Small businesses seldom have a marketing team or a luxurious budget for maintaining their day-to-day marketing activities. In most cases, it is up to them to find the most effective ways to market their business online and to survive in a competitive space. Do businesses need to spend millions on marketing? Business growth is simply a matter of smart marketing and good customer retention and does not need the spending of a ton of money.
What are the most effective ways to promote a small business? Here are 9 things you can try to propel your growth, connect with the right people, generate leads, and attract more customers to your business.
1. Leverage Social Media Platforms
Today, more than 2 million small to medium-sized business use Facebook as their primary source of marketing. It is an inexpensive and effective marketing feature makes it a strong platform, allowing businesses to market their product virtually in front of millions of users. Businesses can use Facebook ads to target precise audiences in ways that are unmatched by other platforms.
You can create a Facebook group for your business, where you can offer advice and support directly to your customers. It is worth trying other social media platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram if you have a strong visual component. LinkedIn has about 500 million active marketers and can help speed up a marketing campaign with positive ROI.
2. Google My Business
Creating a company page on “Google My Business” and taking steps to improve the rank of your listing is one of the most powerful things you can do for your business. If we talk about targeting local customers, it is the most powerful strategy available to you. For example – If a customer is searching for keyword “Best Web Development Agency In New York” he will see a list of companies that provide the service, starting with those that are listed locally on Google My Business.
So, if you manage to rank your GMB listing in top 3, you can attract a large number of highly qualified leads, day in and day out, without to spending a dime on paid ads.
3. Focus More On Content Marketing
Experts say that content marketing provides the vastest commercial impact to any small business. It is the process of distributing valuable, relevant, and regular content to attract and retain a potential audience and drives profitable customer engagement.
Unlike paid advertising, content marketing tends to focus on long-term results. You can list your business on directory sites for more exposure. The initial rewards may be low, but in the long-term, you will see a gradual growth of visitors, potential leads and buyers.
4. Create Listings On Coupons Sites
Whether you are selling a product or offering a service, you can use sites like Groupon that offer coupons to promote your business more aggressively. Coupon sites usually have a ton of traffic with potential leads searching for some discounts. Coupon sites are generally group offers by location and allow local, regional or even national companies to offer their members time-limited discounts and Gift Vouchers.
With listing on various coupon sites, you can ensure a massive presence, targeted local advertising, increased brand awareness, and the influx of new customers for your business.
5. Email Marketing Works Wonder
Most people who visit a particular site do not tend to buy products immediately. Collecting contact information for additional marketing and “lead nurturing” is the best way to sell your products via email marketing. Email marketing remains the highest conversion channel when interactions with potential customers if done properly.
So, you need to create an opt-in form so that a person can subscribe to your e-mail list, and so that get an opportunity to display the authority and credibility of your business, by providing them with worthy content via email.
6. Offer Free Consultation
When it comes to professional services, people want to leverage the experience and get relevant information before deciding on a product or service.
If you have managed to position yourself as an industry leader or as an authority in your niche, offering a free consultation is a great way to acquire new leads. If you have established a good interpersonal sales process, you can also convert a large percentage of potential customers.
You can offer a free consultation to potential customers both online and offline. You can advertise the offer through brochures, newspapers, posters or even by word of mouth; and, you can display it prominently on your website and on social media channels as well.
7. Offer Incentives To Staffs For Sales
Your employees know more about your product and service. They know the customer base as well. To grow your business you can offer your staffs a reward in the form of incentives. Some of them will take the initiative without financial motivation, but most will not, and those who bring new customers should be encouraged to repeat the process with a financial or substantial reward.
It is important to provide incentives to employees who recommend new customers. As with any type of compensation, incentives are about tailoring your company’s goals to those of your employees. So, when you meet your employee’s expectation, you meet your business goals as well.
8. Feature Your Business In Authority Sites
If you can write high-quality articles, sharing your experience in the form of a weekly or monthly column on high authority sites can do wonders for your business. By writing content for authority sites, you can establish constant contact with the audience in your niche and establish a genuine relationship with the readers of the publication. This audience starts thinking about you as an industry expert.
Local newspapers or non-profit magazines often look for a quality columnist. Among the most exclusive publications are Forbes, Inc. and Fast Company. These premium sites receive daily traffic in the millions and are exclusively maintained by unpaid experts. You can also hire QualDev Inc. for your internet marketing services if you do not have expertise in writing.
9. Join Business Groups
When you join business groups in your area, you get an opportunity to meet other like-minded people who are already running a business like yours. These groups provide an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas with other smart peoples. You can exchange references, find new talents, and identify new opportunities easily.
They can also prove useful for developing your network base in the city. Connections tend to multiply, and if your group takes networking seriously, you can leverage it to get 10x more customers.
Conclusion:
In this article, you have seen 9 different ways to promote your small business online, while all 9 might be not fit your unique business needs 100%, I’m guessing 4-5 of them will prove to be good for you and will provide you with enough to skyrocket your business.