Marketing, or promoting your business, is an ever-evolving and growing need for all business owners. Without marketing, your business will most likely fail or fade away. Yet, marketing is one of the biggest challenges for businesses, small and large. How can businesses, especially small businesses who have limited budgets, actively market their business?
Marketing comes in many forms and budgets. From television ad campaigns to blogging, promoting your business can be done in a variety of ways. If you’re just starting out or your business is still in its nascent stage, there’s a lot you can do to market your business. Here are just a few marketing tips you can start implementing today to help you grow your bottom line.
- Start Local (Really Local)
Many business owners become so fixated on growing large immediately that they forget about what’s in their backyard. Rather shooting for the moon, start pumping up your local connections and visibility. Be present in local events and start networking with community influencers to ensure everyone in your own community knows about you. By getting your community behind you, you can be sure that your brand will spread.
Remember, too, to think locally when it comes to the web. Be sure to have a proper local listing for your business so you can be easily found online when local customers are looking for your goods or services.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Be Social
One of the most common pushbacks from new businesses is being active on social media. The fear that they have no likes or followers can seem intimidating. It also sounds like a lot of work. However, social channels can become your best friend. If you actively monitor and work to optimize your social channels and the messaging you deliver to your audience, you will soon start seeing the positive changes. Whether it’s pushing out a promotion, announcing a new product, or highlighting an existing product or service, social channels are an easy way to communicate with potential and existing customers.
- Invest in Your Website
Oftentimes business owners forget that their website is just as important as their brick and mortar store. If you have a subpar website, or no website at all, it’s important that you invest in your own website. That means you are regularly updating your website with new imagery, fresh content or examples of your recent work. Remember that customers will judge you by the looks of your website. If your website sends a message of outdated or carelessness, that’s the message potential customers will perceive. So go ahead and invest in your own website, it’s your best asset!
- Start Writing (Now!)
Content marketing is perhaps the most overlooked component of successful marketing. While sitting down to write a blog may seem more like a chore than marketing your business, it can become your secret weapon. According to HubSpot, a well-known marketing automation software company, 82% of marketers who blog daily acquired a customer through their blog. This is one statistic you want to be part of! By offering useful insight and solutions to your customer’s problems, you can start climbing up the ladder in search rankings and thought leadership.
- Learn Your Options for Marketing Yourself Online
We all know that everyone uses the internet to find information and most importantly, to look for a product or find a new vendor. Learning your options for marketing your website online is critical to ensuring you can be found online by those looking for your product or services. From search engine optimization to pay-per-click advertising, there are many different options when it comes to marketing your business online. Learning your options will ensure you select the one that best fits your needs and those of your business.
While marketing your business may sound frightening and just too overwhelming to even bother, it’s important to promote your business across any channel and by any means possible. Not doing so means you can be losing out on business.
—
As the founder and CEO of OneIMS and Clickx, Solomon Thimothy has built his career around his passion for helping other businesses grow an online presence and thrive in the digital world. Solomon works with clients big and small to develop uniquely customized and highly-effective marketing strategies that meet every company's individual goals. Follow him on Twitter.