No business can thrive if people in the organization do not know how to properly market it. According to the Small Business Administration, there were 27.9 million small businesses located in the United States alone. That means no matter what industry you are in, you will have a lot of competition. As a small business owner, you may think you do not have the funds to adequately market your company. Fortunately, small business marketing is made much simpler when you realize there are numerous opportunities to get the word out for free. Here are some online techniques to get you started right away.
1. Customize Your Website for Search Engine Optimization
Marketing on a small budget does not have to be an arduous task. You can do a lot of good by taking the content you already have on your website and optimizing it for search engines like Google. SEO is the process of creating content in a way that makes it more visible on search engines. It primarily targets organic results, so it is completely unpaid. The higher your web pages can rank on Google, the better the likelihood you have new customers finding your business.
Part of this involves using the right keywords for your industry. However, you also want to pay attention to things like meta descriptions, reading levels, sources you cite, insightfulness and mobile usability. Things like the meta description you can optimize easily if you created your website through WordPress. You also want to see how fast your website’s pages upload. A slow website is a good way to guarantee people click away immediately. It can take a while to reap the benefits of an SEO strategy, so you need to be patient and consistent.
2. Maintain a Blog and Post Content Regularly
When most business owners first create the website, they do not make any changes to it. This is not a good way to get your business seen. If you do not know what else to add, then you should start a blog. Building a blog is a great way to drive traffic to your site. It will also solidify you as an expert in the field. You become an authority in your industry to consumers and other business owners. People may not search for your service directly, but they may search for pertinent information, and that is when your blog comes in handy.
The important part of maintaining a blog is to ensure the content is high-quality. You need to do sufficient research if you are unfamiliar with a certain topic and link to credible sources throughout the blog. When you give consumers valuable information, they will remember you. It’s recommended to post content at least once weekly. If you don’t have a dedicated person on your team to create content, you should consider hiring a third party to do this for you.
3. Market Your Content on Social Media
Once you start posting on your blog, you have a fantastic opportunity to market yourself through social media. If you find yourself at a loss for what to post on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, then you now have an excellent resource. Someone at your company needs to post the blogs onto these platforms so that the people who already follow you see what you have to offer. People will only follow you on social media if you post there often, too. With blogs now on your site, people have a reason to follow you.
There are other opportunities for posting your blogs. Medium is a website where you can post content. You can also look into Quora to see if it would be a good fit. The important part here is to make sure the content you create on any platform has relevant keywords to your industry. When you post on a site like Medium, you need to make sure the content links back to your company in some way.
4. Create Video Tutorials To Post Onto YouTube
You do not even have to invest in expensive film equipment to make YouTube videos. Most people’s smartphones come with a high-quality camera, so you can film a quick video with what you have in your pocket. YouTube is another great social media platform you can have a presence on. You can also post these videos directly onto your website. People get tired of reading all the time. You can stand out by breaking up content with fun, informative videos.
YouTube is great because you can teach people practically anything. No matter what industry you are in, there has to be something you can show consumers. Similarly to the above point, you want the content to link back to your company’s website. You can include a call-to-action at the end of the video or include a link in the description.
5. Build Trust on Yelp
Many business owners fear Yelp. However, it can be a viable tool for building your brand. People will leave reviews on this site about their experience with your company. Other consumers will visit the page to see whether they should go, too. Naturally, people are more willing to go to a business with four stars than three stars.
On the positive reviews, you should thank the customer for the kind words. For the negative reviews, you should reach out to see if you can make the situation better. You may be able to retain the person’s patronage. Either way, people unfamiliar with your business will see how open and caring you are. They see there is a real person behind corporate doors. This is how you build trust.
6. Provide a Free Service or Product
Giving away things for free may seem counterintuitive, but it is all about gaining paying customers down the road. You can provide a free consultation or a small product you do not mind losing. People find out about the promotion through friends or social media, and they come in. Once they are inside your business, you can try to upsell them on other products or services. People may feel like they owe you and purchase something else.
As part of the free promotion, you should try to get people’s contact information. This allows you to get in touch with them later via your email list. You may not make a lot of money, but you secure vital details to get more sales in the future. As long as people are satisfied with what they got for free, they will certainly come back.
7. List Your Business on Google Business Profile
For small businesses that want to draw customers into a physical location, you need a listing on Google Business Profile. It is simple, and it will ensure people can find you when they search for your type of business. Google Business Profile is a particularly powerful tool in verifying your information. Occasionally, people will only want basic information, such as what hours you are open. With a Google listing, they can easily find it in addition to your company’s phone number and address. You need to keep this information up-to-date, so make sure to check back regularly if things change.
8. Have a Presence on Other Social Media Platforms
There are many forms of social media these days. Your business may benefit greatly by having a presence on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinterest. You may not get sales right away, but you may be able to draw more people in. You can increase the number of views your posts get by using relevant hashtags and properly describing everything you post. You can also grow your brand by commenting on other pages’ posts.
For example, if you own a retail store, then you can post products on Instagram and have your website link featured in your bio, that way people can go directly to your site from their smartphone or tablets and check out what else you have to offer. Being active on social media platforms without being spammy or salesy is one of the easiest and most influential ways to get your brand noticed without costing anything but your time.
9. Utilize Email Marketing
Knowing how to market your business for free means utilizing the tools you already have at your disposal. Your business should already have an email address, and you can send out pertinent information to people who sign up. At in-store locations, you can ask people if they want to sign up for email updates, and you should have an option to do so on your website as well.
People will naturally feel hesitant to give you their email addresses, so you need to offer an incentive. For example, you can tell people that when they sign up they will receive coupons and other special offers. The first email you can send to new people could be a coupon for 20 percent off a product. There’s a good chance they will come back to take advantage of the savings, and hopefully, you will slowly gain a customer for life.
10. Run a Social Media Giveaway
Once you have a sizable following on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you can start hosting giveaways. You can post telling people they if they follow you, like and share the post, one randomly selected person will receive a free gift. By asking people to share the post, you organically reach a wider audience. Now, that person’s friends and followers will see the post. They will find out they can also get a free gift, so they might follow you to like and share the post, too.
This tactic may not be completely free because you have to give away something. However, it does not require any money in addition to that. You can retain the new followers you acquire by making it clear you will run other giveaways in the future. People may not win, but they will hear about your business.
11. Contribute to Industry-Specific Forums
With a little research, you can find forums related to the industry you are in. There are plenty of automotive forums where people talk about cars. There are clothing forums where people discuss the latest trends. You should find a few that relate the most to your company.
You do not want to spam the forums with links to your company’s website. One route you can take is to start off by commenting on other people’s posts. People may have questions, and as an authority in your field, you can respond intelligently. After posting a few times and helping people out, you can add a link to your company’s website to your digital signature. That way when you comment in the future, people will see it. You do not want to direct people to the link right away. This is a good way to run afoul of any forum’s rules of conduct. Help people and they will take notice.
12. Remember the 80-20 Rule
Every business owner needs to know the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule. This principle states that 80 percent of your company’s revenue will come from 20 percent of your customers. Basically, only a small portion of your consumer base will generate a majority of your revenue.
You need to identify specifically which customers are coming back time and time again. You can gear your online marketing campaign directly to this demographic. You can also make sure you have these people on your email list, so you can contact them regularly about new deals and products. You also want to monitor Yelp and other review sites regularly to ensure these customers are saying positive things about you. One of the most devastating negative reviews you can get on Yelp is someone who did business with you for years but stopped due to a deteriorate in quality.
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There is a lot you can do to benefit your business without spending any money. However, when you have the funds to invest in a more thorough marketing campaign, partnering with a digital marketing agency like V Digital Services can help take your efforts so much farther. The key to success for any digital marketing strategy is consistency, and we can help you execute all of the above in streamlined and cost-effective ways. Contact us today to see how we can help you elevate to the next level.
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