If you’re not sure where to start advertising your business or aren’t inspired, this expert guide to small business marketing will provide some ideas on how to grow your business and generate revenue to attract customers’ attention. There is no “best way” to market your business. Of course, there are best practices, but there are also different approaches depending on the type of business you run. We hope these guides help you get started.
When it comes to small business social media marketing, there are many platforms to choose from, depending on your audience. Social media is a way to directly communicate with your customers, potential consumers, and industry in a relaxed and conversational way.
Using social media correctly will help increase awareness of your business, which can ultimately lead to increased sales.
You need to choose the right platform, set goals, create a social media plan, take time each day, track your progress, save time with tools, analyze trends through social media, show off your brand personality, and consider paid advertising.
Your business website allows more people to learn about your business and what you have to offer. But it is important that it be optimized to appear on search engines. Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing your website to attract more visitors from search engines. SEO can be confusing at first, but there are plenty of tools out there that can help you master it and really get the most out of the boost it can give your business.
Pages and results pages can appear for a search query, but most people will only see the first page of results. Additionally, the highest position at the top of the first page generates the most clicks and traffic. Your goal is to be in the first place.
Print marketing materials have been around much longer than most of the options listed above. These include everything from flyers, business cards, wheatpaste posters, and flour pens to water bottles, stickers, and hoodies. The first step is to get creative with your design so that your business will be remembered. Then do your research to find local print providers, and it will be easier to establish a great working relationship with your print provider too, which means you will be more likely to get personalized service from them. It will also make your life easier when you want to see sample prints and make design changes.
Content marketing is about creating engaging content to help answer a reader’s question or problem. This content can take many different forms, including blog posts, podcasts, and videos.
Content marketing is closely related to many of the other areas covered in this guide. It helps to think of email, SEO, and social media as the channels you use to present your content to your readers (and listeners and viewers alike).
Blogging is an easy and cheap way to get into content marketing. Before publishing, be sure to ask someone else to read your article first. Spelling mistakes, errors, and poorly documented documentation can damage your reputation. Finding good topics to write about can also seem daunting at first, but you can do it with a little practice.
In the pre-digital era, direct mail was nicknamed “spam”. Not a morning goes by without a stack of letters and flyers on the doormat.
Direct mail can be incredibly effective if you follow three key rules:
Although direct mail is more expensive than email, it can be much more impactful and effective.
Reviews are an important part of your business’ online marketing because customers can rate your services or products. Using an online review platform also allows potential customers to know what current customers think of your business, whether positive, negative, or neutral.
Reviews from other people who have been there help customers trust that your business is trustworthy and is not trying to hide anything. That’s why it’s important to accept negative feedback as positive. Creating an account on a customer review platform is usually pretty straightforward—and often free.
You may have a long way to go to build your online presence, but any steps you can take will have a huge impact on your business. Start slowly today, and you will already see the differences tomorrow.