Small business owners are the backbone of the American economy. Most businesses in the US are small businesses, and many jobs are created by small business owners.
As businesses become more global, marketing to small business owners has become even more important. There is a growing need for small business marketing tools that help entrepreneurs grow their businesses without having to pay large fees.
Google Adwords is one of the most popular advertising platforms in the world. It allows advertisers to place ads on Google search pages, YouTube, and other Google-owned properties.
Advertisers can target people searching for specific keywords or locations, making it a very targeted platform. This makes it an affordable investment for small business owners who want to start advertising their business.
This article will discuss how small business owners can use Google Adwords to their advantage and get valuable exposure for their business.
Now that you know who small business owners are, how to find them, how to market to them, let’s talk about how to market to them.
There are five steps to marketing to small business owners. These steps can be used in both internal and external marketing strategies. Internal means advertising your business to other businesses within your organization or company, whereas external is advertising your business outside of your organization or company.
The first step is identifying needs of potential clients. What do they want or need? What problems can your product or service solve for them? How can you communicate this effectively?
The second step is developing content that addresses those needs and addresses the pain points and goals of potential clients. What information will help them make an informed decision?
The third step is sharing that content with potential clients via various channels.
Small business owners come in all shapes and sizes. Some have a few employees, some have a lot of employees, and some work alone.
It is important to know how many employees the small business has as well as their responsibilities to understand how to market to them. For example, if they hire a lot of employees, they may be looking for ways to streamline their operations. A marketing campaign that does this would be appreciated!
Knowing how many employees they have helps you market their success. If they only have a few employees, then maybe they would like to grow more than just monetarily. Giving them tools to do so will likely attract them as a customer.
Knowing if they work alone or not helps you target your marketing even more.
Developing a product is the next step in marketing to small business owners. You must have something to offer them in exchange for their business.
Typically, this is in the form of free services or products. For example, if you were looking to market your services as a plumber, you could offer a free plumbing inspection with any service call made to you.
This would take some of the pressure off of the customer to find a good plumber as they would have already received one for free.
Or, if you were an insurance agent looking to market your policies, you could give a free quote for any type of policy and then refund the cost if they purchase it through you. This way, they get some peace of mind and trust in your agency.
These are just two simple ways to give away some free products or services to gain more business.
As mentioned before, marketing is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of work, effort, and time to see results, so don’t give up too soon. Once you have all of your resources in place, keep tracking your results to see if you are making progress.
Keeping track of your marketing efforts is crucial to determining if your efforts are paying off. You can do this with paper and pencil or with handy apps.
Having a structure in place for your marketing will help you keep track of what needs to be done and when. This will help you be more efficient with your time and effort as you focus on bringing in new business.
Understanding your target customer is an important part of marketing to small business owners. By categorizing your target customer, you can create marketing strategies that appeal to each group.
There are three main categories of small business owners: consumers, other businesses, and other individuals working independently.
Consumers include customers or prospects who are looking for services or products offered by small business owners. Other businesses include other companies that offer similar services or products as yours. Individual workers are people who work independently, such as freelancers.
By identifying which of these groups most closely relate to your target customer and targeting advertising toward them, you will reach more of your prospective customers. For example, if you have a product aimed at consumers, then advertise on social media sites and search engines where consumers look for products like yours.
If you aim your product at other businesses, then advertise on websites and at conferences that cater to other businesses in your field.
It is wise to focus your B2B marketing efforts on one customer at a time. This way, you can give your full attention to one business and their needs.
By focusing on one customer, you can learn more about their business and what they need. You can also learn how to best serve them, which in turn will lead to more business for you.
Businesses of all sizes need various things such as services and products. By knowing what these are, you can market yourself as the best provider. Creating ads and marketing materials that highlight this can lead to new clients.
As mentioned before, networking is a great way to find new clients but only if done correctly. Networking events are a good place to start but there has to be a focus on one person at a time.
Let them talk about what they need and how you can help them while also focusing on one person will increase your chances of making a connection that leads to a client.
Customer feedback is one of the most important factors in business success. As a business owner, you’re going to have to learn how to listen to your customers.
People who purchase your products or services are the ones who know what they like about your business. They can also give you ideas for new improvements or products.
By asking your customers for feedback, you can learn more about how they use your products and services and how you can improve them. This can also boost customer confidence in your business.
As a small business owner, there may not be enough time to focus on improving customer satisfaction. Having a direct line to your customers can help you keep up with their needs and wants.
Ask your customers questions about their experience with your business and their thoughts on specific things related to your services or products.
As mentioned earlier, marketing is a never-ending process. Once you create your campaign, you need to monitor its effectiveness. You can do this by checking your website traffic, sales numbers, and customer feedback.
If there are areas of improvement, you can use these to develop new campaigns or improve existing ones. For example, if your campaign generated a lot of interest but no sales, then you may need to re-target your audience with a promotion or sale.
By keeping an eye on feedback and changing your marketing depending on that feedback, you will keep your business growing and thriving.
As a small business owner yourself, you have the advantage of knowing what issues concern you the most. Use this knowledge to create targeted campaigns that address those issues and help spread the word about your business.
Campaigns can be as simple as offering a sale or creating an ad to promote your business.
