Marketing your small business can be overwhelming. With all the tips and tricks available, which does the new business owner choose to use? You may seem pulled in every direction; however, here are 8 tips for marketing your business regardless of the industry you’re in.
1. Get Organized
The first step in any marketing effort is to get organized. A key driver for success is self-discipline. This starts with holding yourself accountable for what may seem like minor tasks. You are polishing your brand; therefore, get everything organized from spreadsheets to filing. You can map out your week with free tools like appointment apps for small businesses. There are tons of tools on the market to help make life easier so take advantage of them!
2. Value Proposition
Emphasize what you do better than anyone else in your industry. Give your customers a reason to choose you instead of them. This will require time on your part to create a summary of your brand and what it does. For example, a heating oil digital marketing campaign may highlight personalized, speedy service or competitive pricing. Be mindful of the words and images you choose to use to market your small business. We suggest using logos and taglines consistently throughout your marketing strategy. This is one way for your target audience to remember you.
3. Have a Marketing Plan
It’s important to know the difference between your business plan and your marketing plan. A business plan will contain the essentials of your marketing strategy. The marketing plan turns strategy into an initiative. Your plan should include:
- Target Audience. Who are your services or products for? Describe them. This is the foundation for your strategy. You should know where they hang out online and offline. Know what their pain points are, and you have the solution they are looking for to make their life easy.
- Competitive Advantage. Know who your competitors are and always monitor them. Look at their social media platforms, their content, and what people are clicking on. Try to pinpoint the areas which are not working well for them and see if you can improve those areas in your content.
- Marketing & Sales Goals. Set clear and achievable goals. Define your goals for next year. An example would be to grow sales by 10%, grow your market share, build landing pages, or offer free webinars.
Last-Minute Tips
You can use several channels to achieve your marketing and sales goals. A few of the most popular include:
- Blogging. Writing SEO-optimized blog posts is important. Using keywords for helpful content will place you in the rankings. Helpful content is a must if you want to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
- Build your social media presence. Establish your presence on Facebook; this is a powerful tool for local searches. Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter will help you reach a larger audience.
- Consider hiring a freelancer. Hiring a freelancer to help scale content will save you from recruiting another employee.
- Landing Page. Building a landing page will assist you in gaining the interest of your potential customers. The page should be interesting and offer a free service the audience will want. They fill out a simple form, then download the service. The information you gain from the page will be a part of your customer list for email marketing.
- Email Marketing. You should start with a strategy. You don’t want to bombard the people on your email list. Share your content with prospects who seem the most interested in your product.
It may take a while to generate traffic from blogging, but if you remain consistent. Experiment with the channels which work best for you. Building your online presence takes time, but it is one of the most useful tools a small business owner has to use.
