Denver, Colorado – So you’ve started your business, worked hard to establish a great brand, tried your hand at social media marketing and maybe done a bit of print or radio advertising. And now you feel you’re grown about as much as you can doing things that way and you wonder what to try next to take your business to the next level. Well if yours is like most businesses, the answer may lie in looking at your Big Picture.

Develop a Strategy – If you can identify who your target customers are, where your best opportunity for growth lies and any key changes you plan to make; like adding new products, services or lines of business, you can develop a marketing strategy that will help you coordinate your efforts and make the most of every dollar. When all your marketing efforts are aimed at the same target, each one reinforces all the others and gives leverage to your investment.

Start a Blog – Blogging makes you a thought-leader, establishes you as an expert in your field and coaxes search engines to give you better positioning. It’s also a great way to personalize your business by letting people get to know you. People will read blogs who might not read marketing copy.

Focus Your Social Media – Rethink your social media presence in terms of your strategy. Is it targeted toward your strategic objectives? Use social media to refine your knowledge of your market by giving your visitors an incentive to take an action – like a survey, a vote or a download — that will give you useful data.

Try New Ideas – Try new marketing ideas that you haven’t tried before to discover new ways to reach your market. Maybe wearable electronic ads, an Internet mascot or a Grand Sweepstakes will work for you. You’ll never know until you try. Be open, experiment and do more of what works!

Measure Your Market – The best way to know whether your marketing is working is to measure your results – and not just in dollars. Conduct surveys, solicit feedback, analyze your website metrics and/or hire a research firm to conduct focus groups for you. The more you know about who your customers are and what they want, the better you will be able to give it to them.

Get Some Help – If you’re really ready to take your business to the next level, this may be the perfect time for you to utilize the services of a marketing professional. The right help at the right time can save you a lot of money by guiding you toward the techniques that have worked best for others and getting it right the first time.

If you would like to speak with a marketing professional, contact me, David Drewitz at david@creativeoptionscommunications.com or visit our contact page.