• Small Business Florida

Tell the World About You

Building a strong media presence is essential in today’s digital world. It’s not just about being visible — it’s a reflection of how the world perceives your brand and controlling that image is crucial for
long-term success.

Now that you have your business up and running, you need to start thinking about how to keep it that way. Unfortunately, one in five new businesses fail within a year of opening. By year five, only half of them are still in business, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you want to avoid being another statistic, your media image is an important factor.

At this point, you are just one step away from completing our guide to success. By now, we’ve hammered home the idea that this isn’t going to be easy. That’s not meant to scare you, but to help you prepare and get closer to realizing your dream.

After overcoming the initial start-up challenges, you need to turn your attention to building an audience and customer base. You need to let people know who you are — in a positive way. Here are some suggested steps to take:

Build your image from day one
As soon as you pick a name for your company, start thinking about how to represent it. You will need a logo for your website, business cards, letterhead, advertising, signage, boxes, billboards, bags, receipts, etc. Your logo should be both visually appealing and memorable, while also being different enough from other logos you’ve seen to set it apart. This isn’t the place to cut corners. Trust this critical piece of art to a seasoned and professional graphic designer, even if it means paying a premium. This is, after all, your company’s unique “look.”

Make smart media choices
Regardless of how successful you are, you won’t be able to advertise anywhere and everywhere. Even highly successful businesses with years of experience have to make tough choices. Let’s look at a couple of broad categories for advertising, and various options within those groups. Your challenge is figuring out which combination will help you reach your customers.

DIGITAL MEDIA

Company Website: Represents the face of your business online. Consider it mandatory since this is where customers will generally go first to learn about the products and services offered by your company. For maximum results, integrate Search Engine Optimization (SEO) into your website for increased visibility, higher rankings on search results, and ultimately, more traffic. Also, be sure that your site is both computer and mobile-friendly.

Email Marketing: Continues to be a powerful and effective tool for businesses of all sizes as it provides efficient distribution of promotions, newsletters and coupons. If you go with this option, take care to abide by the CAN-SPAM Act as failure to do so can result in hefty fines.

Social Media: Includes sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube, which can be used to build a fan base for your firm. Just be careful. These sites can be real time-stealers if you try to respond to every comment or query. To avoid this, set limits on your social media involvement and consider designating a staff member to serve as your “social media specialist.”

Start a Podcast: A podcast can be an excellent way to showcase your expertise, highlight important industry trends and draw the attention of potential customers. The best podcasts offer strong audio quality, timely topics, unique content that offers value to your listeners and a way for your audience to interact with you.

Review Sites: Websites that gather customer reviews about businesses, products or services can be your best friend if you offer quality merchandise or exceptional service. But they can be your worst enemy if you don’t. Among the sites to consider: Google Business Profile, Amazon, Facebook, Yelp, TripAdvisor and Angi.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Newspapers: Large and small circulation daily newspapers, weeklies and shoppers. The challenge is picking only those that will effectively reach your target audience.

Magazines: More targeted and costly than newspapers. Be sure to study circulation numbers and reader demographics to find the publications that match the markets you want to reach.

Television: Provides excellent product promotion both visually and audibly, but the cost per customers reached can be steep.

Radio: Offers similar benefits as television but is less expensive; varied format/programming makes it easier to reach your targeted audience.

Direct Mail: Delivers brochures, flyers, newsletters, postcards and coupons directly into consumers’ mailboxes; may be highly effective if the recipient takes time to read them.

Outdoor Advertising: Includes billboards, transit advertising and signs on site; must be attractive and readable as exposure time is short.

Specialty Advertising: Giveaways such as pens, pads, mugs, caps and t-shirts bearing your company name/logo. It can be an expensive option, but these items are often kept and used if they are of good quality.

Is Advertising Worth Your Time and Money?
You started your business because you believe you have a product or service that people want to buy. Unfortunately, it’s going to take more than your passion and confidence to grow a successful business. If nobody knows about you, they can’t give you their money.

So, the short answer to the question is: Yes. Marketing and advertising is worth your time and money.

Your challenge is making sure you are using your limited resources wisely. You will increase your chances of doing that by learning as much as possible about your customers. Where do they live? Where do they like to shop? Where do they gather? Where are you likely to find them online? The more you know about your customers, the better your chances of picking the marketing tool that’s going to reach their eyes or ears.

Reputation Matters
Here’s a bit of good news. One of the most effective forms of advertising — word of mouth — doesn’t cost you a dime. And it can seriously impact your bottom line. That is why it is so important to manage your relationship with customers. Research shows that unhappy customers are likely to share their experiences with twice as many friends as customers who’ve had a positive consumer experience. Social media makes it very easy for them to do so in big ways.

Keep customers happy in three steps:

  • Listen to your customers.
  • If you make a mistake, fix it — with a smile.
  • Strive always to provide such a high level of service that your customers simply have no reason to complain.