In 2018, a lot of small businesses are feeling intimidated by the world of online marketing. There’s no denying there’s been a rise in competition in recent years. With so many big-name businesses seeming to dominate the digital world, it can be hard for small marketing online to even get their foot in the door, no matter their industry. Online small businesses need to find areas they can stand out, and this is where they’ll find their success. How can you market your business in a way that cuts through the noise online? This guide will show you how!
Tip 1: Optimize for Customer Experience
Let’s face it: the big names in the digital space have an advantage over smaller businesses. While it’s not likely your marketing online can compete on price, you can still make an impact on the customer experience. Creating a website is about more than just arranging elements on a page. You need to supplement the in-person shopping experience to build something customers are excited to use. This is the only way to keep customers coming back again and again.
How do you do this? If you have an e-commerce business, that means optimizing the checkout process and making it easy to access the most popular products. First, you need to ensure you have a secure website. You can do with the cheapest Windows VPS Hosting plan. It turns out securing your merchant account is one of the most important parts of the entire shopping experience. Beyond that, you need to keep customers from fumbling through several steps to make a purchase, you’re not focusing on the customer experience. It is also important that you are creating an invoice using the right invoice generator for sending them a professional looking bill. Moreover, it is important that you have an automatic currency counter to keep track of your business finances.
If you have a different kind of online business, you still need to focus on the customer experience. Develop value with your website by creating services, content, and resources that are truly valuable to your audience. Finally, test your website extensively to ensure it’s easy to use start to finish.
Tip 2: Create a Blog
No matter what your business industry is, content is king online. People like to trust the businesses they buy from. You build this trust, not through sales pitches and listing your product features, but through informative or entertaining content. Blogs are a powerful way to constantly create fresh content that speaks to your audience! It’s not enough to blog a few times every once in a while. Blog at least twice a week and promote your posts consistently on social media to see your traffic improve.
Eric Enge of Search Engine Land tackles the explanation of why content marketing works so well. He explains, “Content marketing targeted at building your reputation and visibility is NOT about promoting your products or services. It’s about adding value to the people who consume your content.” You’re creating value for your users that will lead to trust and a long-term relationship.
Tip 3: Video Marketing
While blogging should be at the foundation of your marketing strategy, using video is another way to stay ahead of your competition. A video is on the rise online. If you scroll through your Facebook or Instagram feed, you’re guaranteed to see a business promoting something via video. A video is powerful, and it makes users stop scrolling and learn more.
According to HubSpot, users watch an average of 1.5 hours of video a day. Your business can easily be a part of that number for the right audience. Use video to promote your recent blog posts, newest products, or even to just introduce yourself! While you can use videos on your website to reduce your bounce rate, they do especially well on social media.
Tip 4: Utilize Email Marketing
Email marketing is alive and well. Using email marketing can supercharge your current marketing by aligning with your other campaigns across platforms. While having followers on social media is important, you don’t actually own that contact information. At any time that platform can be taken down and you’ll lose your contacts. That’s why your email list is such an asset to your business.
How do you build your email list? Create opt-ins and lead magnets to draw in new contacts. For example, if you run an accounting blog, encourage users to sign up to your email list in exchange for a downloadable web design invoice template. From there, warm up your list and keep it active! Your list does you no good if you don’t take advantage of it. Notify your subscribers of updates, promotions, or new content. Email marketing is more powerful today than ever before since everyone’s so attached to their phones!
Today, small business marketing is all about building an online presence that connects with customers. While large businesses have more of a budget to spend on marketing, they’re not able to connect with every individual customer in an intimate way. Because your business is smaller, you have this opportunity to take your marketing to your audience in a personal way. Are you ready to grow your online small business?
