- Jun 8, 2015
- By Matthew Barthel
- In Marketing Strategy and Planning
Don’t Stay Stagnant: 10 Methods to Grow Your Organization
Feel like your organization isn’t moving forward? The success of a business is dependent on growth, and it takes extra work to get there — having a strategic marketing process in place is essential for adapting to evolving marketing demands. Implementing smart strategies to capture a wider audience and new customers is what keeps profits growing. So, if you think your business could use some revamping, read these 10 methods to grow your organization and set it apart from competitors.
1. Get Social
If your business isn’t on social media sites, you can be sure that your competition is. It’s likely that they’re winning over your potential customers, so it’s time to join the conversation. For example, you can start by investing in “Like” ads on Facebook and adding consumers that follow your competitors to ramp up your brand awareness — you can tap into an audience that’s already interested in your industry and drive growth. Other popular social media sites you should utilize include Twitter, Google+ and Instagram.
2. Diversify
Diversifying is an effective growth strategy since it gives you multiple streams of income while increasing sales and profit margins. For instance, consider selling complementary services or products to meet your customers’ needs even further. All around, diversifying broadens your target audience and increases brand presence in the marketplace.
3. Open Another Location
Once you’ve done the research and number-planning, physical expansion may be a good option to grow your bottom line. Choose a location that’s best for your business and capture the local foot traffic. When done right, opening more locations is a smart choice.
4. Target New Markets
Even if your current market is serving you well, there are other markets that can be targeted for your products or services. For example, if your demographic target market is teenagers and college students, consider marketing to schools, colleges and academic clubs. Think outside the box and take your products and services to the markets that need it.
5. Get a Government Contract
If it fits your business plan, Uncle Sam is a great customer to have. As a matter of fact, the U.S. government is the largest purchaser of services and goods in the world. While proposals typically take a lot of groundwork and research, it’s usually worth the effort. You’ll have a big customer in place and avoid the external competition of the marketplace.
6. Expand Globally
Provided that your organization has lofty expansion goals, prime your product for the international market through foreign distributors. These agents can carry an inventory of your products and resell it to their domestic market.
7. Implement Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is definitely a key part of today’s strategic marketing process. Engage your audience with marketing tactics in multiple channels to encourage prospects and existing customers to learn about your brand, visit your website and take action. Digital marketing can grow your organization in ways never possible in the past.
8. Tune-Up Your Business Website
To really develop your organization, invest in a responsive website that is fast and mobile-friendly. In addition, your website should enhance the user experience with professional images and engaging videos. To increase your search rankings and garner more organic traffic, optimize your SEO tactics by using the right keywords, creating alluring headlines and using meta tags.
9. License Your Product or Service
Licensing your product is an effective growth medium, as you’ll be able to receive both upfront money and royalties from ongoing sales. You can find a licensing partner by researching companies that provide similar services or products.
10. Offer Your Business as a Franchise
If your organization aims to expand nationally, consider offering your business as a franchise. You can set up markets outside of your home territory and grow your organization through investors. If you want to start a franchise, all you need to do is work with a national franchise broker.
Know Your Goal and Get to Work
It’d be completely ineffective to take on all ten of these business growth methods. What’s most important is understanding what direction you’d like your organization to progress in, and then devising a strategic marketing process to reach your growth goals. Whether you’d like to expand your digital audience or take your business to the national or global level, choosing an effective method to get you there is key.