Did you know that ‘How do I promote my business?’ is searched 880 times on Google every month in the UK? This means that there are a lot of business owners out there that need some help. These business owners, who have busy day jobs, are probably experts in their field but when it comes to marketing they just need a helping hand… Sound familiar? So where do you start? Firstly, the most important thing is working out what you realistically want to achieve. All of us would like a million customers tomorrow, obviously, however the reality is that few of us could handle that level of custom and even fewer could afford the investment to achieve it. So for the sake of ease, say by the end of the year, you simply want to be making 10 more sales each month. To market your product or service effectively you must plan out your customer journey. Plan to make potential customers aware of you, be the expert they find when they are doing research, be the standout business when they are comparing companies to buy from and then (the important bit) convert them into a customer for life. This is obviously a fairly big subject – if you have a look at our website at www.archantlocalimpact.co.uk, you will find out more detail on this planning stage and even some video of yours truly explaining what goes into an effective marketing plan (hopefully without too much waffle). We feel now, more than ever before, that there is a real need from businesses to fully understand and effectively reach their customers. Next time I will focus on the challenge at the start of the process – building brand awareness for a small business. In the meantime if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch. Contact Archant Local Impact on 03331 365390, [email protected] or at www.archantlocalimpact.co.uk