Welcome to the first
post in our mini series about marketing. This post will explain why every
business should be investing time, and sometimes even money in an effective marketing strategy.
By the end of this post, you will also be able to identify some mainstream
strategies, the remaining posts in the series will develop your understanding
of these strategies.
Whatever your business is about, whatever your sector, whether
you work on business to business, retail or service basis your client or
customer base needs to know, not only that you exist, but that you are the best
at what you do.
This is where marketing strategies come in. Even if you
already have more business than you can
poke a stick at, you still need to be looking for your next new client, because
your current clients may not be clients in the future because of any one of a
whole multitude of reasons, and they will then need to be replaced.
Basically, a good marketing strategy will:
1. Build brand awareness. Even
if a potential client does not need your service or product now, they may do in
the future, you want to be the first company that they think of when they do.
2. Build relationships with new and existing
clients. Clients new and existing want to feel appreciated. Even a vague sense
of familiarity breeds confidence in your company.
3. Increase the sales of your product or service,
which in turn boosts your profits. Everybody wants to make at least enough
money to have a good life and has hopes for an early retirement!
So, what types of marketing strategies are out there. They
will initially fall into two broad categories; Active and Passive marketing;
Active marketing techniques mean just that. You are making a
concerted effort to encourage people to buy in to whatever it is you are
selling. Common examples include T.V, radio, telemarketing, (whether they are
warm or cold calls.) Direct email campaigns, where you email the same email to
a number of recipients, and leafleting.
Passive marketing is more about raising brand awareness.
With these techniques, you are often playing the long game as you build
relationships, communicate with your clients, provide the highest level of
customer service, consider the placement of your business in directories,
(traditional or online) and your ranking on Google. Common examples of passive
marketing include, search engine optimisation, blogging, public relations,
article submissions, (again either online or in newspapers and magazines) and
writing white papers.
All at Blue Box Consultancy hope that you have enjoyed
reading this post. Should it have raised any questions for you, please feel free to contact us by phone at 084 3289 3288 or by email at enquiries@blueboxconsultancy.com
See you at the next post which will cover some active
marketing techniques in more detail.
Learn more about Blue Box, our people and the work that we do at www.blueboxconsultancy.com
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