1. Get On Social Media

Close to 4 and a half billion people use social media. It’s just the way the world works these days. 

Social media is great for small business marketing plans because it lets you get hyper-specific about your target audience. Whereas people with niche interests used to have a tough time meeting each other, on the internet, it’s very easy for them to interact. 

When you get on social media, small business owners can transform themself into marketing personas. Your business officially has a personality on social media that you can use to your advantage. 

Include your phone number and email in the bio to your social media account. Link to your website as well. This makes it easy for people who are satisfied with your social media posts to find a tour site. Speaking of which… 

2. Make Your Website Look Beautiful 

Unfortunately, plenty of small business websites look like they were designed back in 2003. Dingy, outdated business websites do just as much to repel business as dirty, smelly in-person facilities. 

The goal of online marketing is to get people back to your website. However, you can’t turn the people who come into your website into customers unless they enjoy your website as an experience.

Fill your website with good pictures of you and your employees. If you sell products, include pictures of your products. If you sell services, show your employees engaged in these services. 

Make sure that your contact information is easy to find. We recommend putting a “contact us” link at the top right of your homepage that takes customers to a contact page. 

Consider starting a blog or a podcast. These content options allow you to update your customers about a new product or service that you offer, get to know you as a person and get to know your industry. They’re also a great option to help you… 

3. Make Use of SEO 

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of designing your website so that it ranks higher in a search engine search. 

SEO often works better than content marketing because it’s passive. It works similar to putting your in-person facility in a high-traffic location. You don’t even need to say “come buy my product”, your position says it for you. 

Small business owners can improve their SEO first by adding content to their websites. The longer people spend on your website, the higher your SEO ranking is. Google begins to see that people enjoy being on your website, so they show it to more people.

Next, you can make use of keywords in your online content. This is where those podcasts and blogs come in handy. Research the words that people use to search for products and services like yours, and work them into your podcast descriptions/blog posts. 

With SEO opening up new marketing channels for you, all you need is a simple call to action to get people to shop with you. 

4. Use Email Marketing 

Email marketing is perfect for anyone looking to turn one-time customers into long-time customers. As a small business, you’ll do well to establish a series of regulars who go to you as their “guy”. 

This is almost impossible to do with a print ad. However, if you follow up with people a few weeks after they purchase for you, they’re likely to come back to you.

Email marketing can go in many different ways. At the end of the day, however, it’s mostly about reminding customers about you.

We recommend that you offer these customers a temporary discount. This will create urgency. If they liked shopping with you, they’ll want to do it again quickly to get that discount. 

Once they’ve already shopped with you twice, you will be the person their brain goes to as soon as they think about your particular product or service. This is how you get regulars. Even if there is other competition around, you just exist as the provider of that service in their head. 

5. Use Influencer Marketing 

Influencer marketing is the marketing style of the future. It refers to contacting local popular social media users — or “influencers” — and paying them to promote your product.

This is a great way to make use of real-time marketing. Often, advertising exists in a world separate from the world most people live in. This is because it takes a while for advertising projects to get approved. 

However, with the rise of the internet, you can easily work current events into your advertising. If something unique recently happened in your town, now is the perfect time to contact your local influencer and have them plug your goods and services.

The genius of influencer marketing is that you’re directly advertising to someone else’s audience. Your influencer can make use of their own style and sense of humor to make your company seem appealing. 

Use These Digital Marketing Strategies 

Running a small business in the twenty-first century isn’t easy. Not only do you have to take care of hiring the right people, controlling the quality of your product, and advertising, you also have to make use of several digital marketing strategies. However, if you get on social media, make your website look beautiful, make use of SEO, use email marketing, and use influencer marketing, you’re far more likely to succeed. 

For more information, contact us today.