What’s Your Vision for Your Business?
It’s an exciting time to be in business. Whether you’re pursuing your dream to open the doors to a family-based operation on the Main Street of your home town, or your aspirations are much larger, the world is now available to you at your doorstep. If you have the product the public is looking for and can market it effectively, you are truly only limited by your imagination and creativity.
Breaking from the Traditional Model
There was a time in business where a marketing strategy was as limiting as an ad in the local newspaper and air time on the local radio station. If you were lucky enough to have a regional television station, you might explore options for seasonal visibility in living rooms within a limited radius of your shop. Aside from your media spend, the strongest resource you had to draw in customers to your new business was an attractive storefront with a bold, bright sign.
If you provided good service, you could build your company and rely on word of mouth referrals from satisfied clients to grow and watch your profit margins start to creep in the right direction. But even after years of good business, something changed in the business model at a higher level which changed the game.
The regionalization of business and the centralization of products and services to the regional hub has not only led to a lot of closed doors in surrounding communities, but it has also created new competition from big box stores and national franchises, whose buying power and pricing can make it difficult for small vendors to compete.
We can’t change the climate, so we have to change our strategy to adapt.
Using Tech To Reach Your Customers
While local newspaper and radio may still hold value to reach first time customers who may not even realize that they are in the market for your product or service, a focused online strategy, leveraging the power of the internet has become a game changer for many new businesses as well as those established companies that are looking to remain viable in a changing market.
Now, your attractive store front and bright, bold sign has been replaced by a compelling website which reaches not only customers who happen to pass by on your street, but instead the customers who are taking their search to the internet before ever leaving their homes or breaking from their established routines. This one small change expands your market from the residents and visitors to your town to the Province and the Country at large – anyone that is seeking out what you offer.
The notion of trying to compete against hundreds of competitors on a global level may seem daunting. However, it is important to acknowledge that there are online tools available that help to refine your customer search to a more defined radius. You can reach out to the online viewers that are most likely to become customers.
At Trend Lab, we are helping businesses just like yours reach out to attract new customers and keep their existing clients engaged as well. Let’s talk today about your business and how you can take your marketing and promotions platform to greater heights. Call us at 780-340-7687 or e-mail us at info@trendlab.ca
