Three Ways to Authentically Market Your Business
Message from Michelle
Greetings from beautiful St. Croix. I’m here for a week visiting my brother and for a little rest and relaxation before I begin promoting the launch of my new website.
Over the past few months, I’ve been sharing bits and pieces of the work that’s gone into rebranding my company and refining my services and message. Throughout the process, I’ve had to take a hard look at what my company stands for, whom I serve, and how we can better serve current and prospective clients. What I found is that after I got clear on the above, my message became crystal clear.
This issue of Your Business Marketing Solution offers three tips on authentically marketing your business. Customers and strategic partners alike enjoy being loyal to companies that are authentic through various marketing platforms, such as their company website, social media sites, and networking events. And people like doing business with a company they feel they can trust. Being authentic not only attracts your target audience to you, but it also makes doing business so much more fun and a whole lot easier.
Feature Article: Three Ways to Authentically Market Your Business
Building a successful business online requires effectively reaching potential clients through strategic and authentic marketing practices. And companies that utilize transparent practices are more successful than companies that shy away from expressing their brand personality and business practices.
Transparent practices are crucial if you want to build trust between potential clients and your brand. If you hide your brand personality, if your message is inflated or muddled in industry jargon, or if the message is too focused on the company, it will be difficult to reach a large range of potential clients and strategic partners.
The key is to get real. Take some time and evaluate your business mission and what your company stands for. Take a look at where you aren’t being as authentic as you could be, then rework your message to reflect the personality and the message you want to communicate.
Here are three result-driven ways to authentically market your business:
- Share your brand story and your company’s personality on your website. Don’t make your potential customers feel out of the loop or intimidated when they visit your website. A website that lacks a clear, authentic message and unique company personality will weaken the connection between the visitor and your brand image. A site with a transparent About Us page is a powerful tool that facilitates a strong connection. Not only do potential clients like to see whom they’re doing business with, they also like to see an authentic brand story and the personality of the company.
- Become transparent on social media sites. Social media sites are the perfect places to reach a high concentration of potential customers and strategic partners and to integrate your company into the online community. They are an informal way to market your business and places where you can truly let your personality and brand image shine through in a fun and interactive way.Offering behind-the-scenes information, sneak peeks, photos, videos, and recent news about your business on these social media sites provides potential customers with a clear understanding of your brand image and your practices. It also gives prospects a sense of the personalities behind the business.
- Share yourself and your company at networking events. A networking event is the perfect place to meet referral partners, strategic partners, and potential clients. Your goal at a networking event is to be remembered–in a positive way—by a handful of people with whom you speak. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through when discussing business. This transparency is the key to showing others that your business practices and brand image are authentic. Allow potential customers and strategic partners to build a strong connection between you as a person and your brand name. When you are remembered, your business will be remembered.
Want to see more marketing articles like this one? Visit Michelle’s marketing blog, Sumer Blog.
Tip of the Month
According to eMarketer.com, small-to midsized businesses are spending quite a bit of their marketing dollars online. In 2008, $6.8 billion dollars was spent on online advertising by small businesses, and by 2013, an estimated $7.4 billion will be spent on online advertising by small businesses.