You’ve started a new business! You’ve taken all the necessary steps, from financial to legal to operations, and you’re open for business. Congrats!
Now what? How do you get customers in the door?
Many find themselves at this point. After the excitement of launching a business settles a bit, we face the reality that customers aren’t going to just stream through our doors without some effort.
You know you need to market your business, but maybe you’re not sure where to start. A friend recommends social media, while a family member finds email marketing to be very effective. How to market a small business is different for every enterprise. Determining what is best for your company involves research, creativity, execution, and honestly, some trial and error. Fortunately, there are some tried and true steps you can take to get your business on the right track.
First Steps in How to Market Your Business: Research and Planning
When starting to market your business, before getting started with any marketing tactics, it’s important to lay the foundation for smart decision-marking by conducting some research. These steps include:
Understanding Your Market
You will first want to spend some time researching your industry, competitors, and customer needs. Look at trends, identify potential underserved areas in the market, and determine what differentiates your business from others. Giving all of this some thought will help you better understand how to position yourself in the marketplace.
Defining Your Target Audience
While it is tempting to say that everyone is the market for your product, it is better to be as specific as possible. Who is most likely to benefit from your product or service? Think about demographics like age, gender, location, and income, along with psychographics like interests, challenges, and buying behaviors. The better you define your audience and target your communications to that group, the more effective and cost-efficient your marketing will be.
Developing Branding
Next, you will want to put some thought into your branding. Branding is more than just creating a logo, though that is a part of it. Branding is your business’s identity: the logo, design, messaging, and overall tone that helps your audience recognize and connect with who you are. Good branding tells a story and sets you apart from the competition, making it easier to remember you.
Create a Basic Marketing Plan
I know, the mention of the words “marketing plan” may already have you rolling your eyes. Don’t worry though—you don’t need to create a lengthy, labor-intensive document that will just collect dust somewhere. Aim for a one-pager that outlines:
- Your goals
- The marketing channels and tactics that will help you reach those goals
- A system for measuring your success
And actually, all of the above research on market, audience, and branding is all technically part of a full-fledged marketing plan, so if you’ve done all that, you’re well on your way!
First Steps in How to Market Your Business: Marketing Channels
With the research out of the way, you now have a foundation for making sound decisions on the marketing efforts that will be most effective for your business. While every business requires a unique marketing strategy, the following are fundamentals that any new, local business should get started with.
Website
A website is a non-negotiable nowadays. As your online storefront, a website provides essential information about your business, builds trust, and helps to convert visitors into customers.
Creating a website may feel a bit daunting. Fortunately, there are numerous website builders out there nowadays that make creating a website very simple. Check out Squarespace or Wix for an easy-to-learn interface. For greater customization and scalability, WordPress is the way to go.
Google Business Profile
A Google Business Profile is the business listing that comes up when a person types in a local search query, such as “ice cream near me.” Studies show that 60% of users contact a business directly from local search results.
Start by creating your Google Business Profile and verifying your business. For more in-depth information on optimizing your Google Business Profile, check out our blog post called “How to Improve Local SEO.” In a nutshell though, consider these tips to build a helpful profile that rises in search engine rankings:
- Fill out your business details, including your name, address, phone, hours, and website.
- Keep business hours updated, particularly hours affected by holidays.
- Add helpful photos and videos of your location, your team, and your products. Add new photos and videos regularly.
- Reviews play a big role in visibility, so encourage your satisfied customers to leave feedback, and remember to reply to each comment you receive.
- Post regular updates. Treat your Google Business Profile like you do your social media, and update your audience about special offers, news, FAQ, etc.
Social Media
Social media offers a cost-effective way for small businesses to engage with their customers, and for some businesses, to drive sales. The key is to choose platforms where your audience spends their time, and align your content with their interests.
For instance, a restaurant might benefit from showcasing food photos on Instagram or Facebook where users are looking for entertainment and social interaction.
For a bookkeeper selling services to other businesses, a platform like LinkedIn, where individuals go to network and engage with more professional content, would be a good fit.
Once you have selected the social media channel(s) you will use, the following tips will help you get the most out of this communication channel:
- Choose only the social media platforms you think you can consistently maintain. The temptation is to be on every channel, but it is better to do one well, then do several halfheartedly.
- When crafting your content, think about what your audience wants to see. They’re not on social media looking for a sales pitch. People are on social media to be entertained, informed, educated, excited, distracted, etc.
- Post regularly. If you can’t find the time for several posts per week, start with just one post per week to build the habit.
- Engage with other businesses on social media. Follow them, and engage with their posts.
Email List
Email consistently ranks as the marketing channel with the highest return on investment (ROI). Unlike social media, where your reach depends on algorithms, your email list gives you direct access to your customers. Helpful tips for email marketing include:
- Add a sign-up form to your website. One tactic for encouraging visitors to sign up is to provide an incentive. Often known as a “lead magnet,” this offer is a discount or a free resource of enough value that a person would be willing to exchange their contact information.
- Use a tool like Mailchimp or HubSpot to manage your mailing and send professional-looking emails.
- Once you have begun your list, be sure to respect the inboxes of your contacts. Send an appropriate number of emails, send content that your audience will be interested in reading, such as company updates, special offers, news, etc.
Final Thoughts
Marketing a small business starts with a strong foundation—understanding your market, defining your audience, and building your brand. Once that groundwork is laid, essential tactics like having a website, optimizing your Google Business Profile, leveraging social media, and growing an email list can help you attract and retain customers. While marketing requires ongoing effort and adaptation, starting with these key steps will set your business on the path to success.
