Strategic, thoughtful marketing helps you achieve your business goals, such as increasing your brand’s awareness and profitability. If you’re a small business owner, these can be tougher to achieve. Even on a tighter budget, we have a list of five proven marketing strategies so you can compete with the big boys.
Take advantage of Google My Business
Google My Business is a great marketing tool for small businesses that focus on niche markets. When people search for your business on Google, your website will appear with everything your audience needs to know. Keeping your page up-to-date is essential to drawing in more customers and taking control of your company’s visibility. Positive reviews also build your brand’s credibility. The difference between a three-star and four-star rating on Google can make or break your potential for new sales.
Provide value to your customers
Gaining your customers’ trust is crucial for fostering a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship with them—and creating valuable content is a great starting point. For instance, a blog section on your website is a great way to build credibility and awareness. You can also use that content to drive traffic both organically and via paid channels. Relevant, topical content helps boost your search rankings while paid ads and social media can give your posts a wider reach than you might otherwise have. Ultimately, supplying educational content on a consistent basis encourages prospects to engage with your brand in an organic way and helps build trust before you make an “ask,” increasing the likelihood that you’ll turn prospects into customers.
Event marketing
Hosting an event is a great way to acquire new customers. Offering promotions, discounts, educational workshops, speakers and free demos of your product or service at your event puts your company in the spotlight. But don’t forget to promote your event! Promoting your event through social media and a company news release to your contacts will give you a better chance of gathering attendees. Even if you don’t make a sale that day, you’ve built awareness around your product or service and you get the conversation started around your product through social media and word of mouth. Your budget will dictate the size of the event, but if you do the market research and target the right people, you’ll ensure that sales will follow.
Don’t forget about your existing customers
Nurturing your relationship with your existing customers is vital, especially if your business operates with contract renewals. Annie Dillard, a content manager for EssayOnTime sums this concept up perfectly, “For every business, it’s more affordable and efficient to invest in a relationship with existing clients than to invest efforts in getting new customers. Therefore, call your customers to see if they are satisfied with your product, send them a birthday’s cards, organize special promotions only for them and find other ways you can show you care about them. Later on, you can create complimentary products or service that your old clients would gladly purchase and recommend.”
Promote your business on Instagram
With over 1 billion active monthly users, Instagram has become one of the most popular social networks. Being active on Instagram is an amazing way to get your brand’s name out there. Keep in mind that visuals are everything. There cannot be a poorly taken video or image on your page. You need to keep it crisp and visually appealing. Taking advantage of Instagram’s advertising options also generates engagement with your audience. You can promote to as general or specific audience as you wish for a reasonable price. On your daily social posts that you are not promoting, using relevant hashtags also reaches potential customers without spending a dime. Engaging with Instagram accounts will also give you a better chance of increasing your following and creating conversions.
Until next time!
Critical Mention
Terence Murray
Terence Murray worked as a professional editor in London publishing agency for four years. Now he is a freelance journalist and develops a wide range of content. He is passionate about people, literature, photography and jazz. You can connect with him on Twitter to find more about his services.
