Effective small business marketing strategy allows a small business owner to create a brand identity, inform the customer base about their products or services, and establish a good reputation. It also helps them attract customers and build good customer relationships. Finally, a good small business marketing plan can give marketing leverage over your competitors – even the ones in the big leagues.
However, the pool of small businesses continues to grow as more people open theirs. So, if you want to stand out against the competition, it pays to invest time and effort in a small business marketing plan that works.
How Can I Promote My Small Business?
Several factors influence the blueprint for your marketing efforts: budget, target market, and objectives. Other important considerations include determining which marketing channel will work for your business (e.g. social media, website, etc.).
If you are unfamiliar with these ideas, consider making time for workplace learning to help you learn more about marketing concepts. But if you haven’t got the time yet (but we seriously encourage investing in training!), here are some tips on how you can create an effective marketing strategy for your small business:
Know Your Target Audience
The first step in creating a good strategy is identifying your target audience. You need to know who you are trying to reach with your marketing efforts. Once you know your ideal customer, you can easily determine the best way to reach them. So, market research is essential when you want to attract new customers.
Set Marketing Goals
What do you want to achieve with your marketing efforts? Do you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or boost sales? Once you’ve identified your goals, start brainstorming ways to achieve them. For example, if your goal is to reach more customers in your area, consider looking into local search engine optimization (SEO) so you’ll appear on the local SERPs.
Develop a Marketing Budget
Now that you have your goals, the next step is to think about the budget. How much can you spend on marketing? Your set budget determines the services you can use (if you’re planning to hire a professional) or the tasks that you can DIY.
Create a Marketing Plan
Finally, create your plan. It should include all your information about your target audience, goals, budget, and chosen marketing channels. Once you have all of the data, start developing your marketing strategy.
Promoting a new business in the market takes time. So, exercise patience and continue learning. Similar to schoolwork, avoid the dangers of cramming. When you cram, you are prone to marketing mistakes that can be costly to fix.
What is the Best Small Business Marketing Strategy?
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for small business marketing planning. Some strategies work for others while others don’t. However, there are common marketing channels that small business owners should pay attention to. These include email marketing, online advertising, and SEO.
Email Marketing
Small businesses can use email marketing to connect with their customers. An email marketing strategy involves sending promotional emails to potential customers. These emails can promote new products or services, special offers, or events.
For you to succeed with this strategy, have an email list. Build your email list by collecting names and addresses at trade shows or through their website.
Once you have the list, create appealing email content. The content should offer value to the readers, such as promotions or basic need-to-know information. It should also include a call to action that encourages recipients to take action.
Online Advertising
Another common marketing channel is online advertising. Online advertising allows businesses to reach a broad audience via search engine marketing strategies like banner ads, Google ads, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads, and video ads.
To be successful with online advertising, choose the right platform for your small business. Next, create a compelling ad copy that includes a call to action. Additionally, track the results to optimize your campaigns.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Small businesses can also use SEO to improve online visibility and increase website visitors. SEO is the process of optimizing a business website for search engine results pages. It helps a website rank higher in Google search results, making it more visible to potential customers.
There are many different SEO techniques that you can use. These include keyword research, link building, and content marketing. All of these strategies go hand in hand. Finding the right keywords and building relevant content around them can give you brownie points from Google. To fully optimize your website, you’ll need good links, too.
You can also set up a Google Business page. This page will appear in Google search results when someone searches for your business name or address.
Influencer Marketing
Influencers play a big role in today’s marketing scene. With influencer marketing, you’ll work with people with a large social media following. These influencers can promote your products or services to their followers.
A successful influencer marketing strategy requires small businesses to find the right influencers for their products or services. These influencers must create compelling content that will appeal to their followers.
What is the Average Budget for Marketing?
Setting a marketing budget is tricky. You want to spend enough to see results, but you don’t want to overspend and waste money. So, what is the average marketing budget for small businesses?
Factors Affecting Marketing Budgets
The answer depends on several factors, which include the industry, company size, growth stage, and the importance of marketing on sales. Marketing budgets range from 5 to 25 percent of revenue targets.
For example, companies aiming to maintain their positions set around two to 10 percent of their revenues for marketing. Companies with growth targets of at least 50 percent set aside 15 to 30 percent of projected revenue for marketing.
The size of your budget also depends on the current growth stage of your business. For companies in the early stages of growth, the budget may be a larger percentage of revenues. As the company grows and becomes more established, the marketing budget will be a smaller percentage of overall revenue.
When setting your marketing budget, consider the return on investment of each marketing channel. Make sure you are spending your money in a way that will give you the most bang for your buck.
Is a Small Businesses Marketing Plan Important?
Marketing plans for small businesses are a topic of debate. Some people say that marketing plans are a waste of time and money. Others say that marketing plans are essential for the success of a small business.
So, what’s the answer? Do small businesses need a marketing plan?
The answer is yes, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for all businesses. If you have a limited budget and are just starting, a grand marketing plan may not be necessary. Instead, focus all of your efforts on free or low-cost marketing channels to get the word out about your business.
As your business grows, your marketing strategy can grow with you. You can start investing in more tools or venturing to other small business marketing channels. If you decide to create a marketing plan, there are several things to keep in mind.
No matter where you are in your business journey, marketing for your small business should include a plan that:
- is flexible. It should be able to change as your business grows and as the market changes.
- is realistic. Don’t set unrealistic goals.
- is simple. Keep it concise and to the point.
Creating a marketing plan is a critical component of a small business’s success. It’s a blueprint that keeps everyone on the same page regarding the direction the business is heading and how it will get there. Your small business marketing plan should also show you the best opportunities for your business.
