Particularly in today’s ever-fluctuating competitive market, small business owners understand the importance and value of implementing shrewd effective marketing techniques. It is essential to establish a well-crafted market strategy to remain competitive, increase brand recognition, and optimize customer acquisition and retention. A marketing plan should accurately reflect the core product or service and the needs of the target customer base, as customer satisfaction is essential for success.
Though marketing strategies may vary depending on the specific type of business, there are a handful of techniques and strategies that can be implemented effectively by small business owners in an attempt to increase their presence in the marketplace. According to the Small Business Administration, approximately 8.13 million such businesses are operating in the United States alone. Small business owners must keep up with the latest marketing trends and develop strategies designed to specifically target their intended customers.
This article will provide a comprehensive overview of the primary marketing techniques and strategies suitable for small business owners. Topics will include customer service and Small Business Administration-endorsed forms of marketing, such as affiliate marketing and search engine optimization.
Overview of Primary Marketing Techniques for Small Businesses
Customer Service
Though a low-tech approach, customer service is essential for customer retention and fostering customer loyalty. All customer service initiatives should revolve around a customer-centric attitude. Techniques such as providing prompt customer care, conducting customer satisfaction surveys, providing refunds, offering discounts, and receiving customer feedback are all invaluable methods customers appreciate. In addition, customer service is an effective way to provide enhanced value to customers, as 81.9% of consumers will willingly pay more for better customer service.
Furthermore, customers come to appreciate when small businesses go above and beyond to provide clear, concise, and explicit instructions for services and products. This should include product descriptions, warranty information, shipping data, contact information, return policy information, website controls, and customer service advice.
Moreover, customer service is the best gauge to understand the reasoning behind customers’ preferences, product and service usage, price points, and loyalty programs. Such information is essential for product improvement, promotional campaigns, and future brand growth.
Social Media
Social media is possibly the biggest marketing trend for small business owners. It is important to allocate time and energy to maintain consistent, regular participation on multiple social media channels. Such channels include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, Pinterest, and Reddit.
Social media allows businesses to remain connected with the community, reach current and potential customers, and promote products in new, tangible ways. It is also an effective platform to advertise and announce new product launches, discounts, and upcoming events. Furthermore, social media followers tend to be consistent purchasing customers, as 90.4% of millennials use social networks to inform their purchasing decisions. Lastly, it provides an effective platform to cultivate customer satisfaction with information on return policies, customer service centers, and product advice.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is essential in the digital world, especially for small business owners. It is a marketing strategy where businesses create, manage, and distribute value-driven content such as blog posts, videos, eBooks, infographics, and webinars.
Content marketing should be used to increase visibility and brand recognition, differentiate products and services, grow audience relationships, and ultimately, influence purchasing decisions. Specifically, content marketing should focus on providing answers, discussion topics, and shares of knowledge that can resonate with target audiences. Providing compelling, informative content can bolster search engine rankings, increase website traffic and website engagement, and result in improved customer satisfaction.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is paramount in the digital age and is one of the most important marketing techniques utilized by small business owners. SEO is the practice of optimizing web content into website pages and guiding search engines to understand pages better and make them more searchable. SEO involves optimizing web content such as blog posts, webpages, and images with keywords, phrases, and other high-volume search terms in establishing better rankings with search engine algorithms.
Continuous optimization of content should focus on page loading speed, optimization of images, H1 text tags, meta descriptions, and internal linking. It is also important to create high-quality content, backlink, and share across social media platforms. Building organic SEO rankings is a time-consuming task, but essential for visibility, credibility, and obtaining the desired target audience.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based digital marketing channel that small business owners should include in their marketing strategies. Essentially, affiliate marketing is a type of online marketing where small businesses partner with influencers for a commission on product sales generated.
Affiliate campaigns should emphasize content creators who can actively engage with the brand identity, keeping in mind their target audience’s remarkability to their specific product or service. The ideal content creators should have a large social media presence, a steady flow of opinions and followers, an active presence with their followers, and the ability to consistently promote products and services with defined target demographics.
While affiliate marketing campaigns may seem expensive and labor-intensive, they are one of the most cost-effective strategies available. Utilizing such campaigns can be particularly advantageous early on in a small business’s lifespan, as they quickly generate wide exposure, boost website traffic and conversion, and steadily increase revenues.
Email Marketing
Email marketing campaigns are an essential marketing strategy for small business owners. Email campaigns are a cost-effective method to reach potential customers and remain connected with existing customers. It is an ideal platform for informing customers about special offers and discounts, product launches, back-in-stock notifications, giveaway campaigns, and company news.
Email campaigns should be tailored to the core needs of the target consumer and made relevant to the customer’s interests by including personalization tactics such as consumer name and location. It is important to establish a clear call-to-action and include discounted items, as consumers are more likely to purchase items at discounted prices.
Local Directories and Listings
Local directories and listings are equivalent to small business owners, assisting in the creation of visibility and brand awareness, as well as providing a local platform to generate interest in the company. Browsing local directories is the primary method customers use to search for and provide feedback about local businesses.
For this reason, small business owners should claim local listings on Google My Business, Yelp, and Zomato and prominently display them on websites and social media outlets. Furthermore, small businesses should include a link to their local directory listing on their website to generate adequate, consistent analytical data. Utilizing local directories will ensure small business owners remain at the top of customers’ minds and be discovered during search engine inquiries.
Conclusion
Marketing is essential for small businesses to succeed, regardless of the economic climate. The right marketing strategy can bring in a new wave of customers, bolster the bottom line, and maintain customer loyalty. Whether through developing customer service tactics, understanding search engine optimization, or engaging in affiliate or email marketing campaigns, small business owners should apply suitable marketing techniques and plan strategically to maximize their resources and remain competitive in their respective industries.