Marketing is an integral part of running a small business. You will need to spend some money in order to let people know you and your business exist.
Marketing can include advertising on social media, promotional items, brochures,mailers, and more. The best marketing strategies are the ones that are tailored to your target audience.
How much you should spend on marketing depends on a number of factors, including the type of business you have, your budget, and your long-term marketing goals. This article will discuss how much small businesses should spend on marketing per month.
Your marketing budget should be somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of your revenue. This may seem like a large range, but there are situations where this amount would be appropriate.
This article will explain more about how to determine the appropriate size of your marketing budget.
Now that you know how important marketing is, the next step is to create a strategy.
Marketing is not a one-time activity, it’s a continual process that requires focus, attention to detail, and constant effort. You cannot afford to drop the ball on any of these aspects!
There are many ways to market your business depending on the type of business you have. For example, if you have a brick-and-mortar store, then you can spread the word via flyers at local businesses, advertisements in local magazines and newspapers, and posters around the area.
If you have a website, then you can do social media advertising like pay for ads on Facebook or Twitter, or create free social media accounts that link back to your business. You could also do direct marketing via email lists or mailing lists.
Once you’ve determined your business niche, the next step is to identify your target audience.
Who are your potential customers? What types of people are likely to buy from you? What can you offer them that will entice them to buy from you instead of your competition?
Your target audience can be defined in many ways. You can target a demographic (age, gender, race), a geographic area, or even a psychological trigger that prompts someone to buy from you.
For example, if you run a pet sitting business, you could target young families in the neighborhood where you operate. Or, you could focus on busy professionals who need easy access to their pets while they’re at work. Or perhaps both!
Marketing strategies must be tailored to your target audience. If you spend money on advertising to reach general audiences, it will not be effective.
As mentioned earlier, starting a digital marketing campaign is simple. The difficulty lies in carrying out the campaign successfully and ensuring you invest in efforts that generate results.
Many small business owners rely on free social media platforms to establish a presence and market their business. While this may be an effective way to start marketing your business, it will not yield results unless you invest in it.
Free platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offer ways to promote your content which may draw attention to your business. However, only by paying for advertising will you truly get views, follows, or sales towards your product or service.
Saving money is a good thing but should not be the reason why a small business does not invest in marketing. The best way to know if marketing efforts are working is by looking at the numbers that matter- sales! If there are no sales coming from any type of marketing, then it might be time to rethink what is being done.
Having a professional, well-designed website is key to establishing your business. You can hire someone to create a website for you, or use a free site like WordPress or Wix to create one yourself.
With paid websites, you have the option of hosting your website on your own server or using a third-party server like Google or Yahoo. Both have their pros and cons, so look into both to see which fits you and your business best.
Websites help promote your business by having an easy place for people to find information about you and what you offer. A good website will always be updated with new information about your business and events going on so that people never miss out on anything.
A key way to get your business noticed is by having a website. A website gives you the opportunity to communicate who you are, what you do, and how people can find you.
In this day and age, everyone expects a business to have a website. Having a strong web presence helps build trust in your business and Brand Awareness.
Having a website is no longer enough- it needs to be user-friendly, easy to find, and have good content that keeps people coming back.
Having a basic wordpress or blog site is free so there is no excuse not to have one! Even if you do not know how to make changes or add content, most companies offer “makeover” services for websites at an affordable price. This gets your site updated with new features that keep up with current trends.
There are also many free resources for learning how to make changes on a website so that you can do this yourself.
As mentioned before, marketing is a never-ending process. With the rise of social media, it has become easier and more affordable to market your business.
Many free platforms, like Twitter and Instagram, allow you to market your business with little expenditure. You are limited by how many posts you can make and how many followers you have, but it is possible to gain a following and increase engagement on posts for little cost.
For paid platforms like Twitter Ads or Instagram advertising, it is very affordable to place a post out to people who may be interested in your business. This can be targeted by geography, age range, and interests, making it even more targeted to your ideal customer.
Both of these platforms offer ways to measure the success of your ads. You can see how many people interacted with your ad (by going to the bathroom or purchasing your product), which is a good measure of success.
Even in the digital age, printed materials are important for your small business.
Business cards are a must. You can get very creative with your business cards, and they do not need to be expensive. You can make them yourself at home with some card stock and a printer.
Other tips for making business cards stick: include an email address on the card, include some sort of message that highlights what you do, use quality card stock, and keep them updated.
We love when our members tell us they keep their old SCBS certificates on their desk to remind them of where they started and how far they have come- it’s such a simple thing but it reminds you of all the hard work you put in to get there.
Event marketing is a strategy that Small Businesses should consider. Event marketing involves getting your business name out there by hosting events that people will want to attend.
These can range from networking events, workshops or seminars, and sales events like free give-aways or sales. The most successful events combine some element of all of these.
Networking events are an opportunity to get your name out there and make connections with other businesses and people who may become customers. By hosting a networking event, you are giving people a reason to come to your business or shop at your place.
Workshops and seminars can draw people in due to their curiosity about the topic being presented. They may even bring friends who they think would benefit from the information being given.
Free giveaways and sales both advertise your business and get people in the door to buy what you have to offer.
