Business growth can be accomplished in many ways, but certainly, content marketing and video marketing are two of the best and most affordable ways to bring in new leads and expand your business. Today, we’re discussing several methods to grow your business effectively and affordably. 

At its most basic level, marketing is the process of identifying customer needs and determining how best to meet those needs. Advertising is the promotion of a company and its products or services through paid channels designed for a variety of people. 

In marketing, we communicate with a specific type of client. 
In advertising, we talk “at” multiple potential clients. 

Together, marketing and advertising form the most important part of any business by addressing the questions, 
“What will we sell and to whom will we sell it?” 

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a marketing strategy used to attract, engage, and retain an audience by creating and sharing relevant articles, videos, podcasts, and other media. This approach establishes expertise, promotes brand awareness, and keeps your business top of mind when it’s time to buy what you sell.

When we think about content, we usually think of writing services. But, there is much more involved in content management. An engaging video presentation is a powerful way to reach a target audience who prefers visual content. Audio content or podcasts is an ideal way to reach a busy client who has to do a lot of driving or is engaged in other projects. 

When we design a website at Moonlit Media, we want you to think about how you will be communicating with your clients. This helps us create a site that will be appealing to you and your future customers. 

• Website content: Your website is often your first introduction to a potential client. It’s important that your site be clean, informative, and reflective of your brand in colors and design. This is why hiring a professional developer like Moonlit Media is important.
  
• Blog content: Remember, not everyone wants to read a blog, but everyone wants one available. These days, people want to know who they are dealing with in business. Blogging gives you a place to reveal your dynamic personality and convince people to purchase. But, it may not be for everyone. If you prefer to keep your blog professional, that’s fantastic! Not everyone wants to read stories, learn about the owner, download in-depth digital marketing materials, or subscribe to email marketing. It’s important to understand what your goals are prior to starting. 

• Email marketing/newsletters: Every company should have a newsletter signup, even if they don’t send out newsletters. Asking your customers to sign up is as simple as entering an email address during checkout (which enables you to send out follow-up and delivery notices). It also gives you a solid base that you can use in your online ads. By uploading your contact list to (for example) Facebook – you can then create a duplicate or similar audience to advertise to. 

• Reviews: Reviews can be incredibly helpful to your company. Use them to create social media posts. When asking for reviews, keep your info short and to the point. An example may be a follow up email a week or so after the product delivery or service that simply states, “We are so happy you’ve chosen our business! Please leave a short review on your experience with us and in return, we will send you a discount code for 10% off your next purchase. 

• Social media: In social media, a single post can make or break your company. A viral post may take your company get your company in the limelight, but a bad video will take you there for the wrong reasons. This is why it’s very important to have a social media strategy. 

If you haven’t defined your optimum client, it’s time to do some research. Consider every post you write with an eye toward your intended audience. In some cases, it’s best to hire a social media manager to handle your accounts. If hiring a social media manager is not within your budget, you can utilize a variety of tools to schedule posts ahead of time. This enables the owner to devote more time to strategy and creation. 

• Advertising: Choosing print publications to work with can be challenging. But it’s certainly a great way to garner publicity. For paid placement, look at the company’s media kit. This presents an overview of what they are looking for, optimum dates to include products, and more. 

• Public Relations: Public Relations managers handle a variety of tasks, including managing your company’s role in the public. After all, it’s not always about who you know but who your PR agent knows. Public relations also play an important role in securing free placement in publications, on television and radio, and much more. 

• Video Marketing: With apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook Reels (note – if you have accounts on these, link to your own page) – it’s little wonder that video marketing is taking over social media. These days, we have about 4 seconds to capture a future buyer’s attention. Video can do this quickly and effectively. 

• Podcasts: Don’t have the energy for a weekly podcast? Find out which ones are most popular with your audience and ask to be a guest. Start small within your industry. These podcasts are much more likely to bring you on as a guest, and they tend to promote more fully. Be sure you return the favor by getting the name of their podcast out during your promos. Always follow up with a thank you!

• Location-based Marketing: Location-based marketing is a direct marketing strategy that uses a mobile device’s location to distribute content or services (such as push notifications) associated with a particular place. It is essentially reliant on your phone’s ability to find you. When you go shopping, you may receive a text from a local store inviting you to stop by. This is based on your location, your privacy settings, your cookie settings, and more. 

No matter which type of marketing structure you choose, consistency is key. If you’re funning location-based ads, run them continuously if you choose TikTok to promote your business, post daily. Facebook and Instagram now require multiple posts daily (reels and stories should be included in these posts). Every platform has a variety of ways to attract attention, but there are numerous tricks to each. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, consider the use of a social media scheduler. These tools help you manage multiple networks with all of their associated quirks. 

Outsourcing Your Marketing

Running a marketing campaign and a variety of social media profiles can be challenging and incredibly time-consuming. You could absolutely do it yourself, but you could also outsource this portion by hiring a social media manager. 

The most important thing to remember is that social media is a “pay-to-play” world now. While these networks are ideal for building an audience, it’s important that you will need to run ads while doing so. In order to succeed with these ads,  you must have a strong understanding of your audience.