If you played sports as a kid, you know about practicing the basics. Your coach probably had you practice basic drills over and over again. Learning those basics skills built a solid foundation for you to do great things.
The same is true in business; you need to know your basics inside and out. One of the most important skills you need is marketing.
Marketing is defined as a suite of principles and strategies you use in your business to create awareness of your product and services. Marketing is beneficial to your business because it:
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Establishes awareness that your business exists
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Promotes branding and name recognition
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Provides general information about your business or your products/services
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When done well, it creates trust and credibility
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Distinguishes your business from the competition
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Communicates new products and services
The key to effective marketing is to send a message that resonates with your target market, attracts them to your business, communicates the benefits of your product or service and compels them to contact you.
To support and inspire your marketing strategy, here are 7 fundamental marketing principles. The absence of any of these principles can undermine the effectiveness of your marketing:
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Identify what your target wants and needs: The wants and needs of your target market influence the products and services you offer, and how you go about marketing to them.
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Provide relevant products and services: Position and promote your products and services so that they are attractive to the target market.
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Emphasize solutions and benefits, more than features: Solutions and benefits are the true value of your offering and will more likely ignite emotion and ultimately move your target to buy.
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Build a relationship with your target market: Demonstrate, through marketing, that they need you and that they will be better off because of what you can offer them.
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Be consistent in how you brand your business: The key here is to demonstrate your uniqueness, deliver of your promise, and to maintain a consistent branding message.
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Start simple and build your strategy over time: Take a phased approach when rolling out your marketing efforts. Don't do it all at once. You will feel overwhelmed, and it will be too much to manage.
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Marketing is an ongoing process; it never stops: A business that wants to be sustainable and profitable should continually invest time and energy in marketing.
