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Marketing essentials

How to create a marketing plan for your small business - build a brand, target customers and set prices that will maximise sales.

Online marketing

The internet has transformed business marketing. No matter what you do, the internet is likely to be at the heart of your marketing strategy.

Social media

Social media is firmly established as a marketing tool. Having a presence opens up new lines of communication with existing and potential customers.

Advertising

Good advertising puts the right marketing message in front of the right people at the right time, raising awareness of your business.

Customer care

Customer care is at the heart of all successful companies. It can help you develop customer loyalty and improve relationships with your customers.

Sales

Sales bring in the money that enables your business to survive and grow. Your sales strategy will be driven by your sales objectives.

Market research

Market research exists to guide your business decisions by giving you insight into your market, competitors, products, marketing and your customers.

PR and promotion

Exhibitions and events are valuable for businesses because they allow face-to-face communication and offer opportunities for networking.

What is PR?

PR (public relations) encourages customers and journalists to think and speak positively about your business. As part of your business marketing, PR improves the reputation of your business and its products, and gives you exposure that you do not need to pay for directly

Business image, reputation and “what people say” are very important. Your prospective customers believe what other people say far more readily than they believe what businesses themselves say.

Think about your own behaviour when buying a product online. As well as reading the product description, you will undoubtedly also check customer testimonials, online reviews and media coverage.

This is PR. It is about getting trusted independent commentators (such as journalists, bloggers and online influencers), as well as customers, to promote your business, your product and your brand.

How can PR help my business?

PR is part of your overall marketing strategy. It covers anything that might influence the opinion that others have of your business, and sits alongside your website, your brand image and your marketing campaigns.

Advertising, promotions and email marketing are all important, but endorsements by trusted third parties can be even more valuable. This is where PR comes into its own - experts say that positive third-party comments are three times more effective than advertising in winning customers.

Managed shrewdly, PR is also more cost-effective marketing than advertising.

What PR means in business marketing

There are three key components to PR:

  • Distributing effective, newsworthy press releases, to entice journalists, bloggers and broadcasters to give you coverage
  • Responding to journalists' requests for spokespeople, comments and case studies, providing real-life examples to make their copy interesting
  • Engaging with conversations on social media, including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or simply by posting a blog

But it's not just what you say that's important. It's what you do too, and how you act.

Two additional elements that come under PR are therefore:

  1. Your community engagement - how you support your community and recognise the value that your customers bring to you
  2. Your customer engagement - responding to customer enquiries, testimonials and complaints in a consistent and fair way

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