Can we compete for customers against bigger companies – this is what is on top of small companies owners head quite often. Thankfully it does not stop you from doing that, but the question how we should do it. This pops up all the time, right? Marketing a small business is not easy at all. Specially when you have a small budget. You lack a head count to hire an experienced person. But with the use of few basic elements you could increase the engagement and the brand awareness. Create interest among your potential customers and target group that you are aiming. Please, if you are interested how to lift your company marketing – enjoy the read and learn the basics.
Small Business Marketing – what should I start with?
Even if your marketing budget in the beginning is not bi , there are many ways how you can take advantage over it. Definitely you should plan ahead to increase the budget over time based on how well you are performing. This way you will avoid burning cash on campaigns that are not converting and you will be able to invest into channels that brought the highest return on investment. Starting with initiatives that require low amount of time and money you are able to build brand awareness and visibility on the market fast.
Small Business Marketing – 4 basic steps
Google Local
It is crucial to get your business onto the biggest search engines in the world fast. Go and visit Google Local and register your business locally. As a small business you need to heavy rely on local customers. There is no easier way to promote it than local search engine. Becareful while registering, put everything in the right order with the right keywords in place. This way you will help your potential customers find your small business. Make it easy to find particular product or service.
No matter if you are selling physical products or services, registering for Google Local cost nothing. In addition you gain visibility. Ask your existing customers to write a review or a recommendation on Google Local. It will build credibility and you can always use it on your website as well, social media and other marketing channels of your choice. The customer recommendation is the easiest, cheapest and on most occasions missed business opportunity for all small businesses. Use it to gain interest among your potential customers.
Local SEO for your website
Search engine optimisation might feel like a huge investment for small business owners. The kind of investment that will or will not pay off after a very long period of time. You are right. At the same time it is the most lasting and can be cheap of most marketing channels. The effective SEO in a small business can be established by planning accordingly. Plan the marketing content that you are creating, reusing videos, meetups and photos that you took. Create the content with specific keyphrases in mind with local flavour. You just need to add name of the city, county and focus your content around it. This will boost your performance in local SEO without any expensive investment. You will be able to outperform all the global corporates that you are competing with locally.
Social Media
The channel that is able to take your small business to another level. You can’t spread your self too thin. There is not enough time, money or resources to go for all the social media channels out there. You need to focus only on those that your potential customers use. Do not be tempted to bite more than you can chew on. Based on our target group and target personas we have a hefty number of social media platforms to choose from.
There is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snapchat and this is only the tip of the iceberg. Those platforms are unique and have a different rules, ways of communication and user groups that spend their time there . The key element for all small businesses is creativity and not disturbed focus. This way there is high probability that you will succeed on one platform. Rather than going insanely after all of them. Focus on the social media that is most important for you and your potential customers – and nail it!
Customer experience – create the wow effect
When you are planning your next successful marketing campaign, there is one thing you tend to forget. Gaining a new customer is much more expensive than embracing the existing ones. Cross selling, up selling is much easier with customers that already know you and trust you. It is also much easier to gain new customers through the group of existing customers that are madly in love with your product or service. If you will improve the customer experience, think about it as a great means to gain new customers.
You can design a great onboarding experience, fancy packaging for your product or way you communicate to your customer – there is a chance that he will pay you back faster than you could spell the name of your company. The amazing service that made me in love recently is Canva.com. Design company that offers amazing customer experience (you can read my post on Linkedin about it here). It does not have to be anything ground braking, a small things matter. Like one additional sentence given by your sales person, or a personal note in the packaging. Or just a quick phone call after the delivery can influence your customer experience to the level that they will be happy to recommend your business to their friends and colleagues.
Try to leverage small things to build your army of brand ambassadors by simply delivering unexpected experience where it feels right to do.
Small Business Marketing – here is your chance
With the ideas in the article we just scratched the surface on how to stand out with your business and build your brand awareness on the local market. You need to remember one thing. Any marketing activity will fall short if you haven’t thought it through. Create a marketing plan. I will not even mention a solid marketing strategy. Think about your goals, customers that you are targeting. Then plan all the ideas that feel right.
Having a simple guideline in a written form your are one step closer to succeeding with marketing your small business. If you are interested in learning more on how to create a high performing marketing campaign, you can read my previous post. Whenever you feel overwhelmed. You can contact me any time through email, phone, or on linkedin. I will help you structure your ideas and help you sell more.
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