickly and it stays there. A bit like sending out several tweets in one day, or have a vibrant campaign on your Facebook page.

It needs to get noticed.

#6 Great staff

We often forget the people behind the marketing strategy and campaigns. We also assume that everyone and anyone can put together a great campaign.

But here’s the rub – if you are not outsourcing your campaign to a marketing specialist, then you need to upskill your staff team in the skills they need to create the vibrant, engaging marketing campaign you need.

#7 Immaculate business front

As well as making sure your website and social media channels are running smoothly, if you have a physical presence where customers will come to shop, these too need to be campaign-ready.

If you are pulling customers into the shop to buy the latest product or have a sale that is too good to miss, your retail premises need to be clean, tidy and merchandised to a high standard.

#8 An effective pricing strategy

Campaigns are not just about price but in most cases, brands choose to use price as the hook to entice customers either in through their doors or buy through their website.

However, for small to medium business, it can be too tempting to simply knock a few pounds off the price and hope people come calling. No promotional campaign should be a loss leader because no matter how many units you sell, if you are under selling them at a silly price you will not cover your overheads.

#9 Learn from complaints

No brand is perfect but what sets businesses apart is how they respond to complaints.

Customers can complain in numerous ways – they can email you or send a letter, they can call you, they can use the very public forums of social media or they can complain in person.

How you deal with complaints is also part of your marketing because successfully resolving a complaint speaks volumes. Reacting poorly also speaks volumes but the hits the wrong kind of notes.

#10 A marketing strategy is key

Every successful marketing campaign has a marketing strategy behind it. Does yours?

NCC Home Learning offers hundreds of courses on all kinds of topics, including how to successful market a business. Follow them on Twitter for their latest offers @NCCHomeLearning.