8 Tips for Marketing a New Business in La Crosse Wisconsin

La Crosse, Wisconsin business owners starting a new business have a lot to consider, so marketing may not be top of mind. However, without a structured and robust marketing plan, a new business will not get off the ground.

As Steuart Henderson Britt, a well-known educator and marketing consultant, once said, "Doing business without advertising is like winking at [someone in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does."

In fact, research has even shown that most start-up businesses don't make it past the five-year mark. In the first year of business, more than half fail, 20% fail within two years, and 45% fail within five. Marketing plays a significant role in these failures.

Fortunately, these tips for marketing a new business in La Crosse, Wisconsin will help ensure your company starts off on the right foot and stays on the path to success.

1. Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

Without a robust marketing plan, your small business in Wisconsin is immediately on the path to being another statistic in the number of companies that fail within the first year or two

Without a plan, your team is not on the same page, unsure of the objectives what methods should be initiated to reach the unspoken objectives. Your team will be unable to make the necessary improvement because, without a plan, there is no good way to track and measure results.

On the other hand, those who plan their marketing proactively are 331% more successful than those who do not. 

2. Know Your Ideal Customer

The 'pray and spray' method of advertising that was once popular will no longer get your business and message in front of the right people.

In fact, it never really did.

Moreover, today's customers not only want but expect personalization in every message and interaction with your brand. According to a McKinsey study, "71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And 76 percent get frustrated when this doesn't happen."

Knowing your ideal customer(s), typically through well-detailed and defined buyer personas, will allow you to better resonate with your target audience and reach them where they're most active.

3. Know Your Competition

To know where you stand in the market, you need to know your competition. This means you know what platforms they're reaching your audience on, how their customers feel about their services (i.e., review sites), and what they're lacking so you can fill in those gaps. You should be able to answer:

• What challenges does your business solve?
• How will it make people's lives better?
• How do your solutions compare to the competition, and where do you do better?

4. Build a Website

A well-designed and developed website and, subsequently, the content on that website is the online profile you must have when building a presence online. It provides searchers (particularly those on search engines looking for services like yours) with insight into who you are, what you do, your expertise, and how to contact you.

In terms of customer acquisition research has found that:

• Eighty-nine percent of businesses rely on their websites to acquire new customers 
• Despite costing more than 60% less than traditional marketing methods, content marketing generates 3X more new customer leads. 

5. Launch an Email Marketing Campaign

Email marketing is still one of the most powerful forms of marketing available. Between its incredible use when integrating the most popular marketing initiatives (i.e., it works great with social media, content marketing, etc.), email marketing is also the best source for:

• Building trust with current/potential customers via 'opt-in' options
• Nourishing relationships with current customers and building meaningful ones with new customers
• Keeping recipients informed on product launches, announcements, personalized tips and recommendations, and much more

In fact, the same report that revealed 89% of businesses rely on websites for customer acquisition also ranked email in second place with 81% and social media sites in third with 72%.

6. Stay Social

Social media marketing is far from a 'third-place' importance to your new business's marketing. It encompasses more than half of the world's population: 4.70 billion. This means you can reach most — if not all — of your target market where they are most active and engaged.

More importantly, it's where they want brands to interact and connect with them. According to NobelBiz, new reports show that today's consumers 'overwhelmingly' support brand interactions on social media as 80% participate in engagement on their favorite platforms.

7. Don't Knock Tradition

Traditional means of advertising are far from useless and irrelevant in today's digital era. In fact, they're still powerful when marketers combine them with digital solutions to boost reach and cut costs.

Take radio ads and endorsements, for instance.

Radio is one of the most trusted channels among consumers, boosting listeners' moods and making them feel less alone. Associating your brand with these qualities will get you closer to listeners and right where you want to be to reach and resonate with them successfully. 

Moreover, the combination of radio and digital maximizes your marketing potential. Reports such as those found on Radio Matters say that radio is the perfect 'lift' for digital advertising because it:

• Reinforces recall and recognition
• Boosts search engine activity (i.e., SEM and SEO rankings)
• Appeals to social media algorithms, as well (radio led to lifts on Facebook, in particular, in one study)

8. Don't Be Afraid to Try New Things

As new generations enter the economy and older generations begin to exit it, it is imperative that your new business can keep up with the changing environment. Just because some things worked for business ten or more years ago does not mean they will work now (although some can with more innovative tactics — i.e., email and radio).

Excellent examples of this are new tactics currently gaining a stronghold in marketing, like podcast advertising and radio streaming (ads).

As radio integrates with digital channels, it remains relevant but takes the shape of a 'new thing' you may not be familiar with right now.

However, you must familiarize yourself with these new things because they're becoming a staple in successful advertising.

Partner with Mid-West Family for Advertising in La Crosse, Wisconsin

Partner with MWF La Crosse to launch your new business with our marketing services. Not only will you stay on top of all the 'new things' taking over the industry, but you will stay on top of the new ways to leverage 'old things' that are still relevant in today's advertising.

Contact us to gain more insight and resources into marketing a new business in Wisconsin.