After establishing a business, you should utilize different marketing strategies. But not having a lot of money can make this difficult. Here are 7 marketing tips for your small business. These marketing tips ensure that you can reach out to your target audience. Your budget can be flexible when it comes to these tips and depends on the marketing mediums you choose.
1. Optimize Your Website
As a business owner, if you have a website (and you should) you should be aware of website design. If you are not or haven’t gone to school for website design then hire a professional. A professional web designer can design a highly functional website that speaks to your target market and tells your brand story. It may not hurt to know or understand Search Engine Optimization (Getting to the top of Google) basics especially if you build your site yourself. But again hiring a professional is probably the best choice.
If your website has been built using WordPress, you can utilize plugins such as Yoast SEO. The plugin is available free of charge. It helps to come up with a sitemap while also optimizing the meta title format. In the process, it will be easier to complete the other basics on your own.
There are numerous tutorials online that will provide some basic design and SEO tips.
2. Come Up with Social Media Profiles
If your company is not present on any social media platform, you should consider signing up. At minimum we recommend your business should have a Facebook or Instagram page. Social media marketing is essential, but depends on your target market. For instance, a plumbing business will not need to be on Snapchat; but Facebook would work well.
3. Ensure You Have a Referral Network
Small businesses should stick together. If your company offers services in a specific niche, try and connect with other service providers in the same or complementary niche and partner with them. For example, an event planner might want to connect with photographers, halls, and caterers. By building relationships, you build a network. As you keep your promise to your customers you build trust with your network.
4. Blog Regularly
Blogging is the most economical marketing tip for small businesses. Your businesses will gain from the exposure and it is economical because you can easily create basic posts on your own.
Blogging may seem overwhelming. Keep it simple and start with one blog per month. Keep a journal of blog topics that come up during your interactions with customers. You can then scale up everything and post at least one blog per week. If you have a team of employees, you can delegate some duties to make work easier.
5. Always Ask for Reviews
If you have existing clients, you can ask them to review your products and services on platforms such as Yelp or Google. More reviews will help to improve the visibility of your business. Your customers should leave honest reviews of which may be negative or positive. Your job is to respond to both types of reviews with a thank you or with an apology and the way that you solved the issue. Don’t offer discounts in review responses but rather try to contact the customer directly. By leaving the discount out of the review you avoid setting the standard that if you complain you get something.
6. Answer Questions Online
Customers often ask questions online. As a business owner, you should be familiar with platforms such as Twitter, Quora, and Reddit. Some clients will be interested in some of the products and services offered by your business. Take time to answer each of the questions being asked.
As you respond to these questions, don’t be “salesy”. The main focus is on being helpful. Also, make sure you have answered each question honestly.
7. Create an Email Newsletter that is Useful
Some of the email marketing providers usually offer free-level accounts. Businesses should take advantage of such opportunities to come up with useful email newsletters for their current and potential clients. Ensure your email list comprises of existing and new clients. You can also make sure your website has a subscription box that can add new subscribers to your email list.
Final Thoughts
We have managed to look into some simple marketing tips that can enhance your business. Although we have not mentioned all the marketing techniques that can be used by small businesses, the tips mentioned above will come in handy to reach your target market. Another marketing technique that may prove useful includes branding; this is a marketing tip that will ensure your business can stand out from the rest.
