Whether you have an idea, you’ve recently started your business, or you’re in the process of growing one, you need to understand the importance of marketing. You could have the best product or service in the world, but if no one knows about it, you’re not going to be very successful.
There are, of course, plenty of approaches you can take when it comes to marketing your small business, from using social media, starting an email campaign, and having a website. Here are key strategies you need to know to ensure your marketing efforts are a success.
Digital Marketing Strategies
Understanding Your Audience
There are two parts to this point. First, you need to know your audience. Let’s say you create a skincare product for elderly women, but it’s actually most loved by teenage girls as the product is launched. Do you keep marketing to elderly women and teenage girls in the same way?
Of course not. In business, you can never choose your audience and customers; they choose you, which is why it’s so important to shift your marketing efforts to suit the customers who are using your business.
Which brings us nicely to the second factor to consider; how you define your audience. You may have an image of what kind of people use your business, but when it comes to marketing, it always pays to be specific.
Break down your customers in terms of:
- Age
- Gender
- Geographical location
- Income
- Jobs
- Interests
- Political opinion
- Likes
- Dislikes
There’s a reason you never Lamborghini advertisements on television. The people who can afford to buy them are far too busy to watch TV.
Winning the Short Term
When you’re marketing a big business, you’re going to be aiming to win in the long-term. You’ll be working on advertising campaigns that could last months or even years. Alternatively, when you’re a small business, you want to be focused on the short term.
The sooner you can make a return on investment, the better, because then you’ll have more money to invest in your business. There are endless ways you can win the short-term, such as hosting competitions and giveaways, advertising on social media for instant sales, and the sorts.
Just remember to diversify your strategy and not just use way to market. If it doesn’t work, that’s a lot of investment lost that you really couldn’t afford too.
Existing Customers are Best
There’s a saying in the business world that it’s easier to keep an existing customer than it is to find a new one. This is because an existing customer has already gone through the process of doubting your company and your products and figuring out whether they want to go with you or not.
They’ve gone through and decided they trust you already, which means you don’t need to invest any more time in figuring out ways to make them trust you like you do with new customers. This is why existing retargeting customers is always going to be the best way to succeed.
If people keep coming back to you and using your company, then this is naturally going to help your business grow and attract new customers. Statistics show that you cost around five times more to close a deal with new customers than it does with existing ones, so take those current customer opportunities where you can, and make sure you get creative with how you do it!
Go with Working Strategies
Marketing a small business is a lot of trial and error. You’re going to try some things, and they won’t work at all, and you’ll have felt like you’re wasting your time. On the other hand, you’re going to find strategies that do work and bring you a lot of success.
When you find these working strategies, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t double down on them. When you’re running a small business, time is money. When you find what works, stick with and maximize your return.
About the Author
Cheri Jones is an aspiring entrepreneur and business writer at Liverpool Writing Service and Gumessays.com. She has been involved in many daring business projects and managed to find success. Also, she is a manager at Research Papers UK.
