How to conduct Promotion and Marketing of Business?

Promotion and Marketing of Business 

(Step 12 of our how to set-up new business guide)

 

A complete guide for marketing and promotion of your business: 

Prime purpose of promotion and marketing is to reach to proposed customer and encourage them to purchase your products/services, and to establish a long term relationship that will make them repeated customer.

Factors affecting:

Promotional and marketing activities are based upon many factors. Few are as below:

Nature of your Business: 

Which type of business you have, affects your marketing strategy. Manufacturing business may have different business aspects as compared to marketing company. Manufacturing business has more business opportunities than marketing business. They can do contract manufacturing, private labeling for marketing companies and much more that marketing companies can’t do. In addition, they can do all activities that can be done by marketers. Hence manufacturing business may have some additional or completely different promotional and marketing tools. Same is applicable to other business like distribution, retail etc. Every business nature has own requirement and needs own marketing & promotional activities.

Form of Business: 

You may be in B2B or B2C sale or online sale or direct sale or in any other sale. Your business form will directly affect your marketing and promotional strategy. With change in form of business will change your proposed customer presence or platform. For B2B business, online marketing strategy is better than traditional advertisement. Similarly FMCG products get boost from traditional advertisement as compare to online ads. You need to select your marketing and promotional activities based upon your form of business.
In case of B2B, proposed customer will be a business and will have different need or requirement as compare to B2C where proposed customer is actual consumer. Direct sale will have much more direct personnel interaction with customer as compare to online sale. That differentiates your need of marketing and promotional activity.

Prospect: 

Prospect means your proposed customer. What is more influential for your prospect is the center of your marketing and promotional activities. Where is your to be customer spend much time-watching TV or browsing internet. Who is decision maker for him/her- any parent/guardian or himself/herself? Who is your proposed customer – intermediary or consumer? These are few prospect based factor that affect your marketing and promotional strategy.

Preferred Distribution Network: 

You deliver through which network? You follow traditional distribution channel or online distribution network also affect marketing strategy. You may have more than one distribution channel and have to market your products accordingly.

Budget: 

Budget is one of the most important aspects while considering marketing strategy. You may consider advertising and promoting at broad level but your budget doesn’t permit you. Even any amount of budget is less when come to promoting, marketing and advertising for your business. It’s like a one way road. You spend money without guarantee of any outcome. You have to choose your marketing and promotion strategy by considering your budget and implement effectively.

Promotion and Marketing Types:

You can use one or more ways of marketing and promotion for your business. Not all ways are useful to any type of business. That has to be decided by you which one or more you select for your business. An effective selection can give boost to your business while a wrong choice can drain your entire marketing budget without any outcome. So you need to be careful in this process.
Which one will be best that you will learn with time? You should try marketing and promotional way that you are familiar with e.g. you indulges in it during your job, professional journey, assignment or training etc. Or you can conduct some research or take help of industry experts.

Promotion and marketing can be done commonly by two ways:

• Online
• Traditional

Based upon your business need, marketing budget and best suitable type, you can choose either one or both. Most common used promotional and marketing types areas below:

Online Promotional and marketing Tools

• Digital Marketing like Blogging and Content Marketing, Use of Social Media Channels (Free and Paid Promotion) i.e. Facebook Page, Facebook Group, Youtube Channel, Linkedin Profile etc )
• Own website building and promote it through SEO, paid ads etc
• Listing at business portals and classified websites
• Google my business account set-up
• E-mail marketing
• Influencer Marketing

Tradition Promotional and marketing Tools

• Print media advertisement, TV commercials/Sponsored Programs, health magazines advertisements etc
• Banners/Holding advertisements
• Radio advertisement
• Face to Face Marketing (Field Marketing)
• Franchise Marketing
• Direct Selling Business / Multi-Level Marketing
• Telephone marketing
• Conferences, Promotional Events and Expo, trade fairs
• Door to Door Marketing

Digital Marketing: 

Digital Marketing is broad term used for marketing through internet or electronic ways. It’s not possible to cover complete digital marketing here. You need to know that all types of marketing whether its free or paid that is done through internet is known as digital marketing. Ads you see at above Google search results or sponsored posts at Facebook is form of digital marketing. This blog post or any brand’s video at youtube, instagram or any other social network is also come under digital marketing. Common ways of digital marketing is as follow:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Affiliate Marketing
• Native Advertising
• Email Marketing
• Online PR
• Inbound Marketing
• Sponsored Content

Building website and Promote through SEO and Paid Ads at search Engines: 

It is a form of digital marketing. As we have discussed above all type of marketing that has done through internet is digital marketing. Website is like your office online. How you describe yourself online is your website. Visitor’s guess about your business reputation is through your website. Even person to whom you interact through traditional marketing will also check your online presence and website will be first to help a good impression at your prospect mindset.
Building website is not enough in time of competition. Positioning at first page of search engines (e.g. Google, Bing etc) at desired keyword is the bases of success of many businesses. Ranking first at search engines page is done through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Paid advertisement at search engine pages above organic results is also a good way to attract visitors to own website that could be future potential customers.
Through your website you can sell own products online or find business partners. That depends at your form of business.

Listing at Online Business Portals and Classified Ads: 

Online Business portals are generally of two types. One is Business to Business (B2B) and second is Business to Customer (B2C). If your proposed customer is a business, you can choose to list your business at B2B portal and if you want to reach to your consumer directly, you can list your products/services at B2C portals. Online B2B portals provides free listing as well as paid membership whereas most of B2C online platforms don’t charge for listing of products but they take a certain amount of fee at sale of product.

Google my Business account set-up: 

Setting up Google my business account is free. It is helpful to create your online presence more impressive. It makes visible your business at Google search and Map. It also helps to improve local listing. With a Google My Business Account, you get more than a business listing. You can create post, add products at Google listing and connect with your customers across Google Search and Map.

E-Mail Marketing: 

E-mail marketing is one the oldest way of internet marketing but still effective as it used to long ago. Every act of sending a commercial massage to proposed customer or current customer through e-mail is known as E-mail Marketing. In its broadest sense, every email sent to the proposed customer or current customer may be considered as email marketing. E-mail marketing involves all e-mails to send advertisements, request business, or solicit sales or donations.
E-mail marketing has more ROI as compare to social media or SEO. It is 15% more effective than search engines and 22% more effective than social media. It is great way to build loyalty, trust and brand awareness.

Influencer Marketing: 

Creators who have good numbers of followers at different types of social networks are also go way to promote and marketing. Likewise other types of promotional and marketing technique, this type also depend at your business need. You can search for influencer in your industry and contact them and associates with them for your business or product/services promotion.

Traditional Advertisement: 

Print media advertisement, TV commercials/Sponsored Programs, health magazines advertisements etc. are the tradition ways of promotion and advertisement. These are as effective as they used to be. Based upon your marketing budget, you may consider shooting ad films or commercial or print ad and run advertisement at any of these platforms. This way of advertisement is one of the most effective ways for marketing and promotion but this one is expensive too. Most of small businesses don’t have such a big marketing budget to afford this type of advertisement.

Banner and Holding Advertisement: 

Banners and holding at potential areas or in market is good way to promote and advertise businesses and products/services. Banner advertisement may be online or offline depend at nature of banner situated. If a banner is placed at website or internet medium then it comes under digital marketing but if banner is situated at roads sideway, street, outside shop or complexes, poll etc then it comes under offline advertisement. This type of promotional and marketing activities includes commercial hoardings, roof signage, dynamic electronic displays, animated signs, audio, balloon or air inflated signs and wall façades in public places etc.

Radio Advertisement: 

Radio advertising works by allowing advertisers to buy airtime on various radio stations, where they can air commercials, or spots, about their products or services. A radio ad is cost-efficient, targeted, easy to track, and extremely effective if done properly.

Face to Face Marketing: 

Face to face marketing is the type of marketing which involves meeting people in person whether one-on-one or in a group and detailed your product/service to them. It is very useful for almost all businesses but especially for B2B and businesses having sale based upon recommendation and influence like pharmaceutical marketing.
Face to face marketing is a form of field marketing and involves clients meeting, sales events, products demo, in store visits, event attendance etc.

Franchise Marketing: 

Franchise marketing has different meaning for different businesses. For burger business it may have different criteria whereas for pharma business, it may have totally different way of work. Before proceeding in franchise marketing, you need to first understand about how franchise business works in your field. Based upon your business need, you have to set-up your franchise marketing campaign. You need to find out franchisees for your business based upon market trends and your business needs. You can then promote market and sell your products/services through franchisees.

Direct selling and MLM marketing: 

In direct selling and Multi-level-marketing (MLM), company sell, promote and market products/services by appointing representatives/distributors. These representatives/distributors further appoints representatives/distributors and chain reaction starts (If not practically in all cases but in theories for sure).
A direct selling company offers a multilevel compensation plan to pay its representatives/distributors based not only on one's own product sales, but on the product sales of the people a representative/distributor has brought into the business.

Telephone Marketing: 

Telephone marketing includes calling, sms marketing, what’s app is marketing etc. Telephonic marketing is one of the most commonly used marketing types. Some experts say telephone marketing is the second most common way of direct marketing after e-mail marketing. It may be annoying or spammy now a day but still it is effective and produces results.

Conferences, Promotional Events and Expo, trade fairs: 

Conferences, promotional events, expo and trade fairs are great ways to make professional networking, market and promote own business and products/services to industry professionals.
You can sponsor a conference related to your industry or organize or attend an expo, trade fair or promotional event to promote your business and products/services.

Door to Door Marketing: 

Wikipedia defines the Door to Door marketing as,” Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a product or service to the general public or gather information.
Door to Door marketing is also known as travelling salesmen technique. Some person thinks, door to door marketing is dead and some still find it effective.



That’s up to you and your business need which type or combination you select and implement at your business. 

Other Steps:

Check out : Sixteen Easy Steps to Set-up New Business
Step 1: Market Research
Step 2: Business Plan
Step 3: Arrange Finance for Business
Step 4: Finding a premises for Business
Step 5: Name your business
Step 6: Trademark Registration
Step 7: Registrations and Licenses
Step 8 : Product Selection for Business/Start-up
Step 9: Name a Product and Service
Step 10: Recruit Staff/Employee
Step 11: Execute your business strategy Effectively

Step 13: Supply Chain: Set-up a Distribution Channel
Step 14: Recruit Sales Staff 
Step 15: Start taking Orders
Step 16 : Closing the sale (Supply Goods/services and collect payment)

Hope above information is helpful to you…

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