The Top Ten Best Marketing Practices
Your small business has fared pretty well and your marketing efforts have paid off, but you are ready to take things up a notch. You think about what the professionals do and how you can implement those same practices on your business. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the top 10 marketing practices that both small businesses and large corporations can benefit from:
- Do your research! Making expensive marketing decisions is going to get you nowhere if you are clueless about your customers, your brand, and your competitors’ brands.
- Give your website a makeover. If your website is more than 5 years old, start from scratch and this time, pay attention to SEO. You can consult an SEO expert at this point. In addition, make sure your website is easy to navigate and contains a brief description of your product in simple words. Avoid jargon, and keep things simple.
- Put social media and blogging to good use. These tactics are free and can considerably expand and strengthen your customer base. Employ Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn to market your brand, or start a blog. You can hire a third-party blogger and editor to maintain and manage your content.
- Approach a business from the same niche as you, which might not be in direct competition. Forge an alliance that will enable you to share referrals.
- Create profiles of your prospective clients and try to discover which group these clients belong to and what publications they read the most.
- The internet provides you a wonderful opportunity to market your business without having to spend big bucks. Through social media marketing and organic SEO, you can attract more people to your brand and then convert them into leads. All it takes is some effort and time, and not a lot of money, making it perfect if you don’t have the capital to invest in marketing.
- Take up speaking engagements. Chambers of commerce, industry associations, and Rotary Clubs are always looking for speakers. Get in touch with them, and tell them what you can offer. Drafting a one-page profile charting the topics you can speak on will also help them when they are looking for resources. Keep an eye open for “Call to Speakers” announcements for events andconferences.
- Get customers to write testimonials. Have a follow-up system in place so that every satisfied customer provides you a written testimonial that you can display on your website, brochures, and email template.
- Always stay in touch with your clients through promotional letters, newsletters, and quick surveys.
- Implement PR and media relations, and incorporate them with social media for optimal results.
Keep track of the marketing practices that work best for you because there is no point in wasting money on strategies that are plain ineffective. Be consistent and patient with the strategies you try, as you cannot build a brand overnight. You will continuously need to make efforts in order to finally gain the trust of your customers.
