According to Kinney Galani , one of the major mistakes that many new small businesses make comes when they start advertising is to not specifically look for people who will be using their products or services. Advertizing can be expensive, and many companies use most of their budget the first year on advertising alone. Kinney Galani states that you want to make sure that you get the best results for your advertising budget and the best way to do that is by carefully targeting your advertising to the people who are going to be most likely to use your company.
When you set out to find your target audience, there are a few things recommended by Kinney Galani that can help you make sure that you are on the right track.
1. Look at current trends in the industry that you are planning on working in. Who are your competitors targeting? Who is purchasing your competitors’ product? Who is using your competitor’s services?
2. Where does your target audience spend their time online? Are there groups that already exist online for people who will be using your product or services? If so, who is the group comprised of?
3. How is the best way to reach your target audience? Do they respond best through mobile marketing, email campaign, word-of-mouth campaigns, etc? How do your potential customers like to be contacted and informed about the latest products or sales that your company offers? Kinney Galani suggests that you carefully determine and follow through with different types of contact for your target demographic.
When you are just starting out with a small business, a lot of your time and your money can go into advertising, so it’s a good idea to look for advertising techniques that are simple and free, so you can stretch your advertising budget in order to meet all of your company needs. According to Kinney Galani, one of the best ways that you can get your business out there and advertising, no matter how large or small your advertising budget is, can be through properly utilizing email to reach your customers.
There are a few things that you should keep in mind, as suggested by Kinney Galani, when you are designing an email marketing strategy.
- Make sure that your emails are going to people who are interested in your products or services. Any unsolicited emails that people receive from your company can be classified as spam mail, and is illegal. Kinney Galani states that utilizing tools on your website such as opt-in newsletter or customer feedback forms can be a great way to make sure that your company doesn’t send unwanted emails and run afoul of federal law.
- Email is usually free or almost free. Email can be a great way to reach a lot of people with a minimum amount of effort or cost. Kinney Galani suggests that almost everyone uses email regularly.
- Keep it simple. Many email servers will filter out images or other graphics, so keep it relevant to your potential customers and keep it simple.
When you are first starting out in business, one of the most important things that you can do help make sure that you stay in business and are successful is to create an online persona and an online presence. Creating an online presence means doing a few things to make sure that you remain visible to your target audience. Here are a few tips recommended by Kinney Galani to make sure that you are effectively creating an online presence.
- Kinney Galani recommends that you focus some of your time and energy on creating a brand for your company. This can be in the form of a specific product or service that you become known for, or for excellent customer service, or with a specific image or logo that becomes synonymous with your company. Creating an online brand takes a little bit of work and creativity but can pay off with huge dividends.
- Once you’ve developed a brand, use it on everything. Every page of your website should be “branded” with what you are known for. Kinney Galani recommends using a logo or other symbol on every page of your website and through all of your communication with your customers.
- Branch out online. Kinney Galani recommends becoming involved with online media, such as Facebook or twitter, or creating strategic business alliances to maximize your online presence.
- Use SEO, or search engine optimization to make sure that you can remain competitive in the search engine rankings for your industry.
One of the best ways to get potential customers to notice your business is through creative advertising, says Kinney Galani. Don’t worry if there are a million other companies out there just like you – if you can find one unique feature, a product or service, a way of doing business, that sets you apart from the norm and puts your company on a pedestal in consumer eyes, you have got an edge, and consumers will respond to your advertising. But Kinney Galani warns that you can’t just say the same old things that every company says, and you can’t present your unique angle in the same old way. Your advertising has got to stand out and be noticeable.
One of the best places to advertise your creative view of your business is on social networking sites, suggests Kinney Galani. This type of advertising is becoming more important as companies realize the value of promoting their businesses online. When you post a unique ad online, you are reaching millions of viewers, and the number of potential customers you’ve reached has exploded. Don’t underestimate the power a great ad can have on the internet.
Kinney Galani also suggests that you take your advertising scheme and apply it to your whole company – it gives your customers a unified look at the way you do business and it will help your overall company image. It an make any business seem put together and well thought out. So stop spending night after night worrying about advertising your business – use these quick tips and get your ad out there!
Advertising for your business can be difficult, especially if you are not quite sure where to start. Kinney Galani states that getting potential customers to learn about your product – and want to buy and use it – is the main goal of advertising. If you don’t know what to do or how to advertise your business effectively, consumers won’t learn about what you offer, and your products or services won’t be sold. Let’s look at some unique and very effective ways to advertise your business and get the word out there to consumers.
Kinney Galani suggests that one of the first things to look at when finding the angle to advertise your business from is the one unique thing that sets it apart from all the other similar business. The product or service that sets you apart from your competitors is the one thing that can get consumers’ attention and make them come to you. Without a unique angle on the area of business you’re in, no one will care about your business – there are hundreds like it.
Kinney Galani also suggests that one of the best ways to grab customer attention in a hurry is to use a tagline or slogan that defines your company, product, or service in a few words. If you don’t really have a good one and you don’t want to do it, don’t worry about it! Use a slogan only when you know it will draw in the most customers.
Don’t get caught up in a huge elaborate advertising plan, suggests Kinney Galani. Go simple, but make your business look unique and perfect for what the customers want.
In the past few years many businesses have been turning to online marketing but not all of the businesses are able to properly use online marketing. Kinney Galani says that many businesses end up spamming their customers without realizing it and they often hurt their online status with the search engines. Here are some of the common small business marketing mistakes that Kinney Galani tends to come across often:
- Outdated websites. If you have not updated your website recently it will start to fall in the search engines. You will also see that your website isn’t getting traffic as people do not feel the information on your site is relevant. They often turn to other sites because your site is old and they have a hard time navigating it. Kinney Galani recommends that every business update their site completely at least 1 time in 5 years and then to perform ongoing maintenance in order to keep the site relevant to the search engines.
- Not using PPC correctly. Some businesses think that paying for the most expensive keywords will bring them better website traffic. Instead you are wasting money and you really aren’t doing anything to help the business. Kinney Galani recommends that you use PPC to help you research keywords and that you add them to your website versus paying for the most expensive ones.
- Spamming customers. How many emails are you sending to your customers? If you are sending out daily emails you are spamming your customers. You have to find the right balance and send your customers emails only when they want them.