8 Experts Share Their Number One Marketing Tip for New Businesses

I recently heard a quote that hit the nail on the head: “Business has only two functions: innovation and marketing.” The first is what creates the million-dollar idea; the second is what makes money off of it.

If you’re neck deep in the process of launching a new business, you’re probably excited, overwhelmed and overworked all at once.

To give you a leg up on the marketing side of things, I rounded up eight industry experts (plus my own two cents) to share their number one marketing tip for getting your business off the ground. These guys have built brands from the ground up, managed hundreds of thousands of dollars in ad campaigns and overseen the growth of companies around the world.

Here’s their best advice.

1. Create a cohesive visual identity.

“This is anything visual that represents your business and forms an important part of your overall brand. When you are first getting your name out there, consistency is key. You want to have a strong identity so that your brand is recognizable. You should create style guidelines for your business up front.

This style guide is something you’ll refer to each time you create a new item for marketing. The guide may include items like your logo, color palette, fonts, photography style and other design elements like textures or patterns. This consistency in your visual identity will make you look reputable, give a good first impression and differentiate your offerings from your competition.”

-Ciera Holzenthal, Cieradesign.com

2. Be picky about your social platforms.

“Businesses starting out on Social Media should identify the top two social media platforms their target audience is most likely to be on and focus their resources on marketing the Brand on those platforms rather than spreading themselves thin across all social media platforms possible.

Having the owner/founder as the face of the company is recommended so the Brand has a human touch and people are more likely to engage with a person rather than a new Brand. The most important aspect is sharing content consistently that adds value to the target demographics, rather than having posts that are only sharing commercial information about the brand. Native Videos (up to 30 seconds), Infographics and Animated gifs, have higher rate of engagement on Social, and using them in the right content mix aids to keep your audience engaged with the Brand.”

-Roy Oliver, Social Delight

3. Build your list from day one.

“My advice when you’re starting out: Start growing your list. Even if you’re not super clear on your positioning or niche, if you’re planning on brand your business around you, your list is going to stay relevant because YOU are the person they’re following. And then, once you have things to sell, it’ll be easier to make money too.”

-Kamila Gornia, Kamilagornia.com

4. Grab your domain—fast!

“Make sure you can secure the domain for your business name – don’t choose a name and then think about the website as your domain will be the primary way for people to find you. Make sure there is a relevant domain available so that your business and domain name match.

If you don’t have a matching domain name, it can be confusing for customers who know you by one name, then discover a website with an entirely different name. Often people will click away thinking they’re on the wrong site.

So do some due diligence before registering your company name – check what domains are available and make sure you’ve got at least your local country domain and ideally the .com as well (if you’re not US based) so that you’ve got an international domain covered for future growth. Domain strategy is really important, don’t underestimate the value of a good domain.”

-James Gurd, DigitalJuggler.com

5. Create specific goals, then hone in on them.

“The most important thing I’ve done for my business has been to keep my goals in mind for every piece of content I’ve created. And this is also my best piece of advice for new business owners.

Whether you’re writing a blog post, email, social media update, or being interviewed, don’t forget what you’re aiming to accomplish. For example, if you’re growing an email list, make sure you’re talking about it and all the extra free value it provides! Take every opportunity you get to prove your expertise and lead your potential clients and customers to your most valuable content.”

-Krista Rae, kristarae.co

6. Design a logo with purpose.

“Six years ago, I launched my business with only two very important things… a laptop and a logo. A logo is more than a mere image – it’s the personality and identity behind your brand. But, before you hire a designer or delve into Photoshop, here are a few important points to consider:

What message do you want your logo to convey? Start by crafting a one-sentence mission statement and stay true to that statement throughout the design process.

Decide what you want to communicate about your brand. Does it have a distinct personality –serious or lighthearted? What makes it stand out from the competition?

Because I have a background in both business and creative writing, I took a bolder approach to express an emphasis on communication through creativity.

In the end, a good logo should be easy to reproduce, memorable and distinctive.”

Shelly Gill, Gill-gal.com

7. Remember to think SEO for PR.

“Everyone knows that power of public relations. Nothing beats a solid mention in the media, or better yet a feature. But did you know that PR could be your most powerful ally in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Just one little tweak can lift your website head and shoulders above your competition. The tweak is, make sure the media mention includes a link to your website. SEO is heavily based on “backlinks”, that is, links from other websites to yours. The more authoritative the website, the more power that link has for you.

News and media websites are among the most authoritative from an SEO perspective. If the article they write about you doesn’t include a link, email the reporter and ask very nicely if they can add one. If you had a thought leadership or opinion article placed in an outlet, make sure they have a link to your website in your bio. Just this one little tip can make a huge difference in your search engine rankings.”

Edward Yang, Firecrackerpr.com

8. Test and measure what you do.

“When you’re starting out as a business, chances are you have no idea what will or won’t work. But in order to really know, you need to be set up to track your various initiatives.

Because if you aren’t tracking, then it never really happened. What I mean is that if you have no record of what you are doing or how users on your website got to it, what pages they visited, etc. Then it might as well have not happened as you don’t have any insight.

So it’s important to at a minimum set up Google Analytics on your website so that you can gather information about your website and its visitors. And once you have this done, I recommend testing different marketing initiatives to see what drives the most results.

This could be something like determining which paid search platform drives the most leads at the right price. Or it could be as simple as running some tests on your social media accounts.

The goal is to see what works and do more of it. Throw out what doesn’t and try something new to test against what works best. Over time you’ll be constantly improving the marketing in your business through proper tracking and testing.”

Chris Makara, Chrismakara.com

9. Don’t get hung up on minor decisions.

And my number one marketing tip? Here it is.

Launching a business comes with hundreds of decisions, from what to name your company to where to spend your ad dollars and everything in between. It’s easy to get so overwhelmed that you do nothing instead of moving forward.

When faced with a decision, marketing or otherwise, don’t waffle. Make a choice and move forward. It’s very rarely that one decision makes or breaks a company; it’s how you adapt and respond to the outcomes of your decisions.

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