How to find the best marketing strategy to grow your small business
Small business owners often try to create overly elaborate marketing strategies that suck up too much time, effort and money, but result in little customers to justify.
It may come as a surprise, but there are some very simple things that you can do which will not break the bank, will not eat up too much of your time and will get those customers walking through your doors..
1. Know your audience
Not everyone wants to buy your product or service. Think about who you are targeting and pick your customer acquisition strategy based on their behaviours and expectations.
2. What is your value proposition?
What sets your business apart from other competitors? If you offer nothing different, there is no reason for a potential customer to give you preference.
Dedicate time and resources to show your potential clients why your offering is better than others. You can combine this with your customer acquisition strategy and marketing. For example, do you sell clothes? Know that your audience is looking for fashion advice, then give fashion advice in your content, create a newsletter they would love, promote your products within this coveted information. Build pages that rank in Google for what your fashionistas are looking for. Measure your results and boost your customer acquisition one step at a time.
3. Stay focused on your goals
Always set yourself Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (SMART) goals. Outline them at the start of every week, month, or quarter.
An example of a SMART goal could be to increase your number of followers by 20 percent on Facebook within three months. Stick to your aim and track your progress.
These goals should be very specific and give you an idea whether the strategy you picked for your customer acquisition is working. If something fails, don’t keep doing it longer than 90 days, if it works, keep at it and align new acquisition strategies that naturally align with it.
4. Build on what works
Use FairTech’s 12-pillar Permacustomer strategy to build up on the successes you have already made. Leverage the Pareto Principle of 80 percent of results coming from 20 percent of actions. Apply permaculture to your marketing efforts and ensure that you have a consistent flow of customers coming through your brick-and-mortar or digital doors. Make sure to have zero waste from your efforts.
5. Don’t throw away existing customers
If the above point did not sink in, read it again. Never let a customer go to waste. Your customer acquisition strategy spills into a customer retention strategy or an upsell strategy. Selling to existing customers is always easier, so always keep them in mind for your marketing strategy. Keep in touch with them, send them great content, and throw in an offer. Your existing customers are what keeps your business going. Look after them and they will look after you. Align the right strategy from the Permacustomer formula and your clients will stay with you longer (more on that later).
6. Make use of free marketing tools
Most marketing tools have free versions and paid versions. As a small business that is just starting out, there are plenty of tools out there that can help you get a leg up.
You can start with the obvious such as Analytics for Google and social media platforms. You can download apps that will auto schedule your posts and there are hundreds of plug-ins that can help you write, add text and blog posts.
7. Use social media and share some articles
Billions of people are plugged into social media on various devices. People spend a lot of time consuming content such as videos and blogs online. This is an opportunity. You should make sure that your business and brand are visible on the main social platforms and active on those that are important to your customers. Engage with your followers so they can give your business profile exposure to others.
8. Invest in ads
Nowadays, people spend more time in front of their mobile than in front of the TV. Advertising online costs a fraction of the cost of TV advertising. Make sure to take advantage of this one of a lifetime opportunity
If you can afford it, allocate a budget to online ads. The algorithms built into the ad platforms are super smart and you can set a total budget and maximum bid amongst many others. Sometimes you need a short term boost and cannot wait for SEO to do its thing. Ads are the way to go to multiply the outcome of your other efforts, example: you can retarget with just 1€ a day all the prospects that visited your offer or contacted you in the past for an offer and show them a special offer
9. Use email marketing to nurture leads
Never underestimate the power of email marketing. Keep in touch with your existing clients and get in touch with people that have signed up to your newsletter.
By reaching out to both cohorts, you foster familiarity and trust.
By linking the actions of the 12-pillars into one coherent strategy, you can turn your website into the ultimate money making tool by aiming for zero waste and sustainable strategy built on past success.
Watch our video to master the full 12-pillar customer acquisition process and craft the perfect single marketing strategy to dominate your industry.
