A strong marketing strategy can propel a small business to success and build an online presence.
Whether you are planning to start a business or already own one, a proper marketing strategy can be the difference between a successful business and a failing one. Make sure that your marketing strategy is one that is appropriate for your business, especially for your budget.
This process may seem overwhelming for aspiring entrepreneurs, as there are various strategies to choose from and paths to take. However, you should not fret, as in this post we will discuss the best marketing strategies for small businesses that will get your business traction and visibility.
Here are the best marketing strategies for small businesses:
- Determine who your target audience is
- Invest in advertising (Google ads/social media)
- Offer discounts and incentives
- Referral marketing
- Collaborate with other local businesses
- Email marketing
- Create a Google My Business account
- Invest in search engine optimization (SEO)
- Content marketing
The best marketing strategies for small businesses
There are numerous approaches to marketing that small businesses can use to improve their outreach and effectiveness. However, some strategies prove more useful than others.
1. Determine who your target audience is
To have an effective marketing strategy, you must first determine who the marketing campaign is actually meant for.
Identifying your target audience gives your business insight into your ideal customer, as well as the customer you will encounter most often. Consequently, you can center your marketing toward these individuals and reach people who are likelier to be interested in your product.
But how do you actually determine who your target audience is? The first step is to define your niche, or your specialized or focused area that you cater to. Additionally, you should research and analyze demographic data from your industry.
With this newly found knowledge, you can create a fictional profile that represents your ideal customer. This is commonly referred to as a buyer persona.
2. Invest in advertising (Google Ads/social media)
With a mixture of luck and strategy, low-budget marketing strategies can work. However, if you wish to take your business to the next level, then an investment into proper advertising will almost be necessary.
There will be two forms of advertising that we will focus on. These being Google Ads and social media ads.
An astounding 80% of businesses use Google Ads to advertise their business. These ads reach over 90% of worldwide internet users. The potential outreach of this advertising strategy should not be underestimated. If you are aware of what your target audience is searching for, then Google Ads can be perfect for you.
Similarly, social media marketing has become one of, if not the most popular forms of advertising for businesses. Although social media users have less buying intent, it is far easier to reach potential customers.
When you operate your own social media channels, you not only have control over your creativity and intent, but you are also able to build a brand identity and develop a sense of community.
3. Offer discounts and incentives
Discounts and incentives are excellent ways to sway customers into making a purchase.
Sure, you will not have as high of an ROI as you would initially, but the volume of sales will propel your business’s product to success by building reviews and reputation. Additionally, the increase in sales as a result of the discount will provide more capital for your business to utilize for future projects.
These discounts can be offered in various ways, such as a percentage off of the original price or as an offer of a free item with purchase. Make sure that the discounts and incentives that you offer are relevant and useful to your customer.
4. Referral marketing
Referral marketing is a form of advertisements where businesses encourage customers to refer their products and services. It is essentially a word of mouth initiative used to introduce new customers to a business.
Businesses are often expected to offer incentives as a form of payment for customers acting in accordance with a referral program. This is usually in the form of a discount on their next purchase or store credit.
5. Collaborate with other local businesses
In the world of business, networking is key. Thus, collaborating with other local businesses can play a key part in your marketing (and overall) success.
There are numerous ways to approach this strategy. One way is to work together to create promotions and deals for customers. Another way is to promote each others’ business using your respective customer bases.
But how do you actually connect with other businesses? Obviously, you can do email outreach, but that may not always be successful. Try attending business-centered events that relate to your industry. Additionally, you can also try offering your own services (usually free of charge) in exchange for business ties that can prove useful in the long run.
6. Email marketing
Email marketing has been in use since the inception of the internet. It is a marketing strategy that uses direct communication to relay information to customers, usually intending to promote a product or service in order to land sales.
With over 4 billion active email users in 2023, email marketing is a great way to connect with potential customers who may not be informed of what your business offers.
The best part of this marketing strategy is that it is free! Not to mention that email marketing is an easy and scalable way to reach out to both new and existing customers.
7. Create a Google My Business account
A Google My Business (now called Google Business Profile) account is essentially a profile for your business on Google, and serves as a business listing for anyone in search of your services.
This free account assists in boosting the visibility of your business on Google’s search engine, which boasts 4.3 billion users globally.
To create a Google My Business account you will need to provide your business’s contact information, business hours, a list of services, and photos to make your business appear more reputable. This process should only take a few minutes, but can yield invaluable results.
8. Invest in search engine optimization (SEO)
If you are wondering why your business’s website won’t show up on SERPs or how to rank on Google, then consider implementing search engine optimization, or SEO, practices.
SEO are methods and practices intentionally used to optimize your website’s visibility on search engines such as Google or Bing.
There are a lot of factors that goes into the ranking of pages in a search engine’s result. Websites that play into these factors are preferable for search engines, and often rank higher. By sticking to SEO practices, you give your website a higher chance to rank higher, thus bringing more impressions to your website.
One common SEO method is to conduct keyword research. It is the process of identifying and analyzing search terms that people use with the intention to utilize the data, such as to target a specific query that is commonly searched for.
9. Content marketing
Content marketing is a marketing strategy that sees the creation of valuable content and distributing it across multiple platforms with the intention of landing sales and amassing a consistent following.
This marketing strategy focuses on long-term growth. With proper execution, it can lead to sustainable growth of leads and visitors (soon to be customers).
Content marketing requires that you create captivating content that is relevant and interesting to your target audience and that captures both their interest and trust. This can be in the form of infographics, videos, blog posts, and more.
There are various marketing strategies to choose from. Every business is different, which means that some strategies will work for some business while not working for others. Make sure to pick a marketing strategy that is relevant and appropriate for your business.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed, then check out our other posts!
