Effective Ways to Market Your Small Business
There are many different marketing strategies, but not one that fits all businesses. You have to consider the audience you want to reach, and the best ways of doing that before deciding on the most effective ways of marketing your business.
Don’t Ignore Social Media
When it comes to social media, the question should not be do you use it, but how much time and effort are you prepared to put into it? For many years businesses largely ignored the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and all the other platforms but then it was realised what a huge opportunity was being missed. Most businesses now have a business page on a least one social media platform which they can use to interact with their customers, promote special offers and generally use it for the good of their business.
Social media can put your brand in front of billions of people over a very short space of time, but it can take a lot of effort and needs effectively managing for it to be successful. This is why many businesses either employ people to deal with it or use a social media agency to take care of it for them.
Trade Shows
Trade shows are a very good way of promoting your business, especially if you have eye-catching trade show booth displays at your disposal. They let potential customers see your good first hand before they buy, and to meet you in person. That personal touch goes a long way when you are trying to grow a business, and the loyalty from customers you have met can last for a very long time.
A good way of getting your name known is by giving out some free gifts at the trade show. A branded coffee mug, for instance, will have your name on display every time it is used. The same goes for pens and key rings.
Emails
Email marketing used to be very popular with small businesses but then the use of it started to wane. However, now it is back and proving more useful than ever. If your email is engaging in some way or solves a problem for the viewer, it can be a very effective way of getting your brand known and costs very little to implement.
Websites
It is estimated that nearly three-quarters of shoppers look online before they buy something, and about half of those will purchase from a website if they find what they are after. Your website can be the most important part of your marketing strategy. It must be appealing but not cluttered. It is vital it is user-friendly and a website that is difficult to navigate will soon lose any viewers. What is really crucial though is it must be responsive to all devices. The explosion of smartphones and digital devices has resulted in 80% of searches being made on them. Users need to be able to see the same thing whether they are viewing your site on a 27-inch PC screen or a 5-inch phone screen, and there needs to be something on the first page that will hold their attention.
Other Marketing Methods
There are no end to the ways of marketing your small business, some of them being out of the financial reach of a new startup. Don’t let that put you off though. Different strategies work for different businesses. You need to research your market so you know who to aim for and analyze the results so you can work out which methods are working best for you.