There is no better time than the present to start a business, and there is also no better time to take your current operations to the next level. Whether you are still just beginning, or you consider yourself a serial entrepreneur, there is always more to learn on your business journey.

From getting to know your target customer more intimately and upgrading your analytical processes to investing in corporate video production and creating an advisory board, read on to learn five innovative ways to grow your business in 2019.

1. Ensure you are continually getting to know your target customer.

At the very beginning of your business, you probably spent quite a bit of time defining your ideal customer and creating customer profile segments. Remember: The key to rapid growth this year is to do one thing extraordinarily well for a small, select audience. Later on, you can expand your offerings (most business owners feel intimidated when it comes to trying to be so specific). But, particularly at first, you need to be positioned for a particular customer, and then dominate that niche.

As a business owner, you should be profoundly concentrated on your prospective customers and obsessed with knowing and understanding more about them. Your capacity for finding customers, selling them your products or services, and then satisfying them enough so that they return, should be the primary concern of your day-to-day activity. Engaging with your customers will also help you identify their needs and preference. This will bring impact on how you plan to develop your products and services. The more thorough the knowledge you have concerning your target customer is, the more powerful and effective your marketing and branding efforts will be at bringing in new business.

2. Upgrade your analytical process.

While most business owners know the importance of measuring results, analyzing data, and then pivoting direction when necessary, there are still too many who don’t make any moves towards committing to doing this process regularly. Unfortunately, analyzing data isn’t a one-time thing, and instead needs to be revisited continuously.

In fact, you want to always keep a close eye on your marketing metrics so that you can (for example) be continually checking whether or not your hypotheses about messaging tactics are working, or if there is a sudden drop in retention from customers. The sooner you can identify these insights, the quicker you will be able to do something about it.

In 2019, some of the top business analytics intelligence trends include AI and machine learning for data-driven decision-making, Natural Language Processing (NLP), actionable analytics to put data into context, smarter utilization of analytics to impact the business, and accelerated cloud data migration .

3. Invest in corporate video production.

No matter what industry you are in, you can utilize the creations of corporate video production to your advantage. One of the best styles of videos to create this year is an “explainer” video that accurately yet concisely explains your business idea or presents your product or service in a manner that consumers can quickly and easily understand.

As long as you are using the video to communicate with your audience in a fun and engaging manner, you can be presumed to stand out from the crowd and distinguish yourself from your competitors. Not only do explainer videos grab the attention of your target customers, but they also help your marketing message cut through the overwhelming marketing “noise” that consumers are confronted with every day.  

Look to work with a video marketing agency that concentrates on creating the style of videos that can be used to grow your business this year rapidly. While the aesthetics of the content is crucial, you also need to have a video that enhances your message and puts you closer to reaching your marketing and communication goals.

By combining these two aspects, you are much more likely to see corporate video production resulting in increased sales and conversions, while also keeping the branding and personality right for your company and target market.

4. Create an advisory board.

It is never too early to start thinking about creating your company’s advisory board. The purpose of such a group is to provide strategic advice to help your business grow and become the strongest it can be. While, as a founder, your instinct is often correct due to your passion, it is always valuable to have experienced business leaders around you from the get-go with whom you can bounce off ideas and talk about their knowledgeable views.

Commit to communicating with them every quarter and then also have biannual planning meetings where you can go deeper into discussion and ensure that you aren’t overlooking your blind spots.

Don’t wait until you are a global corporation. Every company can profit from a well-structured advisory board due to its ability to provide networking possibilities, much-needed guidance, and an outside perspective.

5. Utilize employees as brand ambassadors.

Whether you have one employee or one hundred, you should always be looking for ways to utilize them as brand ambassadors. Leveraging your own workers as advocates boosts brand awareness (and, therefore, business) as they will be promoting your firm’s message to a highly engaged audience who trusts them with their insight.  

To do this, you need to ascertain methods for encouraging your employees to distribute your company’s original content and for developing a company culture where advocacy is rewarded. That being said, you want to have clear guidelines laying out what should and shouldn’t be shared, so as not to tarnish your firm’s image. Generally, it is suggested that you take the reins and create and curate the relevant content that you want to share.

Perhaps, look into a platform that facilitates employee engagement and advocacy by implementing an internal content hub that allows workers to find and share appropriate content as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Don’t forget that one main priority needs to be creating a workplace culture that aligns with your brand. That way, the right messaging and values will be transmitted from all areas of the company.

What innovative ways are you using to grow your business this year? Do you have any tips and tricks to share with other members of this community? Or, are you currently facing challenges with which you need some help? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!

AUTHOR BIO Anthony Lam is the founder of Punchy Digital Media, a creative agency that helps organisations grow using animated videos and creative visual content. Punchy has a team across Australia and Asia and has worked with clients such as Apple, Westpac and the Australian Government, running campaigns and reaching millions of people.

Image by Alexsander-777 from Pixabay