Three marketing insights from PayPal merchants, Roma Boots, CAUSEBOX, and Fitmark.
As a small business owner, finding time to sit down and write out a marketing plan can feel like a luxury, given the thousand other things that constantly require your attention. However, building your brand – and a loyal customer base – can bring rewards on many levels. To help you get a jumpstart on your planning, we asked successful entrepreneurs for tips on developing winning marketing strategies.
Tell your story.
Going from zero to selling doesn't always work on social media. People use these platforms to build relationships with other people, and they expect that same kind of interaction with your brand. A great social campaign is one that builds on itself week-after-week, telling a story from beginning to end— like a soap opera or other serial—to keep your audience coming back for more. By deepening connections and relationships, you can set the stage for a transition to sales.
“We always go back to the story of Roma and the essence of what it’s all about,” says Beatrice Pitocco, VP of Sales and Marketing at Roma Boots. “We strive to engage people with our story and make them aware that their purchase is making a difference. A lot of people purchase our boots because they resonate with that story. Knowing that when you purchase with Roma Boots, you are making a difference in children’s lives: That's a really key factor in terms of engaging our buyers.”
Go where your customers are.
As important as it is to make sure your story is told, you also have to know where to get your story told. Ask yourself, “Who is my target customer? What motivates them? Which social networks do they use?” and then target them in the appropriate social outlets. If you’re in the B2B world, consider building a presence and advertising on LinkedIn®. If you’re targeting young adults, Snapchat might be right for you.
For CAUSEBOX, a provider of sustainably and ethically made, curated products for women, it’s Instagram. As cofounder Matt Richardson says, “For us, the most effective social channel is Instagram. Its visual format works well with our brand, so we invest most of our social resources there. It's a good way to tell stories, and we're kind of a story-telling brand.”
Engage influencers to advertise for you.
As you’re defining a profile of your customers, asking “who” and “where,” add “whom.” That is, “From whom do your customers get advice? To whom do they turn for guidance?” This is the role of the influencer. Influencers are people whose opinion may hold sway with your target customer, whether they’re bloggers, celebrities, journalists, or other kind of expert in your field. You may engage them outright to promote your brand, or simply send them your product to test out and evaluate. The key is that you want them to truly love and become an advocate for your brand.
However you build your influencer program, you should establish relationships with influencers who are sympathetic to your brand’s story. “We've worked with a lot of influencers, both bloggers and those on social media sites,” says Matt Richardson of CAUSEBOX, “We really look for ones resonate with our own brand, its story, and our mission of social consciousness. It’s really a brand alliance. “
Influencer programs take a lot work. Don’t think you can send an influencer a free sample and consider the job done. It takes continual communication, feedback, and monitoring. Instead, you can almost consider them as an extended sales or PR team. “We give our influencers our products, so they can touch, feel, and play with them—and then hopefully give us some love,” says Mark Samuel, Founder and CEO of Fitmark, a maker of high-quality, functional fitness and meal-prep bags. “These people can reach out to me directly, and they often hear from me directly. It’s all part of the small team we build at Fitmark, and I think that that’s the big difference for us. “
These are suggestions only and while we can’t guarantee results, Causebox, Fitmark and Roma Boots believe that they have helped their businesses expand using these approaches. Also, you should always obtain independent legal advice when you launch a marketing campaign and, especially, if you engage influencers.