Get started with marketing your service business
You’ve used marketing agencies in the past, spent a small fortune for little or no results. You’ve done marketing inhouse, perhaps employed. You now want to feel confident in how to marketing your b2b service business. You’re ready to do it in the right way to achieve the goals of the business. Get the work that you really want from the right people and businesses. You want profitable sales time and time again.
No more relying on referrals, social media and networking, it’s time to be strategic. You know, working on the business in the right way will help you to develop and grow. Prioritise yourself and your business, you are just as important as your clients.
By taking a step back you jump 10 paces forward. Get more of the right types of clients with these 5 simple steps to market your service business…
- Know why you’re in it
Your story, the reason you setup your business in the first place and the stepping stones that led you there. Remember! It’s stories that create connections with the right people. - Get clear on your vision & set your goals
The one where there’s nothing getting in your way. The dream. This helps identify the small step goals that will get you to your vision. You goals could be to become the authority in your area of expertise. Or it may be about building the right audience, improving prospect to client conversion rates. The customer journey may be your key to achieving the best repeatable experience on volume. Take your pick. - Know what marketing works
Review the marketing activities you have done so far in your business to identify which worked. Thise activities that generated clients - Identify your top 3 target clients
When you know who you need to be marketing and talking to this totally focuses your marketing efforts. Imagine, speaking directly to the right prospective clients 100% of the time. - Be confident with who you and your business are
This enables you to feel at ease, be genuine and attract the clients that you really want repeatedly. To make marketing quick, simple and effective, create key messages that speak directly to the challenges of your target clients. Once done this is the basis for all marketing communications and activities. It’s your marketing bible.
Once completed, these 5 simple steps help decide the right marketing activities for to market your service-based business.
Choosing the right marketing activities for your service business
Now you have key marketing foundations you can choose from a wide range of marketing activities. Keep it simple and you’ll enjoy choosing the right activities for you and your business it. To help get starting, here’s some of the best marketing activities to choose from:
Website
Whether it’s a 5-page site or a very detailed website, B2B service business clients expect a website, a shop window. They need to get an overall feel for the business, its people, how they help and the difference they make.
A website is the face of your business in the online world, it’s open 24/7. Now that’s powerful! You get out what you put in to your website. Get the most from your website investment. Make sure it plays ball with the search engines from the outset otherwise it’s money down the drain.
Social Media Marketing
Yuk! Some of you may say. Or some of you may already be making the most of this, probably too much. Think of it as a complementary marketing activity that supports what you are doing elsewhere. As mentioned previously, don’t rely on social media alone, that’s a very dangerous marketing game to play. Way too many service business owners think social media first, this must change to create a sustainable business.
Email Marketing
Knowing which social media channels your clients are most likely to be on is the best starting point. And remember, you manage your social media, it doesn’t manage you. Be choosy and go with the channels that you are happy to be on. No one wants to see you looking like a rabbit in headlights!
One of my favourites activities for reaching people directly is email. Email enables you to keep in the minds of target clients and clients. You never know when they might need you, and email is the perfect way to keep showing up.
Try out a free email platform before you invest, that way you can make an informed choice. Some of the best email platforms are Mailchimp, Mailer Lite and ConvertKit. Each of these provide a report on who opened and clicked on emails. Basically, you can have yourself a follow-up list of people to contact directly – magic!
Content Marketing
Don’t let marketing terminology put you off, break it down and keep it simple. Marketing buzzwords come and go, understand them on your terms in plain English. Content is content, it’s as simple as that.
Content marketing covers short form (small snippets like social posts, case studies) and long form (podcasts, videos, whitepapers, playbooks). Where would you like to position yourself as the expert?
The above gives you the marketing foundations to market your b2b service business the right way. To double-check your thinking, or get a second opinion on the right marketing activities pop a chat in here.
Written by: Anna Short, Founder of Boo! Marketing and Coaching with way too many years of marketing experience across public, private and third sector.
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