It doesn’t matter whether your small business has been around for years or has expanded to multiple locations. What every entrepreneur and business owner must understand is that every small business needs a solid strategy in order to be successful.
Statistics show that there are 30.7 million small businesses in the USA. However, we can also see that more than 50% of them fail in the first year — and more than 95% of small startups fail in the first five years.
Do you have any idea why this is the case?
It goes without saying that marketing is one of the crucial parts of any small business. Having a solid and effective small business marketing strategy can often be the difference between failure and success.
If you are in the process of starting a new business (or re-starting thanks to COVID), let’s go through some of the basic marketing principles you will need in order to set the stage for growth. Below, we are listing our guide with actionable ideas that you can use in your marketing strategy.
What Is A Marketing Strategy – And How Can It Help You?
According to Investopedia, a marketing strategy is the game plan that your business needs to have in order to attract prospective customers and turn them into loyal ones.
Obviously, the marketing strategy is divided into many key components. These comprise the company’s value proposition, its key brand messaging, the data on the target consumer demographics and other high-level elements.
Ideally, a small business marketing strategy should help you narrow down your target audience, articulate the value you deliver and lay out your pricing strategy based on your analysis, budget and planning.
If you have officially launched your small business, you need to know what the foundational next steps are in order to thrive — at least in the digital marketing world.
— Beth Devine is one of the most sought-after and well-respected marketing experts in the Central Valley. She is the Founder and Principal of Devine Solutions Group, an award-winning digital marketing and business development agency conveniently located in Tracy, CA. You can connect with Beth by either calling 833-933-8463 or email her at beth@devinesolutionsgroup.com.
1. A Professional-Looking Website
A website is more than just a digital doorway for new customers. Hence, it is one of the first things you need to set up prior to launching (or relaunching) your small business.
2. Content Marketing Plan
The truth is, content is a primary component that can help you differentiate your business. You can add call-to-action posts for visitors to subscribe to your blog and build your email database. This way, you can start collecting leads and offer your potential customers a way to receive information (even if they are not ready to buy anything from you yet).
3. Social Media Marketing
Being present on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn can help your business get found by your target audience. Since it has the “socialize and connect” attitude, social media is also a powerful business tool for increasing your traffic, improving your rankings and engaging with interested customers — ultimately leading to sales conversions.
4. Understanding Of SEO
Since it is a huge topic that cannot be summed up in a short article like this, we recommend reading more about SEO and finding guides on websites like MOZ, Search Engine Land and others.
5. Conversion Tools & Analytics
It’s simple – whenever a potential customer lands on your website, you need to offer them a way to subscribe to more posts or even leave their email for your newsletter. This is what conversion tools are used for and how they can help you optimize your website and use it to drive leads.
On a side note, connecting your website with Google Analytics can help you see how many people visited it in any specific period, how long they stayed and which pages they read. All of this lets you focus on revamping your small business marketing strategy and making sure you are targeting the right customers.
