Small Business Marketing Essentials
Picture this: You’re a small business. Perhaps a dentist office, flower shop, accounting firm, or hip online retail store catering to new moms selling trendy baby clothes & accessories. You don’t need to hire a full-time marketing person, yet you need to get more traffic to your website and through your door. So what do you do? Here are 8 ways to promote your business and drive more traffic to your website.
1. Utilize Your Facebook Page
You’re already creating daily posts (you ARE posting daily, aren’t you!?). Use those posts for more than just giving your receptionist something to do. Unless you’ve been in the dark for the last several years, you know that in a 2014 update, Facebook started restricting the number of followers who see your posts. This was done to limit the number of promotions someone sees on their page on a daily basis- therefore enhancing the users experience. Another update in 2018 limited that reach even further! For businesses, this is a devastating blow. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Boosted Posts! Boosted posts are great because not only can you reach more of your followers, but you can show your content to people that don’t even follow you. Just select the audiences you want, set your budget and schedule, and that’s it!
What’s the difference between boosted posts and ads? Find out HERE.
2. Try Google Adwords
Google Adwords (pay per click advertising) is a great way to get more visitors to your website. Depending on your niche, you might not need to spend a lot to see results. Our advice? Start small. If you’re a local business, limit your radius. National company? Look into specific, high-traffic low-cost keywords. Doing so will limit the number of junk traffic you get and target the people who are most likely to convert. Display and video ads are cheaper than search (text) ads and are easy to set up. Just make sure you have high quality assets. Nothing says amateur like bad content!
Already running Google ads but not seeing results? Get an audit.
3. Make Sure Your Website is Optimized
Ok, so this one won’t actually help you receive traffic. But making sure your website is the best it can be will help your visitors convert. Do you have a privacy policy? Terms and Conditions? Return Policy? Trust seals for secure payments? Is your contact information easy to find? Is it mobile friendly? Does it look trustworthy? What’s your bounce rate? What page are people spending the most time on? You should have Google Analytics set up so you can review potential issues that you might not even realize. Check your links and forms daily. Address problems right away. Your website is often the first impression people have of your business. If your site doesn’t look credible, chances are that your business will be seen the same way.
Unsure about your site? Let our team of skilled developers and designers take a look.
4. Create Lookalike Audiences
Do you have an email list? If you’re running ads in Google and/or Facebook, you can use that email list to create Lookalike audiences. Lookalike audiences are groups of people that share characteristics, habits, and traits with your current clientele. To set these up, simply go into the library or audience section of the ad platform, upload your email list, and then follow the prompts to create a Lookalike. You can create an ad to promote your business, share a coupon, or offer a deal. Often, these lists bring in a decent amount of traffic, since they can share qualities with your current clients.
Confused on Lookalike audiences? Get help.
5. Make Sure Your SEO is Flawless
On-page SEO is a great way to increase your rank in search engines and get more visitors to your website. Produce high quality content (hello blog!) and write accurate meta descriptions. Remember to write for your reader. Don’t stuff your content with keywords in an effort to try and increase your rankings.
Not sure where to start? We’re here to help!
6. Get Listed
Whether you’re a local brick-and-mortar company, or you sell your products and services online, you should prioritize having your business listed in directories. Here’s a list of 57 high quality, high domain authority sites- goo.gl/nmiWDw
7. Engage Old Customers
If you’re not regularly sending emails to your list, you’re likely missing out on a lot of business. Many advertisers argue that an email list is a business’s most valuable asset. And we must agree. Stay in touch! Your list is filled with people that are interested in your product or service. Along with useful content, offer a discount, introduce a new product, give out referral incentives, gifts, coupons, etc. Keeping your current customers engaged is a great way to keep you at the forefront of their mind.
8. Hire an Agency
Shamless plug time. While you may not think you have the budget to hire an agency, you might be surprised. Most times, hiring an agency is cheaper than hiring an employee. With an agency, you get a team of dedicated professionals ready to go to work for you. What most business owners don’t realize is that the time, money, and stress spent learning how to market their products and services, is often a lot more than if they just hired an agency to do it for them.
Not sure where to start? Give us a call.
Bonus: Be Consistent!
Consistency is the key. If you’re going to post on social media, post daily. If you’re going to send emails, set up a schedule. Don’t disappear on your customers for weeks or months and then wonder why they’ve forgotten about you.
This list is just a few suggestions. But there are many other ways to promote your small business. Get creative! Think outside the box. As long as you prioritize quality, stay visible, and remain consistent, then you’ll have a steady flow of dedicated customers at your door.
How do you promote your business? Have any other suggestions? Let us know!