Marketing in today’s world, is your business ready?

Is your business ready to compete in today’s marketing world? The marketing world becomes noisier and noisier and continues to change and refocus daily. Your business needs to be heard and keep up with the changes in marketing. The consumer is continually bombarded with marketing messages in all facets of their lives from TV to their e-mail inbox. No matter the size of your business, whether you’re a mom and pop or a brand giant, you need a strong marketing strategy to reach your customer. Do you know the best outlet to tell your message?

Do you know where to begin?

Before you can begin telling your message it’s important to know who your customers are, to find out how they shop and think. Gone are the days when you could use a flashy TV commercial with a catchy tune to capture an audience. Banner ads, glossy post cards and yellow page ads are things of the past. Forget about being the next Don Draper or hiring a college student to handle a Facebook page or Twitter feed. Today’s biggest consumer, the millennial, is not impressed.

Millennials are looking for a community. They want a social experience they can share. They want time saving tools and visuals they can view on their smart phones. Millennials are not loyal to a brand and are not impressed by luxury brands. They don’t care about statistics or where their parent’s did business. What they are looking for is something fresh and new, but which also feels as if someone actually cares. I liken the millennial to wanting to get back to the basics of the days when the traveling salesman came through town once a month with a wagon full of goods. The salesman met his customers face to face. They would talk and listen to each other, sharing the latest news and gossip. The salesman would show off the newest and hottest items on his wagon and he’d share a tidbit or two about what the neighbor purchased. Today’s marketing is basically good old-fashioned socializing.

If your business is like many others today, you run with a leaner team and a tighter budget. Every single dollar, including marketing dollars, must be optimized. Your team must be flexible with day to day requirements. All this has to be done while continually looking forward to your main goal while avoiding becoming stagnant. With so much pulling business owners in different directions, it’s easy to become bogged down in the day to day efforts of running a business leaving little time for developing a vision it’s simply sink or swim. Set yourself up for success before you start by creating a strong plan and vision for your business. Keep your plan simple. With your plan in focus, you should remain flexible and willing to explore new trends and embrace new ideas. It’s important to surround your business with a strong team and a community that can assist you with the tedious daily tasks. Learn what slows you down and takes your focus away from your main goal and fill in the gaps with likeminded professionals you trust.

Once you’ve developed your plan and selected professionals to work with, you and your team are ready to jump into the marketing world. This can be an overwhelming experience. You must stay aware of the trends and know your customer. There are a few basics that will help you get started.

First, you must have an on-line presence.   Today’s consumer requires a clean, streamlined easy to navigate web-site. A well-built, professional web-site has content and images that engage, excite and encourage content sharing via text, comments and social shares. Your web-site should have an authentic voice and be viewable on smart phones and tablets. This is your place to focus and create your identity in your market; it’s your wagon full of goods.

Secondly, a social media presence is necessary. Recognize that less is more. It’s not required to have a presence on every social media outlet. Using your business plan and working with your team, decide which outlet will work best for your business. Whichever outlet you choose – focus on and perfect that outlet. Social media is a social experience, which means engaging your followers, encourage sharing, and become a community. A social media site with 1,200 engaging, loyal followers is better than having 200K followers who do nothing. Once you perfect this outlet, feel comfortable with the growth and community you’ve developed, try to refocus and attempt another social source.

Of course, social media and an on-line presence aren’t the only options to market your business. However, they are two of the best ways to reach the biggest spending group in the United States, the millennials. There are many easily accessible marketing tools available for every type of business. Finding out what works best for your business is key.   This is where having a strong plan, a team of professionals and a community that supports your efforts will benefit you and your business.