Fewer than 50% of small businesses and start-ups survive the first year. And with the global pandemic throwing a curveball, things are not going to be any easier soon. It is high time to rethink some of your marketing strategies for small businesses to improve your lead conversion and brand visibility.
Here are a few marketing techniques and tips to consider, especially if you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur. Which of these marketing strategies do you focus? Let us talk. Share on XCreating a Small Business Marketing Strategy
Small businesses often start with a limited budget – money and time, especially when it comes to marketing and strategy. In fact, we spend most of our time behind lead generations that we forget to spend time laying the foundation – strategy and planning.
Here are a few marketing techniques and tips to consider, especially if you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur.
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Creating a brand for your business
A brand is the identity of your business and it defines what your business stands for to yourself, your employees, and your consumers. It is how you differentiate yourself from your competitors.
Identifying your brand identity forms the first step in establishing your marketing strategy. Once you identify what brand is going to be, ensure it is communicated throughout your business practices.
Branding includes everything from your logo to the tone of your social media posts and the presentations you show your clients.
Identifying your audience
Knowing who and where your audience is and catering to them makes a lot of business sense, than just trying to be everywhere at once. Small businesses can thrive on serving niche markets and assert their dominance.
To start with visualize your ideal dream client/customer and understand their behavior.
- Where do they come from?
- How old are they?
- What are their spending patterns?
- What are their trigger points?
Once you know your audience well enough, you can craft your marketing strategy and content to attract them.
Identify your unique selling point
Why should someone buy your product, not your competitors?
What puts you ahead of your competitors?
Is it your economic pricing or discount?
Or are your products more durable than theirs?
Identifying your USP or value proposition helps you to differentiate your brand and product from the hundreds, if not thousands, of other competition.
And then it is just a matter of convincing your customer by explaining why he should get your product.
More videos and images
When it comes to convincing your customer or explaining things to others, a picture is a hundred times better and a video is a thousand times better.
The rise of mediums like Youtube, Instagram stories, reels and posts, and Tiktok videos have proved time and again – most people would prefer visual content.
Of course, that doesn’t mean written content is faded out, but visual and written content supplement each other now, more than ever.
Invest in online advertisements
With the number of posts, stories, and videos being posted on social media rising exponentially, it is not smart to wait for our brand to organically.
Advertising aka boosting your content on social media is a lot cheaper than offline ads. And you get to target your audience based on their demographics and geography as well.
Advertising on social media or any other site is not only time-saving but is also very user-friendly. Anyone can do a promotion in a blink of an eye.
Create your own website
Establish your online presence by creating your own website. Your website can act as the home base for all your online activities. And owning a website is neither time-consuming nor too expensive these days.
Correct Search Engine Optimization techniques and paid advertising like Google ads can put your brand and your website on top of the search results.
Content marketing as a tool
Content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy that works well both for small and large businesses alike. It revolves around sharing as much value and information as possible to your clients to solve their problems and building a last relationship with them.
It includes everything from writing blog posts that translates your product features into desirable benefits to your customers to an Instagram story that you shared. Some of the important types of content are:
- Blog posts
- Podcast
- Infographics
- Images and videos
- White papers and case studies
- eBooks
You can enlist more outside help to handle your content marketing, especially when you have a business to focus on.
Use email marketing to nurture leads
While blog posts and social media posts focus on attracting the attention of your prospective clients, email marketing is how you can convert them into leads and sales.
About 80% of SMBs depend on email marketing customer retention and acquisition, and the numbers are much higher in the current scenario.
A drip marketing campaign or automated email campaigns are a series of email letters sent on a set schedule following a particular event, say an abandoned cart or signing up for a free product.
Such campaigns are more effective if you deliver the right message, based on the demography and interests of your audience, at the right time, say two months before the event, like Christmas or back-to-school season.
In conclusion
There are no one-fit solution when it comes to marketing strategy. You might have to choose a few of these strategies and find out what works for you. Capitalize the short-term wins and double down on what works.
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Let us talk
Which of these marketing strategies do you focus on as a small business owner or an entrepreneur? What are your pain points when it comes to content writing? Let’s chat.