We get it. The everyday demands of running your business are enough to keep you busy, and it’s easy to forget the importance of growing and maintaining a customer base. However, applying a few small business marketing strategies is a great first step into growing your business for the future.
Still trying to figure out where to start? We rounded up 14 digital marketing tips for small businesses that you can implement today.
Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
Implementing social media marketing for your small business can be relatively easy. It’s a great way to attract new customers to your store and keep returning visitors in the loop.
While every social media platform has its quirks and benefits, you can implement these tips across platforms, depending on where your audience engages the most.
Plan what you can in advance
You’ll see a considerable benefit from social media marketing if you regularly post. But, coming up with the content daily can feel burdensome for many, especially considering how many other obligations you have as a small business owner.
Instead of reinventing the wheel every day, consider creating a rough calendar of content you’ll post each day, including a caption. Take a few hours to jot down ideas, create a short list, and plan your content days or weeks ahead of time.
Knocking out multiple posts simultaneously will save you time, freeing you to focus on other tasks.
Embrace collaborations
Collaborating with other small businesses or local influencers can benefit you twofold. First, it takes the burden of single-handedly creating content off your hands. Secondly, when posts are shared across multiple accounts, you’ll likely draw in new customers who may not know your brand.
Consider reaching out to nearby small businesses to collaborate on posts, or tap into your network of local guides, personalities, or influencers to create a campaign together.
Encourage engagement
Like the tip above, user-generated content (UGC) can benefit your business. UGC is pictures, videos, or text created by customers. For example, if someone visits your salon for a treatment and shares it on their Instagram story, it’s UGC.
When customers share their experiences on social media, consider resharing them. It only takes a few clicks, and you get the benefit of another post, as well as fostering a conversation with your guests.
Reply when appropriate
While replying to and liking comments on social media can be a full-time job on its own, it’s important to take the time to engage with reviews, whether negative or positive, as it can benefit you in the long-run. When appropriate, engage with customers who post, comment, or mention your business online. Thanking visitors for a positive word or mention can help build community, and responding to negative comments appropriately conveys brand voice and customer service.
How do I approach a negative review? Check out our guide to responding to negative customer reviews.
Offer discounts
Try using social media posts to do a special promotion, flash sale, or secret sale. Consider sharing a one-day-only promotion on social media on days with slower store traffic, encouraging followers to use a secret phrase at checkout for freebies or a small discount.
With this strategy, you’ll see how active your online audience is, translating followers online to foot traffic in real life. Plus, running these campaigns encourages visitors to follow and engage with you online, so they can benefit from sales and discounts.
Try a trend (or two)
You don’t have to chase every viral challenge or trending TikTok song, but when one comes up that aligns with your brand, create content around it.
Capitalizing on a popular trend or meme online can increase your brand engagement. Using the appropriate hashtags can open yourself to a broader audience than your regular customers.
While only some trending posts will go viral, joining in on the conversation could get more eyes on your business and boost engagement on your social media channels.
Show off your business
Use your business as a backdrop, giving new customers a sense of what to expect before they visit. Consider creating a series of posts that offer a tour through the space, sharing features, new inventory, or staff spotlights.
Showing off your space helps you share your story and voice as a brand.
Use engagement data to drive next steps
Don’t shy away from trying new ideas or post styles when you’re in the early days of social media strategy. If you don’t know your online audience yet, you may be unsure what will work and what won’t.
As you build out your posts, keep a close eye on analytics. Look at what performed well, what didn’t, and what posts get the most engagement. Do more posts in the style that performs well, and consider phasing out certain post styles that don’t perform well.
Aim to look back on social media performance at least quarterly.
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Hand in hand with social media marketing, having a solid email marketing strategy can help retain customers and drive growth. Even mores, building a robust email subscriber list can foster a strong connection between customers and businesses, ensuring repeat visits and new eyes on your business.
Once you’ve selected your business’s best-fit email marketing service, it’s time to talk strategy. Consider trying one or more of these small business marketing ideas in your next email campaign.
Offer a peek behind the curtain
With more space than a social media post, email newsletters can be a great opportunity to give customers a peek into the inner workings of your operation. Whether you’re testing out new recipes, expanding your storefront, or prototyping a new product, giving readers a backstage pass to your process can help create a closer bond.
From sharing woes to celebrating wins, letting your email subscribers get to know you will put a face to the business.
Show what’s coming up
If you have upcoming events or collaborations, consider sharing them in an email newsletter. Sharing your events calendar in an email at the beginning of the month gives readers ample time to plan and buy tickets for an event if required.
If you have regular programming scheduled, consider sharing these updates monthly so visitors can anticipate the frequent updates.
Drive traffic to your online store
Did you just upload a bunch of new inventory or products? Constantly selling out? Share with customers via email when new products come online or when best sellers are back in stock.
Build brand voice
Sharing updates, news, or new products over email marketing can be a great tool to build your brand voice. Whether customers have visited your space or have never been there before, you can use emails to give them an idea of who you are and what they can expect when visiting.
Having a voice that translates into email marketing will remind readers what it’s like to visit your business.
Get a better idea of your customer base
Email marketing tools collect engagement insights, including age and location. Use this data to inform what products to stock, events to host, or strategies to roll out.
As you begin to share emails, don’t be afraid to try something new and gauge your audience’s reaction.
Create personalized content
Depending on your email marketing tool, you can create personalized email content for customers. For example, if they purchased a breadmaking kit from your online storefront, you may feed them into an email campaign that guides them through the process, sharing tips and tricks as they create their first loaf. This allows visitors to interact with you long after they leave the store.
Small business marketing strategies can be a valuable tool to expand your customer base; for some, these campaigns can be a fun, creative outlet to focus on. If business operations and payroll woes keep you from pursuing marketing campaigns, consider using Get Beyond’s suite of tools to help automate processes, leaving you more time to do what you love.
Get Ahead with These Small Business Marketing Strategies
Implementing effective marketing strategies is essential for the growth and success of small businesses in today’s competitive market. Having a small business marketing strategy can significantly impact your small business’s visibility, customer engagement, and overall profitability.
Remember, marketing is an ongoing process that requires adaptability and creativity, so stay informed, experiment, and consistently refine your approach to maximize the potential for success. With the right marketing strategies in place, your small business can thrive and achieve your goals in today’s dynamic business environment.
This article is provided for informational purposes only. Your business’s circumstances, goals, and objectives are unique to your business, so any information or opinions in this blog should not be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. We urge you to always consult with a professional advisor before making important business decisions.
