Marketing is an essential business function that helps reach, develop and retain customers. Marketing may involve everything from online campaigns to in-person events like workshops or pop-ups; customer relationship management tools may even be employed for personalized experiences for each customer.
But with limited budgets and time restraints, how can you select an effective marketing strategy for your small business?
Website
Professional websites are one of the cornerstones of small business marketing, serving as channels owned by your business to build brand recognition, generate leads and expand sales.
Websites are an effective way of showing potential customers just how reliable a business is, from customer reviews and testimonials, business accreditations and insurance to company accreditations and certifications.
Small businesses can leverage free tools like the Google Search Console to improve its SEO marketing, including data on how often and which searches bring up their site as well as visitor numbers from each query. Free and paid tools such as Ubersuggest offer keyword ideas to drive traffic; while page websites allow businesses to interact directly with visitors by including plugins for chat, booking meetings, calls or forms that increase customer service while building trust with visitors.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the best ways to connect with customers and keep them up-to-date on your products or services. Email can also be used for surveys, thank you emails for customer feedback, abandoned cart follow ups and more.
To maximize the effectiveness of email campaigns, focus on providing valuable information over promotional content. Use a service like Campaign Monitor to design and deploy high-converting campaigns that grab subscriber attention while offering relevant details that make conversion easier for subscribers.
Google Analytics is another powerful tool, giving insight into your target audience and their interactions with your website or app, so that you can implement this knowledge into your marketing strategies.
Social Media Marketing
Marketing provides many options that may seem confusing or daunting, but selecting those best suited for your business will enable it to meet measurable goals and ensure long-term success.
Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a critical element of small business marketing that can increase brand recognition, showcase products or services and answer customer inquiries instantly. Successful SMM initiatives often have clearly-defined audiences with engaging content to draw in potential customers.
Social media platforms provide you with various tools for engaging your target audience such as images or videos, text posts and links. In order to take full advantage of social media marketing (SMM), it’s best to develop an editorial calendar and utilize analytics/reporting features in order to understand who are your page followers are as well as which posts or pieces of content are performing the best.
Online Reputation Management
Although small businesses may be reluctant to invest in ORM, the process doesn’t have to be an onerous task. Small business owners can devote as little as a few hours each week and still maintain an effective online reputation – this is particularly important for local businesses competing with larger, national, or even international competitors.
ORM involves tracking, responding to, and publicizing positive reviews about an individual or business from customers; responding to customer comments on reviews or social media posts; as well as producing blog posts, press releases and videos that highlight strengths and values that showcase an individual or company – which then gets promoted in order to attract potential customers.
Even established brands face reputational risks from time to time. One negative review or media story could do lasting damage, so it is critical for small businesses to have a crisis management plan and system for collecting and monitoring online reviews.