Small Business Marketing Know-How

Guest authored by Dean Burgess of Excitepreneur.net. Thumbnail photo credit Pixabay.

Small business owners have to wear many hats, from production to accounting and recruiting, and many are also in charge of their own marketing and advertising. But which marketing strategies should they focus on in order to reach their financial goals? Which marketing channels are the most beneficial in terms of gaining customers and improving sales? Here are some proven methods that will help your business soar:

Focusing on the Right Marketing Channels

Content and Digital Marketing

With billions of internet users around the world, digital marketing has become a must for any business. Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click, Email, and Social Media Marketing are all terms you should be familiar with. But with so many options available, you need to focus on the right online marketing channels for your particular business in order to get the best return on investment for your advertising budget. So consider what your competitors are doing when it comes to online advertising, and learn from their successes and failures. Keep your business website up-to-date, free of bugs and glitches, and strive to come up with fresh, informative, and original content to attract customers.

Offline Marketing

If you want to attract a local clientele to your small business, you may benefit from older marketing strategies that have stood the test of time such as billboards, local TV and radio ads, and even community bulletin boards in your local coffee shop, bookstore, or library. Print ads in local newspapers and magazines will also boost your visibility within the community. And in order to retain customers, think about launching a loyalty program, for example by offering special discounts for repeat customers, or a free item after a certain number of purchases or a certain dollar amount spent. Additionally, sponsoring local sports teams or participating in community events will help your business get some name recognition.

Coming Up With the Right Marketing Message

Define Your Target Audience

By knowing who your target audience is and what customers you’re trying to attract, you’ll be able to come up with more effective messaging. Here again, look at the competition for ideas and inspiration. Consider what channel your message will be on: digital marketing channels are generally geared toward a younger, more tech-savvy audience, whereas offline advertising usually fares well with older demographics. By focusing on the needs and wants of your target audience, you’ll be able to come up with a message that resonates with them. Keep it short and to the point to make it more memorable, and adapt the tone and language to your different demographics across your marketing channels.

Build Your Brand Identity

By using the same logo, colors, tone, wording, and visuals across all your social media platforms, ads, and printed materials, you’ll be able to get brand recognition and keep loyal customers engaged. So make sure your brand identity clearly represents your business and its core values by carefully selecting your visual and auditory elements for all your marketing campaigns, and keep it consistent on your website and social media business profiles. You should strive to be unique while still clearly conveying what your company is about.

How can you tell if your marketing strategies are effective? Besides the obvious increase in sales and revenue, you’ll have engaged customers who follow you on social media and are the first in line to get their hands on your new products or offerings, people who “like” and “share” your blog posts, and clients who talk up your business wherever they go.

About the Author

Dean Burgess started Excitepreneur to explore the areas of entrepreneurship that are often overlooked, and share with current and aspiring entrepreneurs the stories and lessons he has learned. He fully believes entrepreneurs will lead us to a more exciting future. All it takes is an idea or goal and a desire to see it to fruition.

Tenured Games is not affiliated with any links in this article. If we added a link to a paid product, it is only because we think it is valuable and not because we are making any profit from it.