10 great marketing ideas you can grab hold of now

1) Content marketing – learn how to use content to market your business

Seriously. Content is King. In this new world where everyone has 24×7 access to online information (and by information we mean content) you need to be thinking about you company content strategy. This will become one of the most important parts of marketing your business in the future, don’t put it off, start now and get your content out on the web for people to digest. The longer you wait the harder it will be for you to catch up to the companies that are taking it seriously now.

2) Get on radio and/or TV

Still a useful media to be ‘seen and heard’. If you can become the resident expert for your local radio station then you will be heard on quite a regular basis. Of course it doesn’t stop there. Going back to point 1 (content marketing – we’re going to keep saying it!) You can blog about your interview, your interview can be recorded and uploaded as a podcast…..all this fabulous content from one experience. Similarly for TV, whilst the TV program is only aired typically once, these days you can use that footage time and again on your website to really generate credibility for you and you company.

3) Write guest articles and blog posts

We make no excuse that a lot of our marketing is based on creating great content, here is something else you can do. Write for other businesses, you’ll soon be attracting followers that you haven’t had expose to before. Write as many guest articles as you can. If you really get going these articles and blog posts could become a downloadable e-book that you collect email addresses (or even money!) for. You could become a published author how great would that be.

4) Sponsor an event

You get a great deal of exposure if you sponsor a really good event. More than that you can get some great PR coverage if you tell the world you are the sponsor. Yes, you’ve guessed it…more content!! . You can blog about the event and why you got involved, if you are sponsoring a certain part of the day you can talk about that. Of course on the day you can tweet pictures and updates, so much content from just one idea, don’t you think its a good one!

5) Give ‘how-to’ lessons

You are the expert at what you do and others can benefit from your knowledge and experience. You can easily put together ‘how-to’ lessons that you can give away. Now we’re not necessarily talking about face-to-face engagement, but online lessons that individuals can consume in their own time at a pace that’s right for them. If you’re a beauty therapist you could easily put together a video series of how to apply make-up. An accountant – how about a cashflow forecast? The ideas are plentiful, give your knowledge away generously, you’ll be amazed at what it brings you.

6) Speak at events

Once you have stood on your feet and talked knowledgeably about a subject, you will immediately become the expert and you will gain the trust of everyone in the room. Being a credible speaker, is one of the easiest ways to get your reputation known…go on give it a go.

7) Build a responsive opt-in email list and learn to use email marketing effectively

You’ll have heard the saying, ‘the money’s in the list’ well to some extent that is true. If someone has subscribed to you then they are already interested in what you do. Secondly they must trust you enough to have give you their email address (people don’t give these out freely!) So use it to your advantage. Put together an email program that you can stick to that highlights all the best bits that you do!

You may like to put together an auto-responder series that sends out emails at a pre-defined time, this can work really well..

8) Internet marketing – start taking your website seriously

You may get a lot of your business via word of mouth, but how many of those will check you out online before they pick up the phone. Typically consumers will speak to 2 or 3 different companies before they make the final choice. If you’ve been recommended but your internet marketing lets you down then will you be on the shortlist, probably not.

Start with an effective web design that is easy to develop as your company progresses, couple it with a content marketing strategy and web promotion plan and you’ll be really making headway.

9) Write and publish online press releases

Try and get a press release written once a month its not as difficult as you think, (we’ve given you some cracking ideas here) Even if you cannot get them published in your local newspaper (always try!!) you can distribute them online as part of your internet marketing plan.

10) Testimonials and Case Studies

3rd party endorsement is one of the most important things that you must attract. A fantastic online review, great case studies that prove you have experience are the content that visitors online want to read. When was the last time you asked one of your clients for a testimonial? – better still can you video it?

It doesn’t take a lot of effort, but it will reap series rewards if you get this sorted!