Marketing is key to business survival. It creates and maintains demand, enhances your business reputation, and generates better profits. About 85% of entrepreneurs depend solely on their existing customers to act as their brand ambassadors and expand their customer base through word-of-mouth referrals.
If you are a part of the 85%, it's time to upgrade your marketing strategy. Your competitors are aggressively marketing their products through different channels. Some of them are even working with fractional CMOs from Chief Outsiders to help them increase their marketing ROI. Take your business to the next level by following these tips in improving your marketing efforts.
1. Learn from your business rivals
Determine your close competitors or companies that offer similar products to the same target market. Discover their marketing strategies and evaluate their customers' response. If your competitors experience success in running Facebook ads, the same tactic might work for you because you are targeting the same customers. Look at their approaches on how they engage their customers and check the frequency and content of their posts. Doing so will give you a clear idea on how to enhance your marketing. You also need to understand the competition and know what sets your products or services apart so that you can explain to potential leads why your business is the smarter choice.
2. Hire a fractional CMO
Running a small business requires you to wear many hats. You have to juggle your time in growing your business while executing internal marketing plans. In today's industry, marketing involves overwhelming tasks that can take up most of your time. Online marketing alone is a demanding approach that includes website production and maintenance, content creation, traffic buying, email marketing campaigns, and metrics analysis. When you try to do all these, you will have little time left to accomplish your essential business responsibilities.
A fractional CMO will carry out the daily marketing strategy, so you have enough time to focus on running your business, negotiating with suppliers, achieving your billing goals, and streaming for fresh business ideas. Doing marketing work alone will give you a lot of stress, especially if the strategy is ineffective. Without experience and expertise, you might be at your wit's end, desperately trying to figure out marketing. As a result, you become more tired and less productive in working on your core business. Hiring a fractional CMO saves you from enormous stress and gives you the freedom to devote your time to growing your business.
3. Nurture healthy relationships
A good company does not only satisfy the technical needs of its customers but strive to give them emotional satisfaction. Do not focus on selling alone. Build relationships with your audience and provide them with their wants and needs. Doing so will turn them into loyal customers and passionate ambassadors of your brand.
You should also maintain your positive brand image by building a good relationship with your suppliers, neighboring businesses, and entrepreneurs who sell products or offer services that complement your offerings. The more extensive the network you have, the higher the potential of your business to gain growth opportunities and positive feedback.
Don't just settle on the kind of marketing you got used to. Rework your marketing strategies by learning from your competitors, building relationships, and getting the professional help you need.