business plan blueprint

Here is something many entrepreneurs need to understand when it comes to marketing: there is no such thing as guaranteed results.

There are too many factors about your marketing campaign that no one can control. Among them, there is the behavior of the overall market, competitive pricing, demand for offers like yours, current events, and others.

It would be anti-ethical for any marketing agency or freelancer to guarantee ABC results if you invest XYZ amount of money. But it does not mean that there are not ways to get the most out of your marketing budget (according to the circumstances).

Here are seven ways you can maximize your marketing efforts – whether we are in a recession or a booming period.

Do Not Confuse Marketing with Networking

If you are marketing your business, you need to understand the difference between connecting and communicating with your community and sharing / promoting your business.

Do not take to social media or networking events to present your sales pitch right away. People do not like it when you sell stuff to them. Instead, connect first by hearing about their problems, and communicate with them in ways they can solve those problems.

There will be time for you to promote and share on social media and at networking events. But you need to build a relationship first. That way, your audience would not feel like you are selling to them, but that they are taking advice. Because they trust you.

Market Efficiently

I am a firm believer in A/B testing. It is the best way to keep your marketing campaigns rolling and not waste your budget.

You do not want to throw money away with marketing that is not appealing to your market. That is why it is imperative that you constantly test your letters, ads, and emails to see what is getting the attention of the market, and what is persuading them into buying.

Cut What Does Not Work

Once you start testing your marketing efforts, you will know what to keep and what to drop.

You do not need to be everywhere at once. You need to be where your market wants you to be.

Do not waste your time on Facebook if the people are not responding. Stop sending letters if there are no sales coming from them. And please, do not waste two million dollars on a TV spot that won’t produce any ROI.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

I believe both inbound and outbound marketing have a place and are beneficial to every business. But they have their place in the marketing process.

Outbound marketing should be the focus when you are starting out. You need to let people know that you are there to help them. Thus, you should be sending emails, making phone calls, and making the first step to connect with the market.

Once you have set up a reputation for your business, then inbound marketing takes over. Because people will be looking for you. They will look at your website, your blog, and your social media channels.

So, do not disregard either marketing strategy. Just place them correctly according to the level of growth of your business. Outbound marketing when you are looking to prove yourself, and inbound marketing when you have an established name in the market.

Cold Calling as a Marketing Tactic

Most people are afraid of cold calling. Honestly, I believe “terrified” is a more proper term.

That is the reason many dismiss this tactic from their marketing strategy. But I think cold calling is as practical a marketing tactic as any of the others.

You need to make that first connection. And if the market is not coming to you, you might as well go to them.

And cold calling is not as bad as people make it out to be.

All you need is a good script and some thick skin (to handle rejection). And after a couple of times doing it, you will feel comfortable approaching targets and converting them into leads.

Hire Professionals

You can divide any marketing campaign into three facets: strategy, content, and design.

If you have experience in marketing planning, website design, and copy and content writing – then, by all means, go for it. Although I would recommend getting a critique from a professional on each, just to go safely.

But, if you are marketing your business, and have no prior planning, writing, or designing experience, your best bet is to hire professionals for each endeavor. They will know what to do to present your product in the most appealing way possible to your market.

There is also the choice of learning things yourself, but if time is not on your side, then I suggest hiring the professionals anyway until you can take over after getting some marketing seasoning.

Plan Your Marketing

You might have expected this to be tip number one. But I wanted to make sure you understood some things before we got into time management.

But now that we got the small details explained, here is a template to develop a weekly marketing schedule:

Mondays: Market research to find targets

Tuesdays: Prospecting

Wednesdays: Content marketing

Thursdays: Automation

Fridays: Website updates

Every day: Networking on Twitter and LinkedIn

Make sure to separate (at least) an hour every workday to do your marketing. You can perform a marketing task each day to keep your efforts moving. Also, make room for at least half an hour of networking – online or in person.

When people say that they want to make photocopies of a document, they often say they’re going to Xerox them, even if the machine they’re using isn’t a Xerox brand machine. When people need to sneeze, they often ask for a Kleenex, even if the box nearby is a different brand. That’s the power of branding. If you can make your company name synonymous with the product you’re selling, then it will be that much easier to get the word out about your product. Using the internet to create a brand for your business services is a great way to promote your business.The first step to using the internet to create a brand for your business services is to decide on the name of that brand. It should be short and easy to remember so that people can start using it quickly. You should try to make it clever, and it will definitely help if you include it in a catch phrase. People are more likely to remember it if it’s part of a slogan. If the current name of your business doesn’t work, then you may want to try creating an internet-only service and giving that product a brandable name.If you’re serious about using the internet to create a brand for your business services, then you need to be serious about using your brand name as often as possible. Use it as though it’s already a part of the pop-culture lexicon. People may ask what you’re talking about, but that will only serve as an opportunity to tell them about the branded service. You want to encourage as many people as possible to start using your brand name as the name of the service in question, and the best way to do this is to lead by example.And be sure to advertise your brand diligently. Using the internet to create a brand for your business services will be an exercise in futility if you don’t make the effort to properly market the brand. You’ll know you’re making headway when you use the brand name as the service name and people actually know what you mean. The more you’re able to get people comfortable with your brand as the name of the service, the closer you are to your goal of branding your service. With the help of the internet, you can even take that brand worldwide, if you want to. The sky’s the limit.

In recent years technology has made tremendous advancements. These advancements have reshaped the organisations by creating their business functions integrated and streamlined. Beyond the standard office computers and smart devices, organisations are now implementing new software’s and latest technology equipment’s to run their operations smoothly. One such technological advancement is Slide presentation software PowerPoint is one of the widely used Slide Presentation Software. It is a powerful tool to make your presentation more attractive and engaging. If you want visual effect, collaboration tools, easy access, then PowerPoint will be the perfect option.

Nowadays in every field, there is huge competition. Business and professional firms use the presentation as a tool to educate, train, motivate the internal and external audience. At any point in time, you may require to give a presentation. The presentation is an essential part of branding because the presentation is the primary source which companies use for communication with clients, general public etc. The presentation demonstrates the company profile, and it’s the only tool which makes sure that all your representatives are turning into sales. A well-designed presentation shows presenters professionalism and also builds organisations corporate image.

Presenters are mainly of two types. Firstly, the great ones, who with their commanding charisma, speaking skills and great presentation styles can grasp the audience attention and secondly the Mediocre one who only focuses on the content of the presentation. They come up with great with great content and speak amazingly but fails in their presentation skills. Many times, lacks in gaining audience attention.

You may have complex data for presentation, a great content will be a scrap if not delivered in an entertaining way. Templates contains layout, colour, fonts, effects. powerpoint template helps to convey the information in an attractive way, grabbing the audience attention throughout the topic.

Benefits of an Effective Presentation:

• Face to Face Interaction: A presentation enables to meet your customers and prospects. Face to face interactions strengthens the relation and bond with the customers. An effective presentation can improve sales. According to a recent survey conducted, face to face meetings is fifteen times better than other marketing activities.
• Engagement: Presentation is the easiest way to engage with the audience. Attractive slides, astonishing layouts can hold the audience attention easily. Bullet points and summary texts help the audience to focus on the main subjects.
• Flexibility: Flexibility is the vital feature of the presentation. It helps in saving the time of professionals. PowerPoint presentations allow the user to quickly change the content and change the designs based on the audience.

• Adds professionalism: Presentation can decide the success of any business meetings. The presenter should convey the information most attractively and entertainingly. Adding attractive templates can ensure maximum engagement of audience over the topic.

• Storage: After the presentation, the slides can be quickly distributed among the members for further reference. It can easily be saved on the computers which minimise the chance of loss or misplacement.

• Presentation Important for Business Growth: Having a superior product can never result in success. Advertisement of the product is also mandatory. The product demonstration should be attractive, clear to the audience. The presentation should be eye-catching and should create a lasting impression on the audience. Adding an attractive slide, Infographics icons can ease the work of the presenter.

• Adds Creativity: Nobody like a wall of text, the presentation should look interesting and conveying. The audience can easily remember visual information. Adding images to illustrate point will surely make your presentation engaging. PowerPoint allows the user to add creative clipart’s, attractive fonts to the presentation.