How do you initially advertise and market your new business? With so many things that need to be accounted for when starting from scratch, it is essential that you have professional and consistent marketing materials, from a new logo or a website, to install brand awareness and reach out to your target audience.
Logo Design and Branding
You’ll want to create a polished and unique visual image from the very beginning, to establish your new company in the marketing arena. It’s important for a business to communicate its unique message clearly. The easiest way to recognize a company and distinguish it from others is by its logo and consistent branding efforts.
Business cards
Besides your logo, many marketing gurus say that a great business card can be your most effective marketing tool. The business card is usually the first marketing piece that a potential customer will see and often it represents your company in your absence. It needs to hold more than just contact information. Good graphics are important, but not as crucial as have a tagline – actually describing what your company does in a line or two. Maybe put the contact information on the front and list your products or services on the back.
Your business card “must be different, memorable, and prospects must want to keep it,” says Joachim de Posada, an internationally known expert on small business.
Website
You should get this up and running before you open for business. The website should be well designed and informative. It is said that 41-55% of new businesses do not have websites. Having a website makes it very easy for people to find you, read up about your company, what you do and answer any questions they have on your company. Having a website offers professionalism and legitimacy to your business. In today’s world, all businesses must have an online presences to be successful.
“Using the website as a primary ‘marketing material’ for a startup is good because you can’t tell the size of a company by their website,” notes Becky Boyd, a vice president of MediaFirst, a Roswell, Ga.-based marketing agency.
Brochure
A professional brochure is a powerful advertising tool, that will help persuade prospects to do business with you. A brochure does more than just explain and inform, it translates your facts and features into customer benefits and helps sell your product or services. It adds credibility to your business, reinforcing your advertising and marketing efforts. A brochure is the collection of your company’s basic information into a single source that prospects can take with them and read at their leisure.
Company Clothing
Be your own billboard! Wearing clothing with your company brand will reinforce your adverting efforts and build recognition. “People will ask you what you do,” says Ruth King, small business expert and author of the book, The Ugly Truth about Small Business. “Then you can recite your pitch and ask for the order.”
E-mail Signature
Don’t let any e-mail escape your computer without tagging it as a marketing message. Come up with a catchy e-mail signature and include your name, business name, contact information, pithy tag line, a web address and even a one- or two-line announcement at the bottom of the signature about a new book, product, seminar or service offering you’ve announced.
Elevator Pitch
Develop an “Elevator Pitch” – a strong, 30-second spoken spiel that could convince someone to invest in your business, in the space of an elevator ride. Keep this handy whenever the opportunity arises to promote your new business or product. You also can commit your elevator speech to paper, or modify it into a “mission statement,” and hand it out readily along with your other marketing materials.
