When you’re starting a new business, you have a lot to keep track of, so it’s understandable that some things might slip your mind — like marketing, something you might not think you need to focus on right away. Is marketing really that important at the beginning of a new venture?

The answer is a resounding yes.

In fact, this may be one of the most important times for marketing, because it’s important to get a fast start to ensure long-term viability. Here are 4 ways that marketing can be extremely valuable for a new business.

1. SEO for Visibility

After you start a new business, your first challenge will be breaking into the market and getting in front of your audience. This takes an early commitment to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). A strong SEO foundation helps you rank when a prospective customer searches for your product or service in their area on Google or Bing.

SEO consists of a combination of developing a website optimized for relevant keyword search and usability, as well as building profiles (on Google My Business, for example) that enable you to appear legitimate and start building a strong reputation for your brand.

2. Paid Advertising for Brand Awareness

In the early days of your business, you won’t have a large number of customers, followers on your social media pages, or other devotees across your digital properties. Paid marketing can extend your reach.

When your competitors are more established than you are, you have to be more aggressive with your ad campaigns. Rolling out a well-designed pay-per-click (PPC) strategy or just boosting your posts to a larger audience will increase the odds that your brand will be able to get in front of the right people.

An experienced marketing team can help you develop campaigns, create assets, and break down your budget to maximize ROI as you start to raise awareness for your new business.

3. Review Management for Online Reputation

So many customers base the decision to do business with a company off of customer ratings and product reviews, you can’t afford not to focus on your reputation. With this in mind, it can be difficult to understand where to start.

One thing is for sure: if your new business is like countless others — on a shoestring budget with very small margins to work with — you can’t afford to lose sales because of bad reviews.

Review management is a focus in digital marketing that increases new reviews and helps get your online reputation to a point where you can receive trust and credibility from potential clients and customers.

4. Content Marketing for Customer Retention

Last, but certainly not least, we can’t forget content creation and deployment. As you’re building a base of customers, it’s critical to nurture those relationships and keep them in the fold as you work to bring in new business at the same time. This is how you grow in your industry.

Content marketing consists of developing written, graphic, and video content that’s relevant and valuable to your customers and then deploying it through channels like social media, email, and on your website. The more engagement you get with your content, the more you can rest on the fact that your customers see your business as a positive part of their life, keeping them motivated to keep using your products or services into the future.

As a digital agency, Azonaco applies its talent and experience for the benefit of our clients all over the United States. If you’re starting a business, our commitment is to learn your market, get to know your audience, and then leverage your brand to rise above the competition. Contact us today to learn more!