No matter what your business entails, marketing is a huge part of your success. Marketing is how you attract new customers to your business and increase brand recognition. Without a marketing strategy, your business doesn’t have a chance to succeed. Even if your marketing budget is small, there are still some things you can do to successfully market your business.
Business Cards
Business cards may seem like an outdated way to promote your business, but they are just as relevant now as ever. Business cards allow you to quickly give a lot of important information in a way that will help the customer remember it. Not only can it contain all your social media and other contact information on it, but it will also tie into your brand image and leave an impression.
Customers are more likely to remember you if they have a physical representation of the interaction. Business cards are professional and effective. They are also very cost-effective because they are not expensive to make and get more of when you run out.
Networking
You already have a network of friends and colleagues to help promote your business and capitalizing on that is key. They should already know and trust you and want you to succeed. People who know you are most likely to look at your business when it is just getting started. They, in turn, can then recommend to their friends, and that will grow your clientele. Recommendations are a great way to build your business because a potential customer is more likely to do business with you if there is a positive recommendation from someone they know.
In addition to working with the personal network you already have, it is important to build a professional network also. This should include other professionals within your industry. There are large groups meant to support every group of people that allow you to participate, ask questions, and potentially answer questions too.
Through these large groups, you can start to make closer connections with individuals. Forming these relationships can help you have someone to bounce ideas off of, collaborate on projects with, and work as a support in general.
Affiliate Marketing
One easy way to promote your business and products is to have an affiliate marketing program. This allows other business owners to get a small percentage of sales they bring into your company. Since they get a direct commission from the sale, they will help promote your business for you.
The recent pandemic has affected businesses all over the world. COVID-19 & affiliate marketing is no exception. It is important to always stay flexible and adapt to challenges that arise. Companies that survive turmoil are the ones that see challenges as a way to grow and get even better.
Incentives for Referrals
Some companies have large referral programs to help incentivize their existing customers to bring in new clients. It doesn’t have to be big or elaborate to be effective, and anyone can do it, regardless of budget restraints.
One easy way to do this is to let your current customers know that if they refer a new client that results in a sale, that they will receive a coupon for their next purchase. This can be in any amount that you chose. You can also contact past clients with this same discount if they purchase from you again.
Referrals from current clients are already pre-dispositioned to like your product since the referral came from someone they trust. They are usually also within your target demographic, so these referrals are perfect.
Collaborate
Working with other small businesses will benefit you greatly. This can mean working with businesses that can be vendors for you, but it extends beyond that as well. It can also mean partnering, either officially or unofficially, with businesses that share the same target demographic.
This doesn’t have to be rigid and inflexible. You can simply set up a referral program for each other that offers a discount for the first purchase. It can also look like offering package deals together. If someone buys the package, they get products from both businesses at a small discount. It can also mean hosting or putting in prizes for an online giveaway to draw in customers for both companies.
Create Content
Creating quality content is a great way to develop the relationship you have with your client base, but it’s not as straight forward as it seems. That’s why if you’re inexperienced you should consider hiring a marketing consultant like Alex Croucher. However, if you do have experience it might be time to hone your skills. This is inexpensive because you can do it yourself. Learning a little bit about SEO, like keywords and backlinking can help you reach a larger number of people.
Keeping your site content current and new will keep existing customers coming back. You want to offer valuable information to your audience to show them that you are relevant and invested in them. Every post should have a call to action like signing up for an email list or contacting you about a promotion.
You should also use guest posting to your advantage. You can write posts for other businesses that relate in some way to your own. By doing this, you promote their business, but also link back to your business to draw in new customers.
Email Marketing
You should always be building your email list, even if you do not have a current plan for sending out emails. Email lists are built slowly, so you should start as soon as possible. Having an email list means you have direct contact with people who are already interested in your business.
You can help develop a relationship with your customers by being more accessible and offering valuable content to them. It is a great way for you to keep them updated on what is happening with your business, including new products or promotions.
You can send out emails a couple of times a month, or whatever schedule seems like the best fit for your business. You can also program emails to go out for certain campaigns that you have like a welcome email or series of emails, and a triggered response to follow-up based on pageviews or abandoned carts, or an order confirmation series.