Marketing Tips for Business Growth:
5 Key Strategies

You've developed a unique concept for your business, one that targets an underserved niche identified through your research. But are you taking the right steps to spread the word about your products and services to your prospective customers?

Without a well-planned and executed marketing strategy, growing your business is going to be next to impossible.

Here are 5 key strategies to consider:

1. About Your Website:

First, it's got to be mobile-friendly, not just desktop. It's essentially the front window of your business and needs to clearly and simply illuminate your brand, the customers you're targeting, and how your products and services are going to improve their lives. Grasp the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to ensure it's turning up in Google searches. Websites are works in progress; use analytics to gauge what's working and be flexible with making changes.

2. Start Blogging:

If your website doesn't include a blog, start one. There are plenty of them out there, so you've got to be smart with what you post. Give readers something of value that underscores your authority on a subject or product. Add short, easily digestible video explainers or tutorials with links to your products and services.

3. Social Media:

Get fluent in using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube to advertise and build your brand. A Harris poll found that more than half of all customers learned about new brands via social media, and more than three-quarters were likely to make buying decisions based on positive interactions with them on social media. Those numbers go way up among younger consumers. Conversely, the effectiveness of radio and television ads is dropping, according to the Harris Poll.

4. Build Your Email List:

Email remains one of the top marketing tools. Use your website and social media channels to build subscribers by offering "insider" incentives and special offers. Retain them with clever, SEO-rich subject lines, a mobile-friendly design and content that offers value, not just a sales pitch.

5. Better together:

Network through LinkedIn and professional organizations to promote your products and services, grow your connections, and foster relationships that can lead to partnerships with complementary businesses. It's an old-fashioned concept that's still trending.