If you’re the owner of a small business, it’s vital for you to use effective marketing techniques to reach your targeted audience. In this article we share some Essential Marketing Tactics for Small Businesses.
This will help you build your brand and compete with other companies that are taking advantage of the tools accessible to you and your company.
If you use them daily and consistently, you should begin seeing an increase in revenue that your company would not be able to achieve without this effort.
Most of the items we are going to look at are either free to use, or very cost effective for your business marketing tactics.
Small businesses do not generally have a very large budget, and while many believe marketing is at the bottom of the list when it comes to running a company, it is absolutely essential for the growth of it.
Here are some of the ways a small business can go without breaking the budget and getting the best results possible.
Table of Contents
1. Determine the Needs of Your Prospective Customers
Small businesses have many advantages at their disposal. For example, small businesses are more flexible. They are also capable of establishing a solid relationship with their customers in a way that larger corporations don’t necessarily have.
For instance, if you are a loyal customer shopper, it’s unlikely you’ll ever hear from the CEO or even the manager of that particular store, as it would be impossible for them to manage a relationship with even a fraction of their employees.
People love small businesses because they know that what they buy matters – and the relationship between buyer and seller is more personal and authentic. If your customers recognize that you are offering exceptional customer service, they will be more than happy to do business with you.
Although this need is easier to meet for small businesses, it is important for you to determine the other needs of your targeted audience. What are they interested in buying? What’s your demographic? Who will your customers likely be ten years from now?
These are just some of the analytics that can help you predict your customer’s needs before they arise and be better prepared.
Knowing where your customers are coming from should be your main focus, and online questionnaires and surveys can help customers voice their needs and wants regarding what they offer.
Market research will help you learn more about your audience. It will uncover your prospective customer’s search queries on the internet, the products they are buying, and the amount of money they spend every year.
Once you know the needs of your prospective customers, your company will be a force in your business vertical.
2. Take Advantage of Social Media Platforms
Social media advertising continues to grow in popularity as time progresses. Setting up accounts on popular social media platforms will put you in position to sell your goods or services for free. You should set-up accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Not only will you be able to reach more people, but it is easier to maintain relationships with people online and give updates to what is going on with your business.
Your social media posts should focus on introducing your products or services. Make sure you stay active on your social media accounts.
If you really want to take your social media advertising to the next level, you should consider using paid advertising.
You can get thousands of visitors to your social media page at a reasonable price and reach a market that may not otherwise have been explored.
3. Making an Effort at Networking
Networking is the key to succeeding as a small business owner. It’s critical for you to make alliances with others.
This will increase your company’s visibility. Having forums that allow for customers to raise their voices and opinions is a great way to not just keep a relationship, but for your company to know which direction your customers want them to go in the future.
Giving shout outs, having friendly competitions with merchandise for prizes, and sponsoring festivals and fundraisers are a good way to connect with your customer base and keep them interacting with you and your brand.
You should join the Small Business Association, business organizations, and civic clubs in your area.
In short, networking with others will raise your company’s profile. Team up and possibly collaborate with companies on projects and attend local business and community groups that will help spread your name and what you do.
Having connections is a huge benefit that comes from building these relationships, not just for a sale, but for a lifetime.
4. Blogging
Blogging is another effective way of marketing your business in 2020. People love reading blog posts. You can blog about yourself, your company’s offers, company events, or anything that’s related to the service or product that your company provides.
It may not seem like a big deal, but your blog posts can send thousands of people to your company’s website. Blogging is a free and passive way of getting new customers. This is why you should add it to your marketing arsenal.
5. Track Your Metrics
Is your marketing campaign successful? What areas are failing? Small businesses don’t usually have a lot of room to make financial mistakes, so tracking your marketing metrics is extremely important.
Today it’s easier than ever to do this especially with the increase in online activity.
For instance, if you place an ad on adwords, or are promoting your product or service through Facebook or YouTube advertising, your analytics are automatically available to you.
It’s up to your organization to take advantage of this and study where your marketing strategy is succeeding and where it is struggling, then adjust accordingly.
6. Email Marketing
Email marketing is an old-school digital marketing tactic. However, it should not be underestimated.
Research shows that email marketing still has a very high response rate among customers and provides one of the highest interaction responses among the other platforms. E
Email marketing is also free, and cost effective marketing strategies should be thoroughly sought out by small businesses – especially ones that are this rewarding.
Once you build your list, your customer base will begin to expand. This will lead to more sales and revenue, but also give you a way to maintain a relationship with your existing client base.
Newsletters and email updates are a great way to keep advertising and keep your customers aware of not only what’s going on but how they can help get involved.
To be successful with email marketing, these newsletters must have valuable content. This will help you secure a high conversion rate and build a level of trust with your customers.
7. Direct Mail
Though it can often be considered an “outdated method”, direct mail is still effective for small businesses. It’s also inexpensive.
You can purchase mailing lists and mail promotional items for your customers to interact with first hand.
An individual is more likely to respond if they have something physical to interact with, rather than a passing billboard or email they can delete with a click of a button.
Direct mail is also a great opportunity to give your clients promotional items. Sending specific customers specially designed shirts or hats with your logo design on them is a great way to ensure your name is getting out there to the public.
Buying custom hats or pins in bulk is very cheap and is a great investment – your brand could be worn for years from a cheap purchase and some brand awareness.
8. Hire an SEO Specialist
Hiring a search engine optimization specialist can help your company’s website get on the first page of the search engines.
Can you imagine the amount of traffic your site will get once it gets listed on the first page of Google? Your offers will be seen by thousands of people daily.
Chances are that won’t be the case if you put up a website and put minimal marketing intelligence and time into it.
By hiring a specialist, you put down a set amount of money that you can afford, and assure that your marketing efforts won’t go to waste.
The difference between showing up on the first page for a particular key word is vast, compared to showing up on the second or third page on a search engine.
Some small businesses make the mistake of thinking that if they are a brick and mortar store, they do not need an online presence. This could not possibly be further from the truth.
Whether your company is an Amazon store trying to sell exclusively online, or exclusively in a physical store, the ability to make perfect descriptions online that will target keywords and boost your name to an online audience is essential.
While this option is more expensive than some of the other tactics we’ve mentioned in this article, this has the potential to create the best results.
Running a small business can be challenging at times. You must stay focused on building your brand. Taking note of the marketing tactics listed above can help you compete against other companies and get your share of the market.
Write For Mazzine™
Interested in writing for Mazzine™? We would love to hear from you! – Join our community of writers from around the world. – Check out the guidelines on the Write for us. page.