It’s not always easy thinking of effective, creative, and cost effective ways to market your small business or startup.
You’ve got a great product, service, or idea, you just need a way to get the word out.
Of course, the million and one different marketing options available don’t make deciding any easier.
To make matters worse, many of the top marketing experts are all advising completely different platforms and each have the success stories and case studies to back them up.
The truth is that any method or tactic can work if properly applied, but that still doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for your business.
But you can’t do everything, so when looking into the sea of marketing options available, where do you even start?
I’ve listed below the top 5 most effective marketing strategies for small businesses.
I’ve used all of these ideas in both my clients and my businesses to help our messages be heard above the noise.
If applied correctly, they can work just as well for you.
1. Content Marketing
Start with content first. Content creation consistently provides a solid and sizeable ROI (return on investment) and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down in the future.
2. Search Engine Optimization
SEO has gotten a bit of a bad reputation stemming mainly from spammers and call centers harassing business owners and entrepreneurs to hire them to help them get to Page #1 on Google.
The sad thing is, this is a really valuable service, but their delivery, sales message, and approach could desperately use some help.
The reason that SEO is such an important and valuable marketing tool really comes down to consumer behavior.
Think of how you search for businesses, products, or services.
The odds are pretty good that the first place you look is online, and statistics show, that you probably start your search with Google, Yahoo, or Bing.
If you’re looking for some info and want to watch a video instead than YouTube is where most people head.
A good search engine optimization helps put your business at the top of the search engines so when people are looking for a product or service that you offer, it’s your company that appears near the top which means you get more clicks, more calls, more business, and more revenues.
3. Social Media
Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Periscope, all social media channels provide the opportunity to infuse personality and authenticity into your business.
Of course you’ll want to find the balance between a social media channel that your customers are on, and one that you won’t mind using and incorporating into your marketing, but once this is done, dive in headfirst.
If you don’t know which social media platform would be best for your business the best place to start is still Facebook.
The key with an effective social media marketing strategy is to focus on consistently providing value (educational or entertaining content).
A well run and executed social media marketing plan can help you better connect with current customers, help attract new customers, and allow your brand to be seen as a helpful and authoritative source for information in your industry.
4. Facebook Advertising
Even though I just addressed social media, Facebook advertising deserves a position all its own.
Facebook ads still consistently deliver some of the lowest cost and highest targeted advertising options available. Period.
It also puts the power of advertising into the hands of the small business owner and allows you to get your message directly in front of your customers at a fraction of the cost of traditional media – whether TV, radio, billboards, newspapers, or magazines.
The key to maximize your Facebook advertising dollars is to get clear on your target market or ideal customer avatar, so you can deliver and target specific messages and images directly to them.
5. Old Fashioned Outreach
I put this one last because while it’s just as effective, it’s often the most uncomfortable.
Outreach involves a level of vulnerability and putting yourself out there. The odds of rejection are significantly higher than the odds of closing a deal on first contact.
Even if you have a national or international business you can still start to build up your business by focusing on your local area.
Look for networking or meet-up groups in your local area and try to attend or join as many as you can.
Also if you’re just getting starting and looking to build up a client base then you can also look for volunteer opportunities to offer your services in exchange for referrals and testimonials.
The benefit of starting local is it’s often a lot easier to make a sale in person than it is over the phone or through email.
6. Bonus Tip: Always, Always, Always Provide Value
I know I said there were 5 tips, but in an article about marketing it’s important to over deliver!
The final tip is to adopt and infuse an attitude of providing value into everything you do.
If you focus on consistently providing more and more value and make that your primary concern, the dollars will follow.
When I first started my digital marketing agency I didn’t have any clients, so I focused on offering free initial consultations to anyone who would talk to me.
It didn’t take long before word got out and I was able to secure meetings with bigger and bigger companies until eventually (and far sooner than I planned or even hoped) I was booked solid.
I did this by focusing on providing as much value as I was humanly capable of.
When I spent a solid hour with a potential client helping them as much as I could for absolutely no charge, the result was always the same.
They were grateful, impressed,surprised, and curious that if I gave all of this helpful advise away for free, what would they get if they actually paid me?
