What is a small business?
The most commonly used definitions are provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA). As a general rule if you have under 500 employees and less than $40 million you are a small business. You can see the exact breakdown here.
Small businesses comprise:
It does not matter if your business has 10 employees or $10 million in revenue you will find this information useful.
Small business marketing refers to the strategies and tactics used by small businesses to promote their products or services to their target audience.
SMB marketing includes your website, social media, and email.
Marketing for small business needs to focus on how you solve problems, what makes your approach unique and why you do what you do.
Marketing is important for small businesses because it helps you reach their target audience, build brand awareness, and increase sales.
Without marketing, it can be difficult for your small businesses to compete with larger companies.
Small business marketing should reflect your business values, mission, and personality.
If you're a business owner, you know how important it is to show up in local search results.
Some effective small business marketing strategies include:
Before you spend any money on marketing you need to have clearly defined objectives and goals that align with your business plan.
Focus on X to Y by when with your strategies. This is commonly referred to as SMART goals.
Here are some useful articles to guide you.
To create a marketing plan for your small business, you should start by identifying your target audience, setting marketing goals, and determining your budget. From there, you can develop a strategy and tactics to achieve your goals.
SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of optimizing your website and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can help your small business reach more potential customers and increase website traffic.
There are two main ways to optimize your site for search engines: Onsite optimization and Offsite optimization. Onsite optimization includes things like making sure your web pages load quickly and use relevant keywords.
Offsite optimization refers to building links back to your site from other websites.
Social media marketing is the process of using social media platforms to promote your business and engage with your target audience. This can help your small business build brand awareness, increase website traffic, and generate leads.
Here are some useful articles to get you started.
Establish a presence on social media platforms relevant to your target audience.
Share engaging content, interact with your followers, and use social media advertising to reach a wider audience.
Consider platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest depending on your business type.
Email marketing is the process of sending targeted emails to your subscribers to promote your business and build relationships with your audience. This can help your small business increase sales and customer loyalty.
Collect email addresses from interested customers and create a mailing list.
Send regular newsletters, promotions, and updates to stay connected with your audience.
Personalize your emails and provide exclusive offers to encourage engagement and loyalty.
Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and testimonials on platforms such as Google, Yelp, or industry-specific directories. Positive reviews can build trust and credibility for your business and attract new customers.
Create limited-time offers, discounts, or loyalty programs to incentivize new customers to try your products or services. Special promotions can also encourage repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals.
Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage your target audience. This can help your small business build brand awareness, establish authority, and generate leads.
Plan the types of content you will create, the platforms you will use, and the frequency of publication. Consider using a mix of blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, and social media posts.
Produce high-quality, informative, and engaging content that provides value to your target audience.
Answer their questions, address their challenges, and provide solutions.
Focus on:
Make the most of your content by repurposing it in different formats.
For example, turn a blog post into a video or create an infographic summarizing a podcast episode.
This allows you to reach different audience segments and extend the lifespan of your content.
Content marketing is a long-term strategy, and results may not be immediate.
Stay consistent with your content creation and distribution efforts, and be patient.
Over time, you'll build credibility, attract a loyal audience, and achieve your goals.
Paid advertising is the process of paying for ads to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs), business journals or on social media platforms. This can help your small business reach a larger audience and generate leads or sales.
There are numerous platforms that offer paid ads. Paid ad platforms for small business marketing would include Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Twitter Ads, YouTube Ads and Pinterest Ads.
These platforms may not align with your ideal client and their buying journey so don't forget about local advertising options such as local newspapers, radio stations, or community magazines and directories.
Small Business listing directories can help you target a specific geographical area and reach local customers.
To measure the success of your small business marketing efforts, you should go beyond metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, email open and click-through rates, and conversion rates. Focus on metrics that lead to revenue.
Metrics that impact revenue would include phone calls, quote requests and appointments scheduled.
Focusing on metrics that matter to your small business help you determine what is working and what needs improvement.
Use analytics tools to track the performance of your marketing campaigns. Identify what strategies are working well and which ones need adjustment. Continuously refine your marketing efforts based on the data to maximize your return on investment.
We really like the simplicity offered by Databox for reporting on metrics that matter for small business.