It’s episode 15 of the Visceral Concepts Podcast! Today, join Visceral Concepts Founder Michael McNew as he shares the secrets to absolutely dominating your small business marketing.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/432707280″ params=”color=43b649&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]Small Business Marketing is crucial to growing a company. In the beginning, you may not be able to afford a marketing agency. However, you can’t afford not to market your company, so many times you may find yourself running your own marketing.
That means you need to be great at it. After all, there’s no point in marketing your small business if it isn’t going to work. It’s important to educate yourself so you can be as effective as possible. I’ve put together some practical tips to help you get the most out of you small business marketing.
Contents
For Small Business, Marketing Matters
Here’s the reality: nine out of ten small businesses fail in the United States. Where you fall in that ratio is largely due to how well you market your small business. If you’re using a compelling small business marketing strategy, your odds of success go way up
For many small businesses, the capabilities of a great marketing team to develop and implement a strategy that gets results can be the difference of life or death. Marketing is a budget line your small business can’t live without. If you don’t have customers, the quality of your product doesn’t matter.
Trying To Tackle Marketing On Your Own Can Be Tough
In all likelihood, you aren’t a marketer. It’s safe to say that you feel underequipped to catch people’s attention and drive them towards your business. It’s normal for small business owners, and that lacking skillset can make marketing a very difficult process for you.
If at all possible, you should consider hiring for the expertise you need. A great agency can take a ton of the work off your plate while simultaneously delivering the kind of results that will help you grow. But because that isn’t always an option, you may find yourself struggling to generate a solid ROI. But if you keep learning and keep working, you can still succeed.
Here’s What It Takes To Become The Master Of Marketing Your Small Business
Thankfully, small business marketing is something you can manage if you’re willing to put in the work. With just a few basic principles, you can get your business noticed and start bringing in customers. That’s going to inevitably increase the money you can put into your marketing budget, getting you closer to hiring the skillsets you need.
Let’s take a look at those principles and how to put them into play.
Be Prepared
No matter what part of business you’re about to start, from marketing to a product launch, you need a plan. If you plan on “winging it”, you’re going to hurt yourself long-term. That’s why a solid small business marketing plan founded on great research needs to be your starting point.
Develop thorough customer personas. If you’re not familiar with what those are, they’re the profiles of what your ideal client looks like. Include the things that drive decisions, like age, gender, interests, income, career fields, and anything else that might play a role in determining how and when they will decide to buy your product.
Develop a clear marketing budget. If you have no clue how much you can afford to spend, it’s easy to get sucked into expenses that will hang your progress.
Finally, develop a cohesive content plan. Determine what story you’re going to tell about the way your product or service fits into your clients’ lives. Decide what direction that story will take, and sort out what mediums and outlets will drive that story into your audience’s view.
Invest In High Quality Content
Once you know what your plan is, it’s time to get your content started. Images, articles, vlogs, and blogs should all be high quality. That means you need to make an investment. That may be a scary word, but don’t be put off. It’s not as expensive as you might think.
Often times, smartphone cameras are great for taking high-quality content and video. Provided you have a model of device produced in the past 2 years, you’ve got everything you need right there. That means your main investment is time.
Take the time to produce each piece of content carefully. Use photography that is unique to your company on all your social media platforms, and try to do the same for your blog articles. When you record your vlogs and podcasts, carefully go over each recording and re-record as necessary. When you write content for either blogs or social, do your research to make sure you’re producing high-quality work every time.
Focus On Making Hype
Whenever you post snippets of your story to social, you need to hype your company. It’s the little things, like talking about how amazing your product is, or getting really excited for the next phase in your remodel.
This is especially true for B2C companies. When you have an opportunity to get your customers excited to come see you and your product, you need to jump on it. After all, that excitement is what captures the attention of retail consumers.
Connect To Your Audience With Email
No matter what you may think about email, it’s still the strongest form of small business marketing around. There is nothing like connecting with your audience in their inbox, where you can personalize the message for them.
Build your email list as quickly and effectively as possible. Avoid buying lists, opting instead for the active engagement that a live signup offers. Send regular emails that include updates, specials, and loyalty incentives that will drive your clients back to you. Remember that email’s biggest advantage can only be seen through a consistent value proposition.
Give Shout Outs To Your Social Following
Social media, when used correctly, is an explosive small business marketing outlet. In the blink of an eye the right post can literally be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. But the only way that can ever happen, aside from a bit of luck, is to make sure your social following gets props when they help you.
Frequently give praise and reward to the people who actively spread the word about your company. Rather than through contest, “surprise” thank-you gifts (like discount codes and gift cards) are great ways to make sure your audience keeps sharing your posts and boosting your visibility.
You Can’t Market Without A Foundation
If you want your small business marketing to do you any good, you need a solid plan that you can execute with ease. That also means you need a stable, clear budged that supports it. If you develop these core components, then focus on taking action, your small business marketing is guaranteed to return an ROI better than you would have hoped.
