Marketing tips for small businesses

We’ve covered some of the most effective small business marketing strategies to help you get started.

How can you make your new or growing business stand out in a saturated market?  Asking yourself ‘How do I grow my small business?’ can be a daunting task when you’re starting from scratch. But even with a limited budget, there are numerous strategies you can employ to elevate your profile. We’ll cover some of the most effective small business marketing strategies below to help you understand how to advertise your small business.

The basics of marketing a small online business 

A solid marketing plan is non-negotiable for start-ups and small businesses. But just what does marketing involve? The overarching goal of marketing is to create value in a brand, going beyond advertising alone. Successful campaigns identify and satisfy customer requirements while boosting brand visibility using data-driven techniques and market research.  

Here’s a breakdown of the three basic elements of marketing a small business: 

1. Create value with branding

What defines your brand? Branding includes both tangible aspects like colour schemes and logos, along with intangible factors like tone of voice and personality. These must be clearly defined and communicated consistently through all company assets. Successful branding makes your business more valuable in the eyes of consumers.  

To get started with defining your brand, ask questions like the following: 

• Why should customers purchase your products? 
• What sets your small business apart from the competition? 
• What are your core company values?  
• Do you offer additional products and services to cross-sell? 

2. Understand your audience

Along with defining brand value, the second component of SME marketing is researching your target audience. Segmentation strategies break down prospects by age, geographical region, industry, and other demographics. Get inside the mind of your core audience by creating a buyer persona. This gives your marketing strategy a clearly defined direction, adding a personalised touch to company communications. 

Through market research and digital analytics, create a buyer persona based on factors including: 

• Basic demographics 
• Purchasing behaviour 
• Purchasing motivations 
• Brand interaction and engagement 
• Third-party influencers and popular websites 

This will help you craft more targeted messaging to suit your specific persona, while also targeting your buyers in the channels they are most likely to frequent.  

3. Convert leads to sales

The third component of small business marketing is to take all of this perceived brand value and customer awareness that you’ve created, funnelling consumer interest into action. You can achieve this with calls to action and targeted advertising carefully crafted to meet your identified audience’s needs.  

Small business marketing channels  

As with most things in business, it’s best not to put all of your eggs in one basket when it comes to small business marketing strategies. A multi-channel approach tends to work best, combining a user-friendly website with targeted ads and social media outreach.  

Here are a few key channels to focus on: 

• Website optimisation: Ensure your website is easy to navigate and mobile-friendly with a high loading speed that encourages visitors to stay. Use simple technology integrations available for small businesses that help retain or re-engage leaving customers and move them through your online journey to become a paying customer.  
• Search engine marketing (SEO): Improve your ranking in Google search results with the appropriate metadata, authoritative links, keyword-rich content, and content sharing. 
• Email marketing: An essential component of digital marketing for small business, email marketing provides a high ROI compared to many other channels. Use tools like MailChimp to create and schedule personal, targeted communications.  
• Social media channels: Social media marketing is another fundamental channel for any brand. It’s useful not only for expanding reach by garnering clicks and likes with viral content, but it also provides a platform for real-time customer service and engagement. 
• Content marketing: Boost customer engagement by creating blogs, videos, and infographics. Informative content increases trust and value in your brand, while also improving your SEO standing.  
• Influencer marketing: Nano and micro influencers are perfect for small businesses, with their loyal following and focussed niche audiences. With affiliate marketing that is setup for beginners you can find trusted influencers to create a buzz around your content and products that can help build awareness and grow your small business. 
• Online advertising: Paid marketing strategies for small business include ad placements like Facebook Ads and Google AdWords. Link online ads to your business’s social media feeds so that customers can click and buy what they like. 

Efforts in these marketing channels can also be supported by affiliates. Small businesses can make use of voucher code directories, cashback and loyalty sites, content blogs, comparison engines, and user generated content to help spread the word of their products and services. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for small businesses. Consider your core audience to choose the channels they’re most likely to respond to. Growing a small business on a budget means that resource and money needs to go onto channels where your return on investment is working for you.  

Tips for small business marketing success 

Brand awareness and a diverse range of digital channels are the building blocks of any small business marketing strategy, but you can really grow your business online with these tips.  

1. Use your data wisely

Data should be at the heart of today’s marketing strategies for small business. Data gleaned from your social media profiles and website gives you valuable insights into your buyers, showing how they’re interacting with your online presence and what drives sales. Be sure to pull and organise data regularly to be sure you’re relying on the most up-to-date information. 

2. Create targeted content

One sure-fire way to make your small business stand out from the crowd is with hyperlocal, highly targeted, and personal content. Generic clickbait is an easy way to turn off buyers. Instead, reach out to clients with carefully crafted content that shows you’re listening to them. Better yet, try to deliver this content through a publisher they already know and trust. Provide how-to guides, infographics, and entertaining multimedia content to show that your brand is unique. 

3. Optimise communications

A good content marketing strategy also involves strategic timing. If you spam your audience with information overload, they’re likely to tune out. Instead, get in touch with email marketing when you have something to share, whether it’s exciting news about a new product launch or a VIP promotion. You can also make communications more effective with a visually appealing layout, attention grabbing headline, and clear call to action. 

4. Use marketing automation

New businesses have a lot on their plates, so why not outsource some of the marketing load to automation? Marketing automation software takes the busywork out of the equation to generate leads and analyse data.  

5. Explore affiliate platforms for beginners

A fifth and final tip for making the most of your digital marketing for small business plan is diversifying into using affiliate partnerships through platforms like Awin.  

Platforms like Awin Access, designed specifically to help small businesses grow, easily connects you with like-minded websites and influencers who can help you reach new customers in new places. Let your partners take care of promoting your products while you focus on additional channels and customer service.   

By taking a multi-pronged approach to small business marketing strategy, you’re more likely to grow your new company from the ground up. Consistency in branding and communication is key throughout, so it’s well worth kickstarting the process by identifying your top USPs and working from there.