In business, you can’t afford to stagnate. Whether you’re focused on slow, steady growth or trying to scale up on an exponential level, the point is the same: You have to keep growing if you want to do more than just survive in your market.
The growth of your business may be driven by new product developments or service offerings and a focus on sales, but it’s a mistake to underestimate the power that a coordinated marketing approach can have on your ultimate success.
The marketing pros at RocketSEM say that too many companies fail to realize that good marketing takes the long view when it comes to the game of business. Any marketing agency worth their salt will tell you that you have to lay the foundation for tomorrow’s business growth by investing in your marketing plan today.
Here are four big ways that your marketing efforts support the growth of your business:
1. Marketing Increases Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is one of the primary goals of most marketing campaigns. After all, you can’t reach new customers if they don’t know you exist. Brand awareness also helps you strengthen the affinity you have with your existing customers, drive more traffic to your website, and broaden your market share.
There’s no real mystery why this happens: When a brand manages to cement its name into the consumer’s mind relative to a specific product or service, that consumer is far more likely to look to that brand the next time they need those products or services. People gravitate toward companies that feel familiar — which is why people look for Xerox machines when they want a copier and associate Ragu with spaghetti sauce so strongly that both brand names have become synonymous with their products.
But brand awareness doesn’t just help you attract customers. It also helps you find new investors, which can be important if you need an influx of cash to grow your business. Research indicates that 82% of investors say that brand name recognition factors heavily into their investment decisions. If they haven’t heard of your brand, they’re less inclined to invest.
2. Marketing Shapes the Public Perception of Your Company
You can’t stop at mere recognition when it comes to your brand name or product. You also need to use marketing to shape the way that your brand is perceived.
Marketing is always designed to carve out a strong, differentiated company image in the hearts and minds of your target audience. The right marketing approach can help you convey authority in your field, express your company’s values, and show transparency — all of which increases consumer trust and loyalty. When you use marketing this way, you create an emotional connection with your target audience that keeps them bonded with your brand — building customers for life.
When you’re trying to build consumer loyalty, marketing consistency is key. A unified marketing approach across all platforms can actually increase company revenues by up to 23%, mostly because consumers begin to feel that they really know what to expect from your brand. A shared sense of values will even keep 89% of consumers loyal to your brand over time — even when some competitor comes along with a shiny new offer.
3. Marketing Can Also Reshape Your Company’s Image
Sometimes a company has a strong brand identity, but the company image gets tarnished in some way. A poor decision in the past or an image that seems outdated can drive existing customers to your competitors and make prospective ones look elsewhere.
A good marketing agency can help you adjust your operating model to your consumer’s needs. The right visual and written content across all your platforms can start to communicate a new message that will renew consumer engagement and shift their perception. Done well, the transition can seem smooth and natural, which helps with your brand’s credibility. This isn’t just essential for growth, but also your company’s long-term survival.
4. Marketing Helps Introduce New Products to the Market
There’s always something new out there on the market, so you have to constantly have to improve your existing products or services and develop new ones to stay on top. Marketing is the number one way to make people conscious that you have something new available — ideally before they even realize they want what you have to offer.
Marketing is also a great way to get existing customers to try new products or services. When your early branding and marketing efforts are successful and you gain the trust of your customers, roughly 60% will try whatever you offer next. That’s a stable customer base you can depend on when you’re seeking to grow.
5. Marketing Supports Your Sales Staff
Marketing is an essential part of the support system your sales staff needs to be more productive. A good marketing plan compliments your sales staff’s efforts in the following ways:
- It can help identify the target audience for each of your products and services so that your sales staff can better target high-quality prospects for conversion.
- It strengthens the message you want your sales staff to convey about your company’s strengths, goals, fundamental ethics, and mission.
- It enables your sales staff to clearly define what makes your product or service superior to the ones offered by your competition.
Done right, marketing should make it easier for your sales staff to confidently answer a prospective client when they ask, “Why should I buy from your company and not someone else?”
Marketing is the tool you can use to create content that will generate interest in your business, attract the highest-quality clients and prospects, and nurture your leads. It’s also the number one way to shape the way that your brand is perceived by both consumers and investors.
When you want your business to thrive and grow, don’t go for “quick fixes” and blitz ads. Work with a marketing agency that understands your long-range goals, instead. Building your business means building your brand, and that’s something that’s best accomplished over time through a comprehensive marketing approach.