Your business needs to be known in order to be successful. Whether you’re a start-up or an established business, you will need to focus on marketing. Your company’s message needs to be spread, shared, and believed.
Marketing is a complicated business in itself and, at times, you may feel a little daunted at the prospect of promoting your business. Fear not. Here we look at some great ways to market your small business. Your choices will, of course, be up to you, but at least your decisions will be informed ones. Read on to learn great ways to market your small business.
Content
Whether it’s on your blog or elsewhere on your website, you need great content. Far too many sites have poorly written copy with spelling mistakes. Imagine if you’re a customer, you won’t buy from a website that is poorly written or has confusing navigation. View things through the eyes of the customer and ensure that everything works and looks great, from the landing page to the checkout. Make sure visitors can find the information they need and, if you have an ecommerce site, make sure customers can easily pay for their purchase. Great content will bring interest but you need to convert it into business.
Guides
Be they instructional videos or picture-based, guides help people learn something for nothing, if they are “given” away free of charge. Spike interest in your business by giving a little bit of knowledge away for nothing. These can appear either on your website or on social media.
Socially Savvy
Social media is a great way to reach an audience for very little money. You’ll need to invest your time and, again, ensure that the content is great. You can cross-promote complimentary businesses, who in turn can promote your company. Share links to helpful sites on your own site, while they link their site to yours. Your competitors won’t help you, but others will.
Contests
Everyone loves a competition, especially if the prize is great. You can get traffic to your site for the competition and if you can interest visitors in your products or services, you should be able to convert visitors into customers.
Business Cards
Yes, people still use them and yes, they work, especially if they are bespoke and attention-grabbing. Personal networking is a great opportunity to share them with people who might be able to help your business, as well as potential customers.
Build up a list of your client emails and send well-drafted targeted emails to your list, as required. Pass on helpful information and let them know when your company is offering a new product or service. Sales and other special offers can be announced to give loyal customers the first opportunity to participate. Service providers often offer special incentives when subscriber numbers are limited.
SEO and PPC Services
An SEO-friendly site will increase the organic traffic levels. Over time this will improve search engine rankings. It takes time and it requires supervising/adapting but it is a great way to promote a business. PPC services are more immediate. They put ads where they will be see and any clicks will be taken to your site (you’ll pay for each). Although this can be expensive, it is better to look at the return on investment, rather than the cost of the investment. If you spend £1000 and get £2000, then that’s a good use of your marketing budget. Just be careful not to spend £1000 for no return!
Whether you opt for the cheaper and more personal forms of marketing, through networking, cross referrals and SEO, or whether you have a budget for PPC services, always think of the benefit to your business and the people using it. You want to be recognised, remembered and have people return to your site. Your goals may decide the right marketing strategy for you, but whatever the decision, you’ll have made an informed one. Good luck.
