Creating a Marketing Plan for a Small Business
If you’re a small business owner, trying to create a marketing strategy that can help sell your product or service in the current market is a daunting task. Marketing is not an exact science and it needs to be constantly modified in order to keep up with changes in consumer trends.
That said, there are some very effective marketing strategies that any business can implement right now. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at some of these strategies so you can see if they would work for your company too.
Should You Get A Pro In?
If you own a small business that isn’t in the business of marketing, then it’s a good idea to get someone who has qualifications in marketing to organize your advertising efforts. A professional can help you choose the right strategies, and they usually have a lot of contacts with other businesses too.
The downside to this is that you’ll have to pay a percentage of your profits to them – which means that if you’re not making profits yet, then it’s hard to justify spending money on marketing. If you can afford it, though, getting a professional on board is typically the best way to go.
If you want to try your hand at marketing yourself but don’t know where to start, there are plenty of articles out there that will help. Sites and marketing influencers like Neil Patel are great resources for general information on things like digital marketing and PR publicity, while other sites are excellent for more specific knowledge in niche areas.
Building Your Strategy
What is the difference between SEO and SEM? What are some ways that small marketing can be done in person? What are some things that you should keep in mind when marketing your small business on the internet? With these three questions in mind, let’s get started.
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the process of making your website visible to search engine users. This is the primary way that most people find businesses online. Unless your business has an online presence, no one will know about it, so startup SEO services might be a good idea. This is why SEO is so important for any business owner to implement as soon as possible into their marketing strategy.
Let’s take a look at some things you can do to boost your visibility with search engines:
First, always use descriptive titles and Meta descriptions for all of your website pages. Don’t use things like “click here” or “learn more” as your title or description. Be as descriptive as possible and try to include your keyword in both your title and description so you can rank higher.
Second, be sure to have the appropriate keywords in the actual text of each page too. The words you use on each page should align with the words you use in your title and description so search engines will know what keywords are important to that particular website page.
Third, always hyperlink all pages of a website together correctly. This includes linking between a homepage and an interior page but also linking from interior pages back to the homepage too.
If you’ve followed these three basic strategies correctly, your website should be easily visible to search engine users.
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing is the process of getting people to your website with paid advertising services. Some sources of traffic are very inexpensive while other methods are much more expensive, but the outcome is always the same: more traffic to an individual website.
There are a lot of different services that can be used for this purpose, so it’s key that you understand which ones are right for your needs.
Paid advertising services on sites like Google AdWords can help you get quality leads on your website without having to invest too much time in trying to get people who are interested in what you have to offer there. Just focus on writing engaging content for your website, and it will drive users to your site through paid advertising services easily.
If you have the budget to invest in marketing efforts, this is always the way to go.
Search Engine Marketing or SEM is a form of search engine optimization that uses paid advertising services exclusively.
While SEO uses both paid and natural forms of promotion, SEM only uses pay-per-click (PPC), social media ads, and sponsored blog posts to get new leads on a website. If you’re looking for leads at a lower price point than SEO can offer, then SEM is exactly what you need for your business.
Social Media Marketing
Social media has become an integral part of marketing for many small businesses, and it can be very powerful when done properly. Social media services like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest are excellent places to promote products or show people what your business does best.
For example, if you’re a hair salon, using images of gorgeous celebrity hairstyles you’ve created could get people to come to visit your website to see these styles in person could be a great place to start – as long as you keep it honest. It’s fine to say “this hairstyle looks great on this celeb” but it’s not fine to say “we cut this celeb’s hair” when that just isn’t true.
On the other hand, if you’re a chiropractor looking for leads, posting funny videos of your staff doing pranks could help get people’s attention and help them remember that your business exists and that they might want to visit someday soon.
In-Person Marketing
In-person marketing and branding is the process of getting people to discover your business at a personal level. This can be done through any number of events, such as running a beer festival or having a bake sale at your store.
In-person marketing is an excellent way to show customers that you’re interested in them as people, not just customers. If you’re selling a product that everyone needs, then even showing up at their house to sell it shows that you’re interested in their lives – which puts them more at ease about buying from you.
Creating A Marketing Plan
The basics of marketing your small business are pretty simple, but you need to make sure that you understand the best practices before you actually get started.
Start with an assessment of your current situation. What kind of business do you have? Do you already have a website? How much advertising or marketing experience do you have? There are so many details about your small business that affect how other people will see it. It’s important to know all of them before trying to build your marketing strategy so that everything works together in synergy.
Next, decide on what kind of strategy is best for your company.
What Are Your Marketing Goals?
To really get a good idea of what your sales message is, you need to be ready to answer a few questions about your audience.
- What kind of customers are you trying to attract to your business?
- Where do you want people to find your business?
- Who are you trying to attract as customers?
- How do you want potential customers to learn about your business?
Now you have an idea about your audience, it’s now time to really figure out what your marketing goals will be by answering the following questions:
- What marketing methods will you use?
- How often will these methods be used?
- How much marketing effort will be put into them every week, month, year, etc.?
- Will this money increase or decrease over time, or is it steady throughout the year (with little variation)?
These questions should help you determine how much time and money you need for messaging and marketing. It is important to set goals and work towards those goals.
What Is Your Marketing Budget?
Next, it’s important to figure out how much money your company will spend on marketing. This number really depends on your individual business, but you need to know how much you can afford before deciding on a marketing strategy for your business.
For example, if you’re an established business (or even if you’re not), paying for SEM services like Google AdWords is an excellent way to get more leads without investing too much time into this process.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are so many different ways to market your small business. Which tools you choose to use depends on your goals and the kind of customer service your company provides. If it’s a fast-moving service like web design, SEO might be more effective than trying to advertise on television or radio, and if you’re looking for leads at low cost, then SEM advertising is the way to go.
The most important thing you need to remember is that every small business should have some form of marketing whether through keyword research, local social media, or paid search services.
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