Jigar Agrawal is Digital Marketing Manager at eSparkBiz. He is Passionate about anything related to Digital Marketing. Wants to unlock the world of technology and Social Media where every day there is a chance of new possibility as well as innovation.
Your brand needs to have an online presence in order to succeed irrespective of the fact whether you're just starting up or already have an existing business.
Local businesses are being located more through the internet when compared to other mediums. This is because almost a third of online consumers go online to find and research local businesses. Marketing through digital channels can increase brand awareness and return on investment for small businesses. Digital marketing is not only crucial for marketing your products or services but optimizing your online assets can also make or break your business. Potential clients appreciate having accurate and up-to-date information readily available to them.
Small business owners who have little experience with online marketing might find that all this sounds difficult to implement. Don't be intimidated. We'll explain what these terms mean, why you should care, and why you should know them!
Marketing for small businesses - What Is It?
It's the goal of marketing to raise brand awareness and build sales pipelines of qualified leads. Due to a lack of visibility and resources (like budgets or time), getting the word out to potential clients can be challenging for smaller businesses. Nevertheless, there are several key strategies you can implement to scale up your small business' marketing efforts and get desired returns.
You don't need to fret about a lack of resources, a limited budget, or a smaller team; a marketing plan tailored to your needs can guide you as and how you scale.
You can use the following strategies to market your small business:
1. Create a Google My Business account for free
An effective Google Business Profile is an important free marketing strategy for local businesses. A business listing in Google Maps can be found through Google Search. Providing accurate information to your clients will help them locate you and get to know you better. The listing that appears when someone searches for your business will prove to give you the most visibility.
2. Use social media to engage with others
Social media engagement and establishing an online community is a free way for your small business to grow and express what your business stands for, what the vision & mission is while building trust with your target audience. Engage in social media and create business accounts on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Twitter, and YouTube.
When you have a few minutes to spare, you can practice this. Directly converse with your followers about what your brand stands for and encourage more engagement, conduct polls and ask for feedback, make efforts to create shorter and more digestible posts by excerpting great content from longer forms.
3. Develop an email marketing strategy
A great way to engage new visitors as well as maintain customer relationships is through email marketing. Even though email marketing isn't a new strategy, it is still one of the most reliable methods to achieve strong returns on investment.
Take steps to ensure your emails are effective: Make sure your emails contain a call-to-action that encourages readers to take the next step; run A/B tests to determine what copy and offers resonate with your list, and be creative with your subject lines so as to attract readers.
4. Set up your own website to take control of your online presence
An attractive, professional-looking website is a crucial component of any small business. A company's website is a place where it can tell potential customers who it is, what it does, where it is located, and how to contact it.
This channel is something that you own permanently (as opposed to other platforms that might change policies or style from time to time), and it has the capability of generating organic traffic as well as acting as a central hub for marketing and advertising initiatives.
Make sure your website is mobile-friendly as well. Mobile devices are the most popular way of searching Google, so have a site that is easy to navigate and appears clean when viewed on a mobile device. Having a mobile website can also benefit your search engine rankings since popular search engines like Google will reward you with higher rankings if you have one.
5. Put money into advertising
Small businesses should invest in short-term plays since organic traffic tends to take a while to build. Targeting buyers with high intent through pay-to-play tactics is a fantastic way to attain short-term wins that will kickstart other goals.
Using Google Ads is a perfect choice if you know your target audience is using Google to find your product. However, social media ads may be an appropriate alternative if they aren't. Although social media users don't have much buying intent, targeting your ads and an adequate number of impressions will get your audience's attention.
6. Co-host Online Events
You can conduct webinars, teleconferences, and Twitter chats through your networks and connections in the industry. There are a lot of advantages to holding online events, including bringing together different groups of people from the industry and allowing them to exchange valuable information. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to connect with similar audiences and niches.
7. Apply for awards and accreditations for your small business
Regardless of how small the industry may be, there are business awards. The application for awards and accreditations provides an organic method of bringing your business to the forefront. Receiving awards may be beneficial depending on a number of factors and your chances of winning.
After authenticating your business, you can consider displaying the awards on your website, send out press releases, and display the awards in your emails. This would make your business trustworthy.
8. Use online reviews to your advantage
Social media should be used to promote and encourage user-generated content. A satisfied customer is the best authority builder. Customer feedback typically comes in the form of ratings and reviews. Encourage your clients to write medium-sized reviews. Images are preferred. By dealing with any negative customers fairly and in a non-hostile manner, you can show visitors how you treat all of your customers.
9. Start a Yelp and Facebook business page
For businesses that operate in a local market, Facebook, Yelp, and Google's business listing will be essential. A high number of Yelp reviews boost your authority online and improve your search ranking. Your business can be claimed on Yelp for free, you can upload photos and customize your profile, and you can ask for reviews. If you create a business page on Facebook, people can find your address and hours of operation.
It is important to keep your social media profiles updated in order for your business to be found and to interact with prospects.
10. Host contests and giveaways on social media
Social media contests and giveaways are powerful marketing strategies that require little investment. There may be a cost to providing a prize or offering a product at no cost, but the new leads and number of participants you get will be well worth the investment.
Don't have much money to spend? Don’t worry, there is no need to give away expensive prizes. An impressive water bottle or fancy backpack or a couple of vouchers could be enough for some users to be enthralled.
The purpose of hosting contests and giveaways is to get your name out there and introduce potential clients to your services by requiring registrants to like, follow, or tag your business.
Conclusion
Engage your customers and build relationships to keep your brand at the top of their minds with the above-mentioned ten inexpensive marketing strategies. You must invest time, effort, and most importantly, relevance in your marketing, and how much money you spend on marketing is always secondary. This article is a guest blog written by Jigar Agrawal. To contribute a guest post to Workast.com, please complete the expression of interest form here.
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