What’s a business without marketing? Marketing is the very core and essence of every enterprise’s existence and ability to self-sustain. One of the many crucial aspects to consider is an effective marketing strategy to help your business grow, promote your products, services and to gain as well as maintain long-lasting relationships with current and prospective clients.
In this article, we zone into what the ideal marketing skills to have for 2018 are, especially for those looking to improve business or simply starting off their venture into the wide-open world of business.
Why should you market your business?
Marketing does more than simply expose you and your company to better prospects and the ability to create opportunity; it also adds value and helps you to establish a unique brand for your market. There are several factors that are covered in marketing and these can often be influenced by the nature of your business.
Some of these aspects include, but are not limited to:
Effective Sales Boosting
Getting your product or services out in the open is a sure way of gaining new sales prospective. This can come in all forms including customer’s word-of-mouth, paid advertising, as well as client referrals.
Create a Reliable Reputation
Once you’ve developed a strong basis for your business it often means that you’ve managed to secure a stellar reputation which in many cases paves the way forward, helping to increase sales and gaining even more customers. People want the best deals, great customer service, quality products, and value for their money.
Competition is Rife
Life in the business world can get really tough and to stand out from amongst your competitors can be very challenging. However, customers enjoy healthy competition as it gives them the liberty to choose a wider scope of service providers and products. For business owners, the competition eliminates a monopoly factor and thus evens out the playing field, even for less known enterprises.
Top marketing skills to hone for 2018
Next-Level Communication
A little more conversation, a little more networking! Communication is key when looking to do well in business, it’s all about networking and being comfortable with the people you meet and interact with. These days we’ve seen a growth in more and more millennials who are successful entrepreneurs and with this younger generation a change in the way communication happens in business is also eminent.
Some Gen X folks may be concerned about the right way to speak and although this is correct, the younger generation is doing it with ease and even using the likes of text messages to communicate and boost marketing. According to Forbes, more than 60% of millennials make use of text messaging to communicate as opposed to emails and phone calls.
People of all age groups operating in business make use of emails to get their messages across and because our devices these days are so readily equipped and convenient, emails can be checked and replied to just about any time of the day, or night, proving to be effective for communication.
Standard phone calls on the other hand, can be seen as a less favourable choice because the evolution of instant messaging and emails allows the opportunity to think about a situation before instantly replying. With a phone call, you’d need to reply instantly and deal with a situation immediately.
Technology has also opened up online conference calling (Skype or Zoom) and other digital tools to simplify communication processes (Slack, Teamwork, Trello, to name a few).
The point is not to become overwhelmed by the choices out there, but to realise that communication is multi-faceted and ever-changing. Technology will continue to revolutionise the way we do business so it is vital to ensure that you are proficient on digital communication platforms.
The key is to embrace all forms of communication, and consider what works best for your clients.
Strong Leadership
Having strong leadership is like having a captain on a ship, we need them to hold the team together and to provide effective guidance so that the business and team members can thrive in a productive manner. A good leader will set a strong example and be the Yoda of the team or teams that are managed by them.
Great Problem Solving
Running a business comes with all sorts of spontaneous aspects that make it rough, tough and rewarding. The ability to effectively solve problems will go a long way in managing staff, customer liaisons and many other issues related to your business.
Research
Business market research helps to open the playing field and give you a wider perspective of your overall market and clientele. It is important to schedule market research exercises and then to evaluate the outcomes. Market research can assist you to reduce losses, effectively be in the know of your competitors, satisfy customer needs and expectations, and recognise specific problems that you may not have been aware of. This gives you the upper hand and allows you to plan effectively and solve minor problems before they turn into disastrous ones.
Effective SEO and SEM Abilities
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) your implementation of multi-platform proficiency is one of the stepping stones to success. Optimizing your website gives your business a better chance of gaining more traffic and potential clients and or customers. The same goes for effective search engine marketing which implements the use of monetised adverts and other paying campaigns and strategy as part of the marketing role. Both SEM and SEO are very specialized and when done correctly, it can see the business reap better prospects and benefits.
Superb Digital Advertising
Most, if not all businesses operate online and for this reason the presence of online or digital advertising is important. Building an online presence will help get you off the ground even as a start-up company. What’s more is that digital advertising covers a broad spectrum that includes social media, email marketing, and online classifieds to name a few.
Content That Speaks
Creative content is vitally important and helps lay strong foundations for re-occurring visitors as well as converting viewers to buyers.
Gone are the days where content came across as robotic and computerised, tailored to search engines like Google and Bing. Readers or web surfers of today look for great stories that are engaging, interesting and that will give them a reason to support a product.
Become a Hustler
What? Hustling in business? Now that’s something you don’t hear often. To hustle is a skill that develops over-time as you delve deeper into the world of marketing and skills development. To be able to hustle is an essential marketing attribute as this skill comes down to persistence, being able to look past the sense of “failure” and flaws, scoping out the right persons to get in touch with and stay in contact with, knowing your business like the back of your hand and being able to stand out from the competition, while effectively taking action in the marketing spectrum.
Never be Short of Creativity
While business is a serious matter, it’s not to say that you cannot be creative. In fact, creativity is another core factor in marketing skills for 2018 and probably for as long as you choose to have your business.
People look for things that are interesting and to some extent “fun”. Using tact while carrying out creative marketing campaigns, and being able to be critical and detail orientated goes a long way in ensuring fine business.
Being creative may even lead to taking some risks for the company and being spontaneous. Sure you may have boundaries, but sometimes you simply have to think outside the box to make things work!
Talent Spotting
Great talent or the lack thereof in any work environment is going to make or break a business. Marketing skills in the talent pool should match people who have great potential and people who understands and can thrive in your industry.
With the correct marketing, you’ll be able to source the best-suited candidates to be part of your business endeavours.
Spot-On Analytics
Analytics gives you the opportunity to sift out what works and what doesn’t for your business. It is an all-star when it comes to good marketing as it helps you to see how your online presence is progressing.
The correct combination of data and statistics can help you convert and retain your customers while creating a better experience for them and ensuring that they come back for more. Analytics tools PLUS skilled individuals can help you make the best decisions for your business.
The Takeaway
You probably can’t put a price on the rewards that come with strong marketing efforts.
Consider developing your company’s skills throughout 2018 and beyond, and view it as an ongoing investment for your business. With the right strategy in place, and with a strong team to help build and maintain marketing efforts, you should see positive returns.
Technology might change how we market and communicate, however one thing is certain: great leaders understand the power of marketing and actively develop their team’s marketing skills.
