MARKETING ESSENTIALS FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Marketing Essentials to Get Your Business Off to a Good Start
You’ve done the work on your marketing plan: You’ve analyzed your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. You’ve researched competitors. You know your target market and have created buyer personas. You’ve identified your unique value proposition. You’ve set your marketing goals, and you have a budget. Your next step is to determine how you want to get your message out.
The most effective marketing channels are unique to your business, dependent on variables such as your industry, your target market, your budget, and even the time you or your team personally have to spend on marketing.
For a new or young business though, we have created a list of what we call “marketing essentials” that every local business should prioritize when beginning their marketing program. Nearly every item on this list is low budget and not a huge time commitment. There are, of course, many more tactics for marketing a company, but the hope is that this list can provide a good starting point to help you along your marketing journey.
Create a Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is your business’s roadmap for success. It outlines your goals, target audience, and the strategies to reach that audience. A marketing plan helps in planning resources effectively. This doesn’t have to be a lengthy document; for a small business, even a one-page exercise is sufficient. The U.S. Small Business Administration offers a great example.
Develop Your Elevator Pitch
You are the best advocate for your business. Be ready to talk to people about it. An elevator pitch is a concise and compelling presentation that outlines in about 30 seconds what your product or service is about. It should capture the listener’s attention, spark further inquiry, and be memorable enough for the listener to be able to pass that message on.
Network
In the digital age, there are many who would argue that face-to-face communication doesn’t matter as much anymore. We would have to disagree, as we have seen firsthand that some of the most successful local businesses are those that work hard to establish themselves in their community. These are the businesses that support local sports teams, walk in summer festival parades, and generally contribute to making the city business environment more vibrant. Join your local Chamber of Commerce. Take part in trade fairs, such as your annual “Senior Fair” or “Bridal Expo.” Donate to local schools and nonprofits. Take part in community festivals. Be a speaker at business associations, local philanthropic groups, or schools. Attend local networking events, and make it a point to build your network. Patronize other local businesses.
Create a Website
A website serves many purposes. It is the online storefront for your business that makes you visible online, establishes credibility, showcases your products or services, serves as a tool for customer service, and so much more. A website doesn’t have to be a huge expense. There are a number of low-cost marketing tools out there that will allow you to build a free website. The customization of these is usually limited, but it’s a good start until you’re ready to move into something more professionally done.
Create a Google Business Profile
Creating a Google Business Profile only takes a matter of minutes, but doing so will enable your business to show up in the local search results “pack” when a potential customer makes a search related to your business offerings. Focus on adding lots of information to your profile, regularly updating it, and acquiring testimonials to boost your ranking in the list.
Choose Your Social Media Channel(s)
You want to be on at least one social media platform, but you don’t have to be on all them. In fact, it is better to be on one social media platform, and do it really well, than be on a bunch of them halfheartedly. Choose a social media platform based on your where your target audience “hangs out.” Targeting millennials? Try Facebook or Instagram. Aiming for a younger age group? Snapchat or TikTok may be good choices. B2B (business to business) company? LinkedIn is a must.
Utilize Email
Email is still one of the most successful and cost-effective ways to reach your customers. For this reason, it is important to start early on building your list. An email list is comprised of individuals that have opted in to receive communications from you, and you can entice prospects or customers to sign up for your email communications by offering something of value, whether that is coupons, insider news, informational content, or other items along those lines. Currently, Mailchimp is a popular provider for email marketing (and a lot more!) and offers a free plan for up to a certain number of contacts. (No, we don’t receive any commission; we just like to help small businesses know about cost-effective tools!) One advantage of using an email service provider is that many of these plans also offer the ability to create automations—such as an automatic welcome email when individuals subscribe—and that can greatly cut down on your workload while still keeping customers engaged.
Outstanding Customer Service
This isn’t a marketing channel per se, but customer service is very inextricably tied into your marketing. Customer service is one area where small businesses have the advantage over large companies. The ability to connect one-on-one with your customers should be used to your advantage.
Word of Mouth
You’ve probably heard people say before that word of mouth is the best marketing you can get. It’s true. We all know how a recommendation from a friend or colleague compels us to try out a product or service. Do what you can to encourage word of mouth. Make sure you offer a great product. Delight your customers with exceptional service. Do this, and people will say good things about your business.
