Essential Marketing Tips for Senior Entrepreneurs
by Katie Conroy
Launching a business later in life can be intimidating. The good news is that age brings wisdom. The average age of a successful business founder is 45. However, one area that many mature founders struggle with is marketing. There are many reasons small businesses fail. But no matter how good a product or service is, people can't buy it if they don't know it exists. Learning to market effectively is one of the most important parts of building any business. Check out Rick’s web design services to start.
Invest in Your Own Skills
The best way to learn marketing is from the experts. Consider studying for an online MBA. These programs are flexible and take just one year to complete, giving you the opportunity to learn about marketing and other areas of business. Most MBAs cover accounting, strategic planning, corporate finance, market research, statistics, and HR. Complete an MBA at your own pace, and come away a better business person overall.
Know When to Refresh Your Strategy
Marketing is an ongoing strategy, not something to do just once. As a business owner, you must always conduct market research to ensure there's demand for the products you're planning to launch and to track the results of your marketing efforts. If a campaign seems to be giving poorer results than it used to, look for new options. Run several marketing campaigns at once across different media for best results.
Traditional Methods Still Work
Marketing is all about building awareness. There's no need to turn to gimmicks to achieve this. Tried and true methods can offer a good return on investment. Some popular and useful marketing strategies include:
- Networking via meet-up groups, chambers of commerce, or other societies
- Asking current customers to refer their friends and family
- Having a visually appealing website
- Promoting your business on social media
- Running coupons and special offers
- Partnering with local businesses in loosely related niches
Build a Strong Team
Small businesses are often family businesses. While there's a lot of benefit to having willing helping hands from within your family, this comes with pitfalls too. Sometimes, recruiting external expertise can help entrepreneurs grow and market their business more effectively. Don't be scared to bring in external experts when needed.
Take Advantage of Free Tools
Many startups operate with limited capital. Poor cash flow is one reason many small businesses fail. Use free or low-cost solutions for marketing to help reduce expenditure as much as possible and streamline the marketing workflow.
For example, a project that has several teams involved may benefit from using a PDF meeting tool to collate multiple documents and keep them in one easy-to-use (and universal) file format. Combining PDF files ensures no content goes missing, and everyone has access to the information they need.
Marketing Is the Key to Business Success
Whatever the type of business, marketing is essential to raise awareness. Having an MBA is helpful, but diverse strategies, such as referrals, social media, and websites, are key, and free tools can help with these efforts.
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