7 Great Tips for Marketing Your Small Business

When you own a small business, marketing can be one of your bigger expenses. As tempting as it can be to skimp on marketing, it is crucial for building a successful business. Word of mouth can help get your business off the ground, but you will need to find solid marketing options to create a sustainable business model.

Before you consider any marketing ideas for your small business, it is important to understand who exactly you’re trying to market to. Ask yourself: who is going to do business with us? What do they look like? What do they do in their spare time?

Creating buyer personas will help to find who your niche audiences are in terms of responsibility, demographics and interests. When done correctly, a buyer persona will help give you direction and a target to aim for.

They’ll also give you a look at what forms of mediums will stick with your target audience the best. An older clientele generally responds better to traditional forms of media, while a younger audience responds to digital content and video promotions.

Many consumers feel like they get too many emails as it is. However, almost 90% of consumers still prefer email communication for business purposes. When done correctly, email marketing campaigns for small businesses can improve audience engagement, open email rates and successful conversions.

Be sure your business emails have a recognizable sender address, a subject line that makes someone want to click open, a design that is optimized to be viewed on all devices and a call to action.

The internet has become an integral part of most people's lives. Having a good website as a small business owner is a key factor for success. Depending on your financial situation, you may choose to try and design your website yourself or pay a design company to build one for you.

Aside from paid advertising methods and free listings, small business owners should work towards creating social media pages. Social media is a great way to keep in touch with your target audience. It is important not to spread yourself too thin across multiple platforms. Choose the platforms that you will most likely find new customers in.

Be sure that each of your social media pages has links to your website, contact information and your business profile. Take time to join conversations in social media groups where you will be able to talk about your services and products and find people who are interested in them.

Networking for small businesses is an important and easy way to start promoting the products and services you have to offer in your local community. Work towards getting involved in community activities and participate in local events.

This will allow you to connect with other business owners and community leaders to share information about your business. Building connections is important for any business.

This is why it’s also important to invest in the resources that will help you establish a strong brand identity in your promotions. By becoming a well-known brand in your local area, you can generate an ongoing interest in your brand.

If your small business has the capital to do so, sponsor some local events or festivals. This is a great way to get your business' name out there in the community and be able to network at the same time.

Running a successful business is a full-time job. Small business owners make the mistake of trying to do it all. The reality is that your consumers will want communication and information on their time - making it much more difficult to truly succeed at marketing if you’re doing all of it yourself.

Marketing automation is a great way for businesses to make the most out of each customer interaction. A recent study found that almost 67% of leaders in the marketing arena use marketing automation. Automating portions of the process is what takes a lead and makes them a loyal customer.

Marketing a small business comes with significant challenges, usually related to budget and time. The key is to find the avenues of marketing that will best suit your business and maximize your time. For everything else, look for ways to automate the process; your customers will thank you for it and your business will have every opportunity to grow.