Selling online

Here are the key things that I considered before starting my small business and would recommend you do before starting yours.

Hi, I’m Isobel Perl and I’m the founder of a 6-figure skincare company, PERL cosmetics. And as a small business owner I have been invited by the Post Office to support their Drop and Go customers with marketing tips and tricks that I used at the beginning of my journey. Drop and Go is their free, bulk, fast-tracked mail service for businesses just like yours and it’s really easy to use without having to wait at the counter. There is no weighing, no scanning or adding postage labels. All you need to do is hand over your items and then the Post Office will sort the postage for you the same day. It’ll save you time, meaning that you can focus on other important things like branding and marketing. Now, let’s get into the top tips for branding and marketing for your business.

Tip number 1 is to define what your unique selling points are. These are factors that are going to help develop your brand’s identity. This is what makes your business appealing to customers and it helps them choose your business over your competitors, because you’ve shown them your competitive advantage. Tip number 2 is to define what your mission and vision statements are going to be. Your mission statement clearly communicates your brand’s purpose, objectives and how it plans to serve your audience. It describes the aims of your business and how you will achieve it, and it is the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. Your vision statement describes the future direction of your business which encompasses the purpose and the values. And it defines where you want your achievements to lead in the future and is the ‘why’. My third tip is to define who your target audience are. It’s important to understand who they are, what they do, what their demographics are as this can help you build out your buyers’ persona. Doing so will help you understand and identify ways that you can serve them to give them an excellent customer experience. And my final tip is to invest in your customer service processes. It is critical for the growth of your business to plan and polish these. And be sure you’re ready to provide your customers an excellent customer experience. For example, use a reputable postage provider, such as the Post Office Drop and Go so your orders are delivered on time giving an excellent customer experience. Providing a positive customer experience is key and it adds value to your business resulting in positive reviews and a strong brand image.

So, to recap, have a clear understanding of your unique selling points. Have a clear mission and vision. Identify who your target audience are and keep on working on your customer service and your customer experience, finding ways to keep your customers happy. Doing all these things will help you make informed decisions for your business and will also feed into things like your strategies, for example, your social media marketing strategy, your email marketing strategy as well as your influencer marketing. To get set up, visit postoffice.co.uk and search Drop and Go.