Where Should I Market Myself?
When starting a business, there are often a slew of things you want to figure out right away: business plan, pricing structure, website, products and/or services, etc. And generally, these are all things that people can figure out on their own, whether they have a background in business and marketing or not.
But the one area that I see people get stuck time and time again is in acquiring clients and customers. Where do I advertise? Do I advertise? What social media platforms should I use? How do I promote myself? Where should I market?!
As a former marketer and social media manager, I’ve seen it all. I’ve worked print and digital, I’ve marketed for big business, for teensy companies, as a freelancer, and with my own company. I’ve done products and services. So let me share with you the two biggest secrets when it comes to marketing your business.
Secret #1: There is no end all be all place to market.
The truth is very simple. You should market where your audience is. What works for one business won’t work for another with a very different demographic. If your idea audience would never spend time on Instagram, why waste your time marketing there? If your client wouldn’t be caught dead on Twitter, skip it. Social media, print advertising, videos, blogging, podcasts, television shows, postcards, flyers, etc. – none of them will work if your audience won’t see it.
Take some time to sit down and evaluate who your customer is. How much money do they make? Where do they live? Where do they spend their time? What do they enjoy doing? The more information, the easier it will be to predict their actions, and the easier it will be to market to them. It’s all about understand who they are and offering them what they need. That’s all.
Secret #2: Email, email, email.
Everything in Secret #1 being said, there is one evergreen place where you can always control your message to your audience. Your email list. While Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google, etc. controls the game in their realms of the marketing world, your little list of emails is the only way that you can guarantee that people who want to hear what you have to say will get your information. Facebook can choose not to show your words unless you boost a post. Instagram can choose not to prioritize your images. Google makes the rules on what website rank. But if you have a simple spreadsheet of your followers’ emails, you can take that wherever you go. You have control. And that’s a rare thing in the marketing world.
Do you have any other tips for learning where you market your business? Share in the comments below, or join the party on my Instagram and share there: https://www.instagram.com/katrina.widener/
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