Small Business Marketing
Every small business website needs a marketing strategy to reach prospective customers and keep an existing client base interested. Unfortunately, devising that strategy can seem daunting or intimidating if you’re just getting started. You don’t have to feel paralyzed by the range of online marketing options, however. These simple techniques can allow you to get the word out about your products or services without spending too much time, money or effort.
Social Media Campaigns
Advertising on social media networks like Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest has received a lot of attention in recent years, with some advocates claiming that a social media campaign is like a magic bullet for your business. The truth is that no one method of advertising yourself will automatically bring in customers, but social media do offer a great way to let people know that you exist.
Take some time to carefully analyze your customer base and your client’s preferred media options before you jump in, however. Broadcasting your information on Facebook when your customers mostly use Twitter could be a wasted effort. This technique works best if you’re providing extra information, deals and promotions that will get your customers interested than if you use social media simply as a broadcast advertising medium.
Electronic Mailing Lists
This kind of marketing has become somewhat old-fashioned compared to micro-blogging and social campaigns, but that doesn’t make it any less effective. Sending emails to a carefully-selected list of customers and prospective customers is a great way to ensure they remember you. The important thing is to do it honestly.
Offer your company’s emails only to customers who have specifically opted in to receive it, and allow anyone who doesn’t want to be on the list to remove him or herself easily. Let users decide what kind of email they want to receive and how often they want it to prevent a feeling of being overwhelmed. It can also be a good idea to offer an incentive for signing up. After all, a customer’s personal information is valuable; he or she should feel that you’re delivering something of value in return.
Site Optimization
With improved search engine algorithms and browser plug-ins, the days of keyword stuffing and search tricks are mostly gone. That doesn’t mean that you can’t optimize your site to bring in visitors and keep them interested, however. By putting together a small business website that features simple, familiar navigation and interesting content, you can make it one of your customers’ favorite places to visit.
Update content regularly with real information that answers visitor questions, tell a story about your business, and make sure that nothing on your site ends in a frustrating dead end. Label everything clearly to make it simpler for both readers and search engines to understand, and make sure that your page is appropriate for your target audience. These tactics may seem simple, but they’re essential if you want to mount an effective marketing strategy. If all your links lead to an unappealing page, you’re unlikely to convert many potential customers into actual ones.
These aren’t the only tactics you can use to put together an effective online marketing strategy for your small business, but they’re some of the easiest and most useful ones. Take a little time to look at your business and your customer base, then decide what options are most likely to appeal.