• Many times we say we want to market our businesses but we haven’t thought through what the specific outcome or motivator for doing this is.
• Are you looking to increase sales? Launch a new product?
Image: WOMENWORK
This time last year I was thinking about how I could help more businesses market their brands, it was in the middle of a pandemic and things were getting even more difficult for businesses. So many of them were unable to make sales and were struggling to stay open, and so I knew that investing in marketing their brands was the last thing on their minds even though it was probably the one thing that could help them stay afloat. And so I decided to start sharing marketing tips on my social media platforms.
That’s how my Marketing Mondays series was born. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago when I was contacted by the team at Womenwork they had been following my Marketing Mondays series, and they asked if I would like to share my marketing tips to a wider audience. And that’s how this article was born. I hope that my mini testimony will encourage you to see the power of marketing and how you can achieve a lot by starting small.
So what should you do when marketing your business?
Get clear on why you're marketing your business
Many times we say we want to market our businesses but we haven’t thought through what the specific outcome or motivator for doing this is.
Are you looking to increase sales? Launch a new product? Why exactly are you marketing your business?
The answer to this question will change with each season. But it is important to have at least one main outcome that you are focusing your marketing efforts on. This will help you in deciding which is the most effective form of marketing to achieve your goal. It will also help you measure the success of your marketing efforts.
Share useful knowledge about your brand
These days the best form of marketing is through offering useful tips around your area of expertise. Where you focus on giving first before asking. Take what I am doing right now, sharing marketing tips with you to help you market your brand and at the same time marketing my services as a marketing consultant.
You can do the same!
There are so many opportunities to share your knowledge and doing this will help your brand grow. You can share knowledge on your personal and brand social media, offer to give talks in your church, Chama, business group, family WhatsApp group e.t.c.
Keep your eye open for opportunities to share knowledge and ensure that each time you do so you find a way to tie in what your brand offers.
The beauty of this form of marketing is that once you start sharing knowledge and people start to see the usefulness of it, you will start getting more offers to do so. And thus creating more opportunities for you to market your brand. This also helps build trust around your brand, and will make potential customers more open to trying your product or service.
Leverage the power of social media to market your business
If 2020 taught us anything as entrepreneurs it’s the importance of having a social media presence. With many physical locations being closed last year many businesses had to go online to stay in contact with their customers.
Social media is one of the best marketing tools today and if used right can lead to great growth for your business.
Now if you are new to social media don’t worry about having a profile on all the social media platforms. Pick one to begin marketing your brand on preferably one you may already be active on. So if you have a personal social media profile up on Facebook, start your brand profile on the same social media platform.
Doing this means you can tap into the audience you already have and redirect them to your brand profile. In addition, you should also start sharing a bit about your brand on your personal social media account. Don’t be afraid to talk about your brand, people buy into brands whose founders believe in. If you can’t talk about your brand don’t expect anyone else to!
Because no one gets the vision of your brand like you do, so bank on yourself and market your brand!
To make the most of your social platforms, creating content consistently will be key. Here are useful tools to help you with content creation:
- Canva has great templates that you can use to create content
for your social media and all-around design needs.
- Inshot or Videoleap are video editing apps that are easy to use and allow you to edit videos on the go.
Marketing your brand is a marathon and not a sprint so keep at it and don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results right away. Stay consistent and keep investing in your brand and knowledge on how you can effectively market your business.
Explore different ways you can market your business, think about how you can connect with your potential customer, what would make them stop, and pay attention to your business. For more useful tips on marketing your business check out my Marketing Mondays series on my Instagram (@Olivia_Ambani).
You can also join me and other marketing professionals on WomenWork, a network of ambitious career professionals and entrepreneurs seeking to achieve their career and business goals. They are currently running a program to help business owners digitize their businesses and find more customers online. Check out The Digital Future Program here.
Olivia Ambani is a singer, songwriter and marketing consultant who is passionate about supporting small businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals to grow their businesses and brands. She offers hourly marketing consultation sessions and can be reached on any of her social media platforms or via email at [email protected]