If you’re like most freelancers or small businesses, it’s likely that marketing is one of the last things on your mind. After all, there are so many other tasks that need to be done: building a website, writing content for it, doing research for blog posts and social media updates, setting up Google AdWords accounts—the list goes on! However, no matter how busy you are with these other tasks, if you don’t have an effective marketing strategy in place then chances are good that your business won’t grow as quickly as it could. So while marketing may not be at the top of your priority list right now (and maybe even never will be), here are some tips to help you create a plan:
Define the goal(s) of your marketing strategy.
Before you can begin to develop a marketing strategy, it’s important to define your goals. You must understand what you want out of your marketing efforts before setting out on the journey. If you don’t know where you’re going or why, how will anyone else?
Define Your Goals:
- Identify the problem(s) that need solving
- Set measurable targets by which success can be measured
- Be ambitious but realistic (you can always adjust later)
- Identify your target audience.
- Research and review your competition. You need to know what your competitors are doing, what their target audience is looking for, and how much money they’re spending on marketing. You can use this information to inform your own strategy and make sure it stands out from the crowd.
- Know how much money you can spend on marketing. If you have a limited budget but want to reach as many people as possible with an effective ad campaign or social media posts, then consider using a paid ad platform like Facebook Ads Manager or Google Adwords instead of investing in print materials (such as brochures). The right digital tools will help maximize ROI while keeping costs low–and if there’s one thing we know about businesses today: It’s that they need every penny they can get!
- Logo
- Color scheme/colors used in marketing materials (print, web, etc.)
- Fonts used on packaging/advertising materials
- Tagline or slogan
- Content calendar: This is a list of topics that need to be covered over the next quarter or year. You can make one for each month or quarter, depending on how much detail is required for each item on your list–you may want separate calendars for blog posts and social media updates, for example. It’s important that this document be reviewed at least quarterly so that no important issues fall through the cracks!
- Newsletter plan: This document contains all the information needed by someone who wants to write an article about something related to their business (or even just an interesting topic). Having this information handy ensures writers won’t have trouble creating content under tight deadlines; it also gives them freedom within limits because they know where their story fits into larger themes already established by other staff members’ work surrounding similar topics throughout different mediums such as print magazines versus television shows versus podcasts…
- Define your target audience
- Identify their needs and pain points
- Decide what kind of content will resonate with them