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I often say – it takes a village to grow a business. There are usually many moving parts and important priorities you must consider when launching a business. Marketing is one of them. Getting your brand created and out into the world for your potential clients to find your business and hire you for your services is critical.
The early days of launching and running a business are especially hectic and overwhelming. When you first decided to launch your business, when it was in the ideation stage – that was fun! The possibilities, the open road of what if. What if I can launch a business and do things better than they are done in my industry right now? What if I can create an amazing workplace for others to join? What if I can make more money than I am making now? All of that, on my terms.
If these thoughts are currently on your mind, congratulations; this is an exciting place to be! A fresh start!
When it comes to marketing a new business, there are many things you can do to get noticed. But it doesn’t mean you have to do them all.
Here are some steps to cover your marketing foundation:
Create a Website
Gone are the days when creating a website was a difficult and expensive task. If you are looking for a way to communicate your offers to your customers at the early stages of your business, creating a simple template website will be sufficient. When launching a business that is not bringing any revenue yet, you will have to be cautious about how you spend your marketing budget. By the way, you have to determine and have a specific number in mind how much you can spend on marketing. Knowing your marketing budget will keep you accountable and focused. It’s easy to spend money on something that may not bring you the much-needed result. Set the number and look for options within that number to be effective with your decisions with your marketing budget.
Back to the website.
As a first website, one of the best ways to go about creating one is to use platforms like Go Daddy or Squarespace to create a beautiful website from existing templates. You can choose from a massive pool of templates sorted by industry. E-commerce and scheduling plugins are available for you to integrate an easy way for your customers to book you and pay for your services.
When you are starting a business, you will have more time than money. So, do spend your time on creating marketing assets yourself and save your budget on online advertising, like Facebook Ads or Google Ads, once your website is ready to go.
If you still need a domain name – you can register it through Go Daddy. And your hosting will be included with the website builder package. Once you register your domain name, you will also be able to have a professional email – [email protected]. Easy peasy!
If you are looking to create a logo, you can use Go Daddy for that too, or Canva, which has beautiful options for you to choose from.
Don’t overthink this step! You can always change your logo and your website down the road. You just need to get started!
Create a Google My Business Listing
If you have a physical location to operate from, creating Google My Business (or Google Maps) listing will be your number one marketing priority, as this is the easiest way to get visibility on Google. Make sure to include a description, photos and other information Google prompts you as you create the listing.
Create a Social Media Account
I know social media is not for everyone. You may not like spending time on Social Media for your business because you are not comfortable promoting your business online just yet, as a new business, but trust me, having social media presence will be key to start building trust and a reputation online. Depending on who your target audience is, choose one social media account to focus on and commit to posting there consistently (at least weekly to start with).
If you are just starting your business and thinking that you don’t have anything to share, you are wrong! Sharing your progress as you launch your business is the best part! People love following behind-the-scenes posts, so this is your chance to get your storytelling skills on and start connecting with your audience. You may not have a massive engagement and following right away, but don’t worry; this is normal! What you are doing, in the beginning, is creating content for the algorithm of the social network to notice your posts. When you post consistently, you will also start building your social reputation online, plus your potential clients can always see your brand, to check your credibility.
In other words! Start posting! Your future self will thank you for that!
Tap into your existing network
In the early stages of launching a business, you will be focusing on sales more than marketing. How are sales activities different from marketing? Sales is going out there and telling people about your offers. In a way, sales is a more direct way of connecting with potential clients. Marketing is the prep work for sales. Read one of our past articles on sales vs branding vs marketing here.
Once you have your website and your social media setup, make sure to share with your existing network about your new business. Print a simple business card with your website, email and location on it and share it with everyone you meet. Share your business and invite people to come to visit you at any opportunity you get!
Are you excited to get started but still not sure where to begin? We are offering limited-time, exclusive marketing coaching services to startups to help you gain clarity and consistency in your marketing, so you can stop overthinking your marketing and start making money faster. Curious to learn more? Get in touch with our marketing agency in Vancouver, we would love to hear about your business and see if you qualify for this exclusive coaching offer. Connect with us on Instagram to hear more fresh ideas from our team.