Marketing for Small Business – Today’s Top 8 Tips

Digital marketing is now a fact of life.  No business – big or small – can expect to reach their audience without a digital strategy which includes mobile.  If you’re still lagging, you can’t wait any longer.  Here are 8 tips that cover the fundamentals of digital marketing for small businesses today.

#1. Get a Mobile Responsive Website & Professional Design

At the core of your digital marketing effort is your website.  It’s so important in terms of first impressions it’s worth thinking of it as an employee at your business. Who is making that initial handshake with prospective clients?  Are they communicating value and professionalism?  Are they giving you an edge over your competition?  Is your website easy to view and navigate on a phone? There is no longer a cost or time barrier to getting a professional looking website that’s mobile responsive.  There is, however, a huge cost to having an outdated, static site. We’d be willing to bet you don’t have rotary dial phones at your business.  Having an outdated website – today – is even worse. Make sure your website communicates who you are in a way web audiences expect.

#2.  Become a Search Master

The yellow pages are no more.  But that doesn’t mean people don’t look businesses up. Google and Bing search are where people turn when they need to find a business.   They make a search query using a keyword phrase.  For example, if I need my hair done and I’m in Denver, I’d search “beauty salons Denver”, or “salons near me”. For a local business, it’s possible to rank in the paid search area at the top (PPC), the Google Places listing with maps, and in the organic SEO listings.These are all different tactics that serve the same goal – to be found by new clients doing online searches.  If you’re not on page one (at least once), you’re nowhere.

#3.  Get on Local Listings

Both search engines and apps like Siri use local business directories to understand and verify the location of your business.  Make sure your online presence is on as many directories as possible and that your contact information and hours of operation are consistent.  This will help with those “near me” searches, particularly on mobile.  Try our Local Listing Ads® service for help.

#4.  Invest in Reputation Management

Today, your online reputation plays a critical role in your lead generation.  You need to have reviews, and they must paint a positive picture. Much of this comes from the quality of your work.  Know that today when you cut corners you risk serious damage to your reputation.  When you exceed expectations, you help your marketing. But, unfortunately, not all is fair in the world of online content.  You need to manage unjust, negative comments and encourage positive ones.  That’s the job of reputation management. The user-generated content of online reviews is now as critical to the perception you create as your website.   Never forget how your services carry over into online comments, and absolutely don’t ignore this content.

#5.  Get Active on Social Media

Today, you can’t afford to ignore social media.  It’s a powerhouse, and depending on your business offer and demographic, may be your most important marketing channel. Let’s start with something obvious.  You can create and maintain profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat for free.  That alone makes it worth testing the waters with at least a couple of platforms. As you interact, you’ll discover a multitude of ways they help your business get leads.   For example, today people often go on Facebook to ask for recommendations instead of just asking a neighbor.  They can also message you directly. Linkedin is, in many ways, like a digital after-hours event.  You can network with partners and leads. Instagram is excellent for products that have visual appeal, as is Pinterest.  Snapchat is strong with the younger demographic. Consider your business type and target audience when getting into social media.  Focus on platforms where you can best connect with your audience. But – once again – don’t ignore it.  Your clients are on social media, which means your marketing needs to be there as well.

#6.  Digitally Nurture Your Customers

It’s cheaper to get repeat business from existing customers than it is to always have to earn new ones. Digital tools like email marketing and SMS text marketing are excellent client retention tools that every small business should take advantage of.  They have automated features that make regular communication with clients quick and easy. Digital marketing is extremely competitive.  You may think your clients are loyal, but looming out there is a hungry new competitor, ready to advertise aggressively and low-ball on prices.  They’ll go after your clients with all they’ve got. When you communicate with your clients – even through emails, texts, and newsletters – you remind them that you care.  Get involved on social media and react to things that are important to your clients.  Share useful information, provided needed updates, and make some enticing offers. Use digital automation to keep your name in front of clients.  Remind them that their business is important to you and that your services are better than ever. Client retention is an ongoing marketing task many businesses ignore – until it’s too late.  Never let your cusotmer forget the value that your brand delivers.

#7.  Retargeting

If you haven’t done much digital marketing yet, when you realize what retargeting is you’ll wonder why you waited. Retargeting is automated sales persistence.  It’s targeted branding.  It’s calculated follow-ups.  It’s one of the most effective tactics available for getting touches and moving people further into your sales funnel. Retargeting banners only display to people who’ve already interacted with your website, video, or social media content.  They build off that interest and offer logical follow-ups that remind people to do the right thing and finish what they started. Retargeting is another marketing tactic that is largely automated.  Once you get things into place the series of ads starts displaying to your target audience with no action from you. If your competition is effectively retargeting and you’re not, consider how badly you’ll fall behind.  With high ROI, this tactic is a must.

#8.  Market on YouTube

Everyone knows Google is the most used search engine.  They assume Bing is the second. But that assumption is wrong.  The second most used search engine is YouTube. Consumers today go to Youtube in search of information.  They want “how to” videos that provide useful, quick answers as well as product reviews. If your customers typically need to get info and have FAQs, Youtube marketing is a golden opportunity. This is not just because it’s a great way to distribute content.  Most SMBs do either a poor job with videos, or they do nothing.  This means that getting high ranking on YouTube searches is far easier than it is on Google search.  There is still a lot of low-hanging fruit for small business marketing on Youtube. So get some professional videos created to anchor your channel.  But also don’t be afraid to break out your phone and make some quick amateur stuff.  If they convey a useful message and they’re concise, not all your videos must have professional production. Just make sure that what you’re doing helps people while supporting your brand message.  The personable feel of videos earns trust, which is vital in today’s digital marketing environment.

Put it Together

This video and blog post are content marketing for Marketing 360®.  We wanted to answer some fundamental questions and help as you decide on how to market your business. We hope to make a professional impression and earn your trust.  We want you to remember Marketing 360®. And we use the tactics discussed here.  You’ll see our retargeting.  If you give an email or sign up for SMS you’ll hear from us regularly. We’d love to demo our marketing software for you or show you our CRM.  We’ll even hook you up with a free website design mockup. We want to earn your business because we feel we have the best marketing software solution for small businesses in the world.  It makes all of this stuff manageable so you can understand what’s going on without having it take up all your time. Contact us today, especially if the tactics discussed in this post are new to you.  These are now the basics, and if you’re not doing them for your business, your competition will have a real edge on you.