Why Marketing can be your best friend or your worst enemy

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Giving birth to a new product can feel awesome. You’re full of pride as your idea comes to life, passes important tests and gets ready for the big wide world. But your product needs a partner, someone who will help your product to blossom. As a proud parent, you want the best. So when a flashy individual called marketing steps out from the shadows, you might have mixed feelings.

Love it or hate it, marketing is essential. It translates great products into great sales.

But few SMEs have a chief marketing officer. Often, it’s the owner or managing director who decides what approach to take – or maybe it’s the sales manager?

If you’re about to launch a new product, you’ve most likely set aside some funds for marketing. But maybe you’re not sure what to do next, and everyone wants your money. Some may even promise instant results.

It’s wise to be very cautious about what you spend – and how you spend it. Things can go horribly and expensively wrong, and the reputation of both your product and company are on the line.

Here are some helpful principles for getting it right.

Hold yourself back – think strategy first

In some ways, marketing has never been easier. Making announcements on Facebook and Twitter means you can start promoting your new product within seconds of reading this blog. You can send emails to a list of targets in moments. Then there’s pay-per-click, print advertising, trade shows, websites and much more.

No-one likes to curb enthusiasm. But don’t start marketing your product before you’ve developed your strategy and your ‘story’. Without this, you’ll waste budget, get poor results and your stress levels will rocket.

Please read the full article on SME Insider.

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