Diversify Your Marketing – Online, Social, Offline
Best Digital Marketing Tricks for Microbusinesses
As a microbusiness owner you’ll always be looking for effective marketing ideas that aren’t going to ruin you financially. There’s loads of ideas and tips, but this in itself can be problematic as it’s a case of so many choices, so little time. Here are seven of the best and easiest tricks, curated specially for you.
Set your goal and your budget
What do you want to achieve? Do you want to target a new demographic? Reach a wider geographical area? Improve your conversion rate? Work out what you want and how much money you have spare to get what you want, then start with the most pressing need.
Use Google My Business
This is pretty much a free initiative and you’re also in control of the information that goes out there, including opening hours, phone number, virtual tour and so on. When people search for your type of business in your area, they can be transported immediately into your premises.
Choose one social media platform and really work it
There’s just not enough hours in the day to be on the four or five biggies, there just isn’t. Work out which platform your customers use the most and invest in it. If your clients spend a lot of time on Instagram and don’t seem to bother with Twitter, then you know where to head to. More creative businesses should spend time on Pinterest as well, though.
Use emails
Smaller, local, businesses can really benefit from a targeted email campaign. If your clients trust you with their email addresses, then return the favour and send out monthly bulletins, as well as special announcements. If, for example, a key member of staff is off climbing a mountain for charity, make sure everyone knows about it.
Blog
Blogging is fun as you have a lot of creative freedom. You also need to demonstrate how much you know about your sector so people come to rely on you and your expertise. Your blog is also a really cheap way to grow your brand awareness. Try to blog twice a week, or at least once. If you’ve ever given a talk or a seminar, or handed out leaflets, then you can repurpose the content as a post to save some time.
Research your SEO keywords
This is free but tricky. It may actually pay off in the long run to bring in a professional to look at which words and phrases are going to bring visitors to your site. As a smaller business it’s vital to being up your visibility so you can compete with the big (or even medium) boys.
At a pinch, you can think of the questions your clients might type into the search bar and incorporate these phrases into your blogs and website copy.
Ask for feedback
You could hand out pens and forms at the premises, or offer visitors to the site a discount on their next purchase if they complete your survey. You could pick up some great testimonial content this way, or at least work out where you need to improve.
About the author
PAUL SMITH: I work closely with start ups, small to medium sized businesses and organisations to provide quality graphic design, web design, ecommerce and digital marketing strategy. Whether you are looking to create a new brand to take to market, or you need a simple eCommerce solution that actually works, I can make it happen.
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