Small business owners know that marketing is an essential part of running a successful business. Marketing lets you let the world know about your business, your services or products, and why they should invest in or purchase from you.
Marketing is also how you get new customers into your business. Customers come from many sources, but none more powerful than word of mouth.
Word of mouth marketing is when previous customers tell other people about your business and how great it is. This can be through talking to people or social media like Facebook and Instagram.
Small businesses typically don’t have large budgets for marketing so they need to get creative with the ways they market their business. Luckily, there are many free resources small businesses can use to market themselves. This article will discuss some ways that you can market yourself locally as a small business owner.
Before you can market to your customers, you need to know who your customers are. This sounds like common sense, but it’s a critical piece of marketing small business locally.
Are your customers mostly older women? Are they mostly young families? Do most of your customers live close by or do they travel from afar? These are all important questions to ask.
Marketing strategies will look very different for each group of customers. For example, advertising online is very effective, but most local customers don’t use it. You would be wasting money on that advertising platform if you targeted local customers only.
The best way to identify your customer base is to do some market research. Survey your current and past customers and find out where they’re from, what they buy from you, and why they buy from you. Then gather all of this information and organize it into charts and graphs to get the full picture.
When customers are deciding what product to buy, you can help them make a decision by offering them samples or discounts on other products.
For instance, if a customer is looking at your products but seems hesitant, offer them a sample or special offer on another product to help sway their decision.
They may feel comfortable enough to choose your product after tasting or using it, or they may buy another product that they feel good about after trying yours.
This reminds customers of your business and gets people exploring your store again, potentially buying more items.
Giving away samples or small freebie items is a great way to get people to come into your business and try your product or service. It is also a great way to put your business in the hands of someone else to spread the word for you.
People are always looking for things to do with their free time, so give them something fun to do-come into your business and take a sample or service away!
This can be done once someone has purchased from you, as well. Have a coupon or deal for people to come in and try something you sell, then they can take something else home with them for free.
This brings more people into your business and gives them something that will remind them of your business when they need more services or products like yours.
A great way to get new customers is to offer free trial sessions for your services. For example, if you are a massage therapist, offer a free ten-minute massage to anyone who asks.
Then, at the end of the massage, ask if they would like to book a full hour. If they do, then they will get a full hour of massage therapy at no cost!
This lets you build your client base and gives people an excuse to try your services. Once they do, they will probably tell their friends and other people about your service which brings more potential clients.
There is also an opportunity to add these new people to your schedule so that they pay you for your services.
Offering a money-back guarantee is a strategy used by many small business owners to boost customer confidence in their products.
By offering a guarantee, people feel more comfortable trying your service or product because if they are not satisfied, they will get their money back. This tactic also promotes word-of-mouth advertising, which can be very beneficial.
Your customers will tell others about your business and product if they enjoy what you offer, and if not, they'll tell them how they can get their money back. This helps build trust in your brand and sales overall.
You can implement a money-back guarantee in several ways. You can offer your customers a free trial of your product or service, you can offer an unconditional return policy on purchases, or you can offer partial refunds after a certain period of time. All of these options help boost customer confidence and promote word-of-mouth advertising.
Before you can sell to someone, you have to be familiar with who your potential buyers are. Know what they like, what they buy, and where they like to shop.
For example, if you are selling surfboards, then you should know the best places to sell surfboards, the prices people pay here and elsewhere, and the best places to advertise for more buyers.
You should also know the best places to advertise for more sellers. If you are selling locally produced goods, then know where people buy local goods and how to get your products on their radar.
Being familiar with your market will help you market yourself and your business successfully. People will know what they are buying from you because you offer them value and knowledge about your products or services.
Before you start marketing your business, it’s important to know what businesses are already in the market. Who are their competitors, what do they sell, and how do they market?
By researching the marketing tactics your competition uses, you can also learn about marketing strategies that work. How and when they advertise, their social media strategies, and what types of customers they target can help you.
You can learn a lot about your competition by looking at their websites, social media accounts, and email newsletters. By talking to people that have purchased from them before, you can get an inside look at their business too.
Competitors can be local or online sellers. Having an understanding of both can help you market your business effectively.
As mentioned earlier, there are tons of resources for small business marketing tips. Many of these are provided by social media sites and online web sites that offer free marketing tools.
Google Ads is a great way to generate traffic to your website or business location. By creating ads, you can target people in a specific area or who search for specific things. These ads can be put on billboards, on the internet, or on radio and television.
Facebook has groups where people in your area post business recommendations and talk about local businesses. By being active in these groups and posting helpful information, you will get more recognition. You can also create an ad for your business to put it out there more!
And if you don’t know how to do any of this? There are plenty of websites that offer affordable advertising services.
