Top 5 Marketing Strategies for Your Small Business

So you’ve come out of lockdown with a great business idea. Or perhaps instead of baking sourdough, you used your time in lockdown to start a new business? Or maybe you already have a small business, but it took a hit in 2020 and you’re trying to rebuild it back up again. But you’re not sure what marketing strategies you should use for your small business.

Covid hit everyone hard. But we’re now starting to see the glimmers of light come through the ashes. If you’re managing a small business, now is the time to start implementing some well-thought-out marketing strategies.

But it’s not always easy to know where to start. So I thought I’d put together the top 5 marketing activities I’d be doing if I was starting a new business, or trying to give my existing small business a boost.

1. Make sure your website is up to scratch

It goes without saying that you need to have a website.

No matter what industry you’re in, without a website people won’t know about you. And if they do know about you already, it will be hard to build up any kind of trust and positive reputation without one.

Think of your website as a salesperson. Something that’s out there, selling your business 24/7. As such you need to make sure it’s working for you well:

• Make sure it’s user friendly, easy to navigate, and FAST (on mobiles and desktops)
• Make sure the content is useful and informative
• Use strong call-to-actions to get people to do what you want them to do – make a purchase, enquiry, download a document etc
• Undertake some basic SEO at the very minimum – you can learn more about SEO here https://www.smeketing.com/?s=seo
• Consider blogging to attract prospects, build trust with your visitors, and to boost your position in Google – see lots more blogging posts here: https://www.smeketing.com/?s=blogging 

2. Start Using Social Media

Identify the best social media platform for your business and focus on just that one (or possibly two, depending on your resources).

You need to understand exactly who your perfect customer is. Once you’re pulled together a customer profile you should know what social media platforms to target.

Social media is a great way to connect with prospects but it can also help you to increase your website domain authority and improve your search engine rankings. So what’s not to like?!

3. Invest in Google Ads

Organic traffic (the “free” traffic from Google) can take a while to start rolling in. So in order to get the ball rolling quicker, you might want to invest in Google Ads.

Targeting buyers at the point of interest (whilst they are specifically searching for your products and services) is a great way to start building a network of customers for your business.

If you want to know more about Google Ads I have a zillion and one blog posts all about them! Read them here: https://www.smeketing.com/category/google-ads/.

Learn more about how I can help you with your Google Ads here:

4. Use Email Marketing

Many people feel like email marketing is an old tactic that doesn’t have a lot of benefit in 2021. But they’re wrong!

Everyone has an email address (not including your Great Aunt Hilda, but you know what I mean!). Every single person out there who is a potential customer of yours has an email address and therefore has the potential for you to contact them directly.

So start collecting email addresses from day one. Create content that people have to submit their details for in order to download and ask people to sign up for your newsletters on social and via your website. Use that data to create email sales funnels that nurture those leads with relevant content.

Experiment with your newsletters and offers and promotions. Dedicate some proper time to it – don’t outsource it to the intern!

Email newsletters, if done right, can have a huge ROI and a massive impact on the success of your business. I can recommend the book Do Open: How a Simple Email Newsletter Can Transform Your Business (and it can) for anyone wanting to know more about how to nail their email marketing strategy.

5. Don’t Forget the Power of Your Existing Customers

Your existing (and hopefully ever-growing) customer base is something that should also be cared for and nurtured.

It costs about five times more to acquire a new customer than it does to closer an existing one. So don’t stop marketing to existing customers once they’ve made a purchase.

Identify opportunities for:

• Repeat purchases: How can you make this super easy for your customers?
• Upselling: What’s the next level up for their next purchase?
• Cross-Selling: What else can you convince them to buy?!

If you provided a good experience the first time around, then there’s a good chance they’ll come back to you again. But you can’t just assume that will happen. All the time your competitors will be vying for their business.

Also, remember the power of a referral. So much business (especially in the B2B arena) can be done through customer referrals. I get a lot of my business through referrals – both from current clients, but also from clients I’ve worked with years ago.

It can sometimes feel daunting to reach out and ask for referrals, but if you don’t ask you don’t get! You’ll often find that your happy customers are more than happy to recommend you to others. And if they don’t know anyone who requires your products or services, then a testimonial or quote can go a long way too.

So those are my top 5 marketing strategies for your small business. I hope you found it helpful!