Marketing Your Business

2016 is rapidly approaching, a fresh start, a new opportunity? We all know about New Year's resolutions, perhaps this year is the year you expand your business, or regenerate it, or maybe start a new one?

So you want to promote your business. You could have a new brochure, leaflet, business card or website. However the task remains the same, what to say, how to say it, where to say it.

ProCreative frequently deal with clients with this very problem. We often get approached by clients wanting marketing work produced but have no brief, no text and in some cases no idea what they want to say or even any real idea about what they offer the market above their competition.

So here are just a few starting points:

1. What truly makes you different? The answer might not be immediately obvious beyond the usual cliches of quality, price, service. If you have regular customers ask them why they use you, it might be eye opening.

2. Try to target your objectives. Focus your marketing on this target and be clear, concise and to the point. If you are marketing a product focus on its specifications and features, or how it benefits the customer.

3. Think of lists of keywords that best describe the virtues of your product or service.

4. Not good with words? Start off recording your pitch, imagine you are in a meeting or presentation and talk about your company. Play it back and take notes. Put these into a text document and edit, edit and edit until it reads better.

Maybe you do not know your company well enough and this is harder than you thought. This is a very useful exercise as it might make you realise you need to revamp not only your marketing but the way you offer your product or service.

Remember if you are considering employing a design or marketing agency, you need to give all this information and more. Otherwise you risk getting something inappropriate or worse unusable.