Small business marketing involves promoting your small business or brand to gain new customers and draw in sales. While this can include advertising or sales, marketing is also about creating awareness.
Marketing is an ongoing effort that requires some research and consistency. You have to know what channels are best for your business and target audience, and how to invest in those efforts sustainably.
The best small business marketers are not afraid to try new strategies or tools, and are willing to cut the cords on ones that do not work for them. There is no room for stubbornness when it comes to growing your customer base!
There are many different ways you can use marketing for your small business so don’t feel like you need to be an expert in all of them.
Before you do any marketing, you have to have a goal. You need to know what you’re trying to sell, who you’re trying to sell it to, and how you’re going to get them to buy it.
For example, if you’re trying to sell your services as a painter, you need to have an idea of how much money you want to make per hour, what kind of jobs you want to get, and how many jobs you want to get.
If you are trying to market your business on social media, then you need to set goals for how many followers or likes you want to get.
You have to keep track of your efforts or else they will be pointless. It’s important to know what goals are achievable and which ones are not.
Before you start marketing your small business, you need to be clear on who you’re marketing to. Who is your target market?
This isn’t just about demographics like age, race, and income level. It’s also about what they want and need, what motivates them to make purchases, and how you can reach them.
Marketing is not a natural skill, so don’t worry if you don’t feel like you know how to do it. You can learn most of the basics for free online and with resources available at your local library.
Once you learn the basics of marketing, one of the first things you’ll learn is the importance of identifying your target market. It’s one of the biggest factors in determining your marketing strategy.
Now let’s talk about content. We’re living in a content-driven world, and that means your small business can benefit from creating content.
Whether it’s writing a blog post, creating a how-to video, or doing some sort of project or product showcase, you have the ability to spread the word about your business by creating content.
Blogs are a great way to start getting your name out there. Write about relevant topics in your field and share them on social media to get engagement.
Posts that go viral are ones that actually address a topic or question people are asking.
Marketing for small business depends heavily on social media. Major corporations have huge marketing budgets to spend on ads and promotions, but you can do it for free!
People are constantly checking their social media accounts, so it is an easy way to spread the word. You can do this via Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter.
Facebook is very useful since you can create an ad that goes straight to your business’s page and into people’s news feeds. This makes it cost-effective as well since it does not need to be a paid ad.
You can create ads for each of the major social media platforms, so if people are more active on one than the others, you can target only that one.
Advertising is one of the best ways to let people know about your business. You can invest in local newspaper ads, print brochures, and put up signs around your area.
For small businesses, social media is a huge asset. With platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, you can reach a lot of people. Create an account for your business and start posting interesting content that relates to your business.
Google AdWords is a platform that allows you to place small text ads on websites that are part of the Google network. These ads can bring you traffic to your website or store where people can purchase your product or service.
These ads are fairly inexpensive if you set up the right campaign, making this advertising strategy affordable for small businesses.
Small business marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, event marketing is a strategy that can be employed for little to no cost.
Hosting events can include open houses, workshop or class presentations, demonstrations, or even casual meet-and-greets. The key is to inform people about your business and how they can find value in it.
Open houses are a great way to launch your business. You can do this at your workplace, a retail space, or even at your home if you are an independent contractor. Invite local media and provide an overview of what you do and how people can get involved.
Workshop and class presentations are great ways to spread the word about your business. Reach out to teachers and professors and offer your services as a free workshop or presentation sponsor. Or offer yourself up as a speaker for other educators in the community.
Demonstrations are easy ways to share what your business does.
A way to introduce new product features is by introducing new product features in packaging. For example, if your company offers a shampoo that comes in a plain white bottle, you could add a green label to the bottle as an introduction to a new feature- extra cleaning power.
A green label would indicate that the shampoo is environmentally friendly, which is a feature most people look for in shampoo. A thicker bottle could also serve as a warning that this new feature- extra thickness- is what makes this product better than the others.
Another way to use packaging to introduce new features is by having just one small change. Change the color of the label or add some text and your customers will think there is something new about your product!
Or you can keep the colors and text the same but add some additional material to make it seem like there is something new.
A common way to use marketing for small businesses is to create sales promotions. Companies often run sales for one or two days, but small businesses can take this a step further.
Offer a limited time discount or advertise your products or services with advertising platforms like Facebook and Google Ads. You can offer a discount on your products or services by offering a freebie with purchase, using limited quantities, or timing it with a popular event, like the upcoming holidays.
You can also do both! Create limited quantity bundles of your products or services at a discounted price and advertise your offerings during your sale dates.
Running sales frequently can help get the word out about your business and draw in new customers.
