Boost your business: creating a promotional strategy in 8 simple steps

No matter if you are a small brand new startup or a large successful company, media promotion is an integral part of developing your business and expanding your target audience. Here is a 8-step guide that will help you create a promotional strategy for any budget, choose the most relevant media channels, and avoid common mistakes.

Step 1. Create a business statement

What is the key point of your project? What are the main goals and values of your business? What is your product, and how exactly can it change your clients’ lives for the better? What are your strongest sides, and where do you lack in experience — and might need help?

Putting down answers to these questions will make it easy to write your business statement. It will help you to move steadily and confidently to your goals, avoid distractions, find the most efficient ways to communicate with your partners and employees, and so on.

Step 2. Define your marketing goals

What do you aim to achieve with the promotion? Do you want more people to know and recognize your brand? Increase website traffic? Become known as an industry expert? This step will help you decide on an optimal strategy.

Step 3. Study the target audience

To reach your audience, you have to know them. Create a portrait of your customer. How old are they? Where do they work, and what do they do in their spare time? How much do they earn? Are they married? Do they have kids? Which websites do they visit?

This step will give you a better understanding of how to engage with your clients through the media they read and the social networks they use.

Step 4. Analyze the competition

Study the websites, social networks, and media presence of your closest competitors. Which promotional channels do they use? What information do they share? Which features of their business and products do they emphasize?

When you find out which strategies are efficient for your rivals, you will be able to adapt them to your business and create your unique approach.

Step 5. Set the budget

Now is the time to estimate your resources. How extensive will your campaign be, and who will be responsible for it? There are three options to the latter: doing the promotion yourself, hiring a dedicated manager who will be in charge of your PR, or outsourcing the task to a professional agency.

Step 6. Choose your social media

For the most efficient SMM strategy, you should define which networks will be most relevant for you. For example, Facebook and Linkedin are perfect for companies in the legal and consulting fields, while Instagram is the best choice for those companies who sell goods and services or create visual content.

Remember: you, as well as your employees, are the face of your business — so pay attention to what you post on your personal page as well. It’s best if you all list your current position in your profile whenever it is possible.

Step 7. Use social journalism platforms

Social journalism is one of the leading promotional trends of our time. One of the top platforms ones is Medium, with a 60-million audience interested in a wide range of themes. It is an excellent and cost-free way to expand your media presence.

It’s best to register a Medium account a few months before starting your promotion, — so when you do, you will already have some history of posts and comments. If you do so, you will create more trust for your business from both clients and the media.

Step 8. Pick online and offline media for your promotion

When you start exploring new and old media, you will find that there are hundreds of different titles you can pick from. There are general and industry media, media platforms, online news resources, while the formats include but are not limited to sponsored articles, interviews, and expert opinions.

Make your choice based on the promotional goals you’ve defined earlier, your budget, and your research on the target audience. If your topic is relevant to the media, and if its audience belongs to your target group, then it looks like a good pick for you.

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Defining a working marketing strategy is just the first step in promoting your business — but, for sure, one of the most important ones. With these eight steps, you will be well prepared for promoting your business and strengthening your media presence.