Marketing your small business is bound to be a challenge at times – especially if you are a small business that operates within a highly populated sphere. So many people truly believe that their business just cannot get ahead and that they will have to pay large amounts of money or fall behind just to catch up when something goes wrong with another company, but that isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, there are some ways that small businesses can get ahead that larger businesses might not be able to do.
Some of it will take work and time, but it will be worth it in the end when you see your ROI increase.
Here are some of our favorite tips:
Hire an SEO Expert
Beating out your competition on the internet is the best way to market a small business – and it is possible. According to a Tulsa SEO Expert, smaller businesses have a better chance to personalize their content. “So many of these larger conglomerations will have cookie cutter websites. They get the job done, but they don’t’ tell stories and they don’t connect with people. Small businesses have the opportunity to do that.”.
Assure People Know Your Name
Brand awareness is a big one. People need to know your name in order to use your services or buy your products. How can you do this? There are many ways, including being part of your community (which we will address soon) but even small things can help. Ensure that you have a good logo that sticks out – and put it everywhere. Consider getting your car wrapped, making flyers, or even getting yard flags for your clients.
Be Active in Your Community
If your business centers around a specific area, do not hesitate to be involved in that community. Participate in events, be a sponsor, and make your name known. Try to participate in parades, show up for local sports activities, and simply be a contributing member. It may not be apparent, but if someone sees your logo on a little league field, they may remember it when they need plumbing work done, for instance.
Ask for Referrals
Especially when you are first starting out, you should not be afraid to ask about customer referrals. If you give good service or if your products are good, people are willing to provide a referral if they are asked – but you have to actually ask.
Hearing about how good your work is from someone that isn’t on your payroll will convert more possible customers, so you should utilize it.
Social Media Is King
Social media usage is only going to continue to grow for your customer base – people are growing up with it now. This means they not only know how to use it, but they are savvy about the choices people make while on it.
Depending on what your small business does, you want to start utilizing some of the most popular social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn, TikTok and Snapchat – plus whatever comes next. Determine a content strategy for those social media channels, get reviews, interact, and consider paid advertisements.
Consider Coupons
If you are a small business and want to attract new customers, one of the best ways you can do this is by offering coupons. These are coupons for something free or discounted if they use your services. Research shows that people will use coupons, especially ones they deem valuable, even if they weren’t quite ready to make the purchase yet.
If the products that you sell are good quality, you may get return visits.
Where can you put these coupons? Use them for direct mailers, put them on placemats at area diners, post them on social media, place an advertisement in a local newspaper, or send them to your email lists.
There are so many different ways that you can market your small business and not all of them will cost a lot of money and take some time, but some do. The best thing to do is to try a few of the different options on this list. You can even combine them – for example, a good SEO marketing may use PPC and advertisements on social media where you can offer coupons. The limits are in your creativity!