What Are The Best Marketing Strategies For Small Businesses?
As a small business owner, you probably already know just how important having a solid marketing strategy is.
Marketing helps you attract the right customers to the business, making them aware of the products and services you offer.
With 97% of people researching local businesses online, meeting potential customers where they spend the most time is a must.
But growing your small business online isn't always plain sailing. That's why we've compiled this handy guide to the best marketing strategies for small businesses.
So, whether you want to attract new local customers, retain existing ones, or expand your business to a new location, we've got you covered.
Take a look at these six marketing tactics you can start implementing today.
1. Focus On Social Media marketing
According to research from SCORE, as many as 77% of small businesses use social media to help boost brand awareness, deliver great customer service, and increase revenue.
Social media platforms have millions of active users. You can increase your brand's exposure to a broader audience by posting regularly and engaging with users.
Even better, social media marketing is a cost-effective way of raising awareness for your brand. After all, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are free.
Social media allows you to engage with your followers personally, responding to their comments and messages and creating a sense of community around your brand. This can increase loyalty and advocacy as your followers share their positive experiences with others.
Keep in mind successful social media marketing takes a well-planned strategy, regular content creation, and consistent effort. But the results will speak for themselves when you're willing to work hard.
2. Don't Overlook The Power Of Email Marketing
Despite the increase in popularity of social media and other messaging platforms, email remains one of the most effective marketing channels for reaching your audience.
Not only does email help you to keep in touch with those who want to hear from you, but it also lets you share valuable information with your subscribers and promote new products.
Like social media marketing, email is a particularly effective strategy for smaller businesses as it's affordable and allows you to market to customers on a tighter marketing budget.
By using professional email marketing software, you can also track opens, clicks, and other metrics to measure the success of your campaigns and any changes that could be made in the future.
3. Invest In Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Investing in SEO will help your local business improve its online visibility, attract customers, and build credibility and trust with your audience.
SEO achieves this by helping your website rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). This increases the likelihood of potential customers finding your business when they search for related keywords or phrases.
So how exactly do you invest in SEO for your small business?
- Conduct keyword research - use keyword research tools to find the search terms and phrases your target audience is typing into search engines when looking for a business like yours
- Optimize your website - once you've identified your target keywords, optimize your website's content to align with those keywords. Also, remember to ensure your website is mobile-friendly
- Build backlinks - focus on building high-quality, relevant backlinks from reputable sources
- Monitor your progress - track your website's performance using analytics tools to monitor your progress over time
4. Prioritize Excellent Customer Service
Providing excellent customer service can help build trust with your existing customers. Feeling heard, understood, and valued encourages your customers to share your business with others.
But what is the key to providing excellent customer service?
High-quality customer service includes:
- Being responsive to customer queries
- Addressing complaints quickly
- Going above and beyond to exceed expectations
Listening to customer feedback and addressing concerns not only improves your reputation. It also shines a light on areas your business can improve upon.
After all, there is always room for improvement. When you take feedback on board, you can create an even better service in the future and attract more customers.
5. Improve Your Google BUsiness Profile
Improving your Google Business Profile will help increase visibility and attract more customers.
Here are some tips to improve your Google Business Profile:
- Claim and verify your business: claim your business on Google Business Profile and verify your ownership. This will give you control over your business information and ensure that it's accurate and up-to-date
- Add photos and videos: add high-quality images and videos of your business, products, and services to your profile. This will make your profile more visually appealing and help customers better understand what you offer
- Encourage customer reviews: encourage customers to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile. Positive reviews help attract new customers and improve your search engine rankings
- Respond to customer reviews: Respond to customer reviews, whether positive or negative. This shows that you value customer feedback and are committed to providing excellent customer service
6. Provide Valuable Content
You can engage your audience by sharing relevant articles, videos, podcasts, and other media online. This is known as content marketing and has many great benefits for small local businesses like yours.
It allows you to build trust with your target audience by providing them with information that is valuable, entertaining, or educational. When users find content useful, it leads to higher levels of engagement, such as likes, comments, and shares - all of which boost your posts.
Compared to traditional advertising methods like print and TV ads, content marketing is often less expensive and can have a longer-lasting impact. Content marketing is the way to go if you want big results on a small budget.
From social media and email marketing to investing in SEO and prioritizing customer service, many great marketing strategies can help your small business win more local customers.
We hope this guide on small business marketing strategies has given you the knowledge you need to increase your visibility, reach a broader audience, and grow your brand online.
Plan Your Small Business marketing Strategy With 406 Marketing & Design
Are you looking to win new customers and boost your business's online presence with a standout digital marketing strategy? Well then, our team of digital marketing experts would love to help!
At 406 Marketing, we help small business owners attract local customers, create a sophisticated online presence, and build trust and credibility with their audience.
We'll also take care of your website's design, local SEO, website support, Google ads, and much more.
Reach out, and we'll get the conversation started!