Start with a marketing plan! A marketing plan is needed for a number of reasons. It provides a roadmap for the success of a business’s marketing strategies and objectives. It focuses resources on what’s needed to reach desired goals, and examines the organization’s current environment, targeting potential opportunities and challenges from competition and other factors.

It also outlines strategies to measure the success of the marketing efforts and review/modify as needed.

1. Understand Your Audience: First, entrepreneurs should focus their efforts on understanding their target customers. What needs to be learned about them in terms of pain points, interests, demographics, etc.?

2. Set Goals: Having clearly defined marketing objectives will make all future marketing efforts easier to track, measure, and adjust as needed.

3. Establish or Optimize Your Online Presence: Most small businesses today should begin by optimizing their presence online, setting up social media accounts, optimizing their website for SEO, and creating blog posts.  Assignment: GOOGLE yourself and your business. Any surprises?

4. Leverage Content Marketing:  Social media content, Video content, podcast content and email marketing are powerful tools for driving awareness and leads, and entrepreneurs should take full advantage of them.

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