Are you looking for marketing tips for small business that will make an impact without breaking the bank? Isn?t everyone! Well in this post you will get 9 proven tips that you can execute crisply and reap rewards for little investment other than your commitment to revenue growth.
1. Emphasise what makes you different from the competition
Define your unique selling points (USPs). Without exposing the benefits your business has and the impact those benefits can have on a user you try to sell based on what you do. If you do that then you will not be able to connect with your audience. Don?t advertise what you think your customer is searching for, expose the solution. More importantly expose it in a way that makes your product, service or solution the only answer.
This could be the delivery mechanism and the products you are prepared to offer, the speed of service you offer, after-sales support or methods of ordering.
2. Walk in your customers? shoes
All successful small business marketing starts and ends with the customer. Who is the customer and what is it about that person that will draw them to your product or service? What problems does that client have? What would they do to find a solution? What options have they considered? Where will your ideal client look for answers? What do they do with their spare time?
When you have this data you can then compile it and get information so you can begin to pinpoint exactly who your customer is and where to find them so you can begin to structure a compelling sales message that will entice them to learn more about your business.
Focus all your efforts on emphasising the benefits of your product, other than highlighting obvious points, such as product features. Wherever possible, mention the words ?you? and ?your?, as this will help make your customers feel more individual.
3. Get to The Point ? Think Impact
Your message needs to be said in one sentence. If your USP sounds like everyone else?s, then it is not exciting, it?s not engaging, it?s not a USP! You want it to be niche focussed and you want it to motivate the target audience to positively remember you and your brand.
Test it out on friends and family ? do they understand what you are trying to say? You should be able to get any benefits across about your product in 30 seconds or less, so think carefully about your choice of words and how to deliver them with the most impact.
4. Ask your customers for testimonials
Testimonials are gold dust. Whenever anyone says anything positive about your product or service, ask if they would mind providing an endorsement for you. The more testimonials you put together, the more confident your prospective customers will be of the service you are delivering and the value your product can add to them.
Once you have these testimonials don?t be shy about using them. In fact put them on all your marketing material so people can refer to them. The same goes if you have won awards or have received recognition from other industry sources. Social signals are proof that you over deliver on what you say you do. That is what every customer wants.
5. Word of mouth works wonders
Having people approach you about your business because an existing customer has referred them to you is business nirvana. That person needs the result your product or service can provide, they know you can satisfy that need and more importantly they know you can deliver it well. Effectively, referrals bypass the majority of your sales funnel and are there ready to become business partners.
Word of mouth marketing is great way of marketing, as it involves no cost to you and the new business you get is likely to be a warm and long-lasting relationship. Consider offering incentives to existing customers if they can drum up new business, for example offer them a scalable discount. Create the ultimate WIN WIN.
6. Attract customers with incentives
Too many small businesses miss out on sales because the customer has no reason to act immediately. Offer customers an incentive to sign up straight away, for example via a discount or free product. Scarcity works, so include a time-close or deadline and state it clearly. If the client thinks they are going to miss out this may be the inclination they need to put some skin in the game.
7. Act on feedback
No one knows more about your customer experience than your customers themselves. So ask them! Take on board as much feedback as possible about your product, your services and the experience of working with you. Take every opportunity to ask customers what they think about your product and what you could do to make it better. The most profitable small businesses know this and use it!
It is critical to act on this feedback positive or negative because as people become more interconnected through social media, one bad comment can spread like wildfire and ruin your brand overnight.
8. Embrace Social Media
Your customers are online and specifically spending time on social networking sites talking about what they like and dislike. You need to be in that conversation.
Social media outlets help you connect to current and potential customers where you can build a community of people who are enthusiastic or passionate about how your business does what it does. For every ?like? on Facebook or Tweet on Twitter you get the friends of those people ALL see what they are talking about. This is digital word of mouth marketing at its most powerful.
There are millions of potential customers out there using social media, and it?s time you connect and engage them.
9. Always follow-up
Whenever a conversation takes place or you get a new lead, have a process in place to follow-up. If the prospect has shown an interest in your business but is not ready right now then they will ready at some point down the line. It?s criminal to miss out on the sale because you didn?t follow-up at the opportune time. Follow-up religiously!
Follow ups can be done through a strategic email marketing campaign that educates the prospect in your business, builds your authority in your industry, and more importantly keeps you at the forefront of their mind for when that time comes.
Marketing is a minefield and there are new strategies, solutions and ideas that get bandied about every day. These 9 marketing tips for small business will help you reap the rewards without breaking the bank.
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