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The tell-tale sign that a business is successful is when they have excited and devoted customers. However, one of the biggest challenges businesses face is getting those customers to walk through the door for the first time. Businesses need customers to survive, but what is the key to finding those faithful customers? Marketing.

As a business, customers must know who you are, what you do, and have the confidence that you can deliver on your promises. It is imperative that you find a unique and effective way to tell your story in order to capture a customer’s attention and establish trust in your product or service. Developing a comprehensive, integrated marketing plan is the first and most crucial step to becoming a successful business, or even to continue steady business growth.

While most businesses understand the need for a strategic marketing plan, few know where to begin in order to implement a successful one. Because of this, organized marketing efforts are either neglected or viewed as a dart board to blindly throw and hope to hit something. Neither of these strategies will produce lasting and measurable results for your business.

With the constant changes in technology, marketing can be a real challenge for small businesses. The makeup of a modern marketing plan includes a wide variety of things including collateral development and production, content development, email marketing, graphic design, mobile marketing, SEO/keyword research, event planning, website development and design, market research, public relations, and that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.

With so many marketing options, it is essential to have a plan. Before you get overwhelmed – your plan doesn’t have to include everything listed above, rather it should be tailored to who you are as a company and what it is you are trying to achieve. You can certainly implement the entire list if you desire and have the budget, however you can still get great results with being smart in your efforts and sticking to a well thought out plan.

If you don’t already have a team of marketing geniuses working for you, don’t panic! Seeking out a marketing firm can be the answer to your problems. Rather than trying to hire one or two people in-house to take on the lofty task of developing and carrying out your marketing plan, letting a team of professionals handle it for you can alleviate the time and money you spend. They already have the experience, skills, and full-service capabilities with no employee training or overhead costs for you to incur.

We’re 24 Communications, an advertising agency in Montgomery, Alabama. If you would like to take your business to the next level, we would love to help.