Marketing on a modest budget might be difficult, but many options remain available to entrepreneurs wanting to grow their clientele. The proliferation of digital marketing channels has simplified establishing a brand and attracting well-informed customers for small businesses.
Customers are the foundation upon which a successful business is built. Then, you can develop a reasonably substantial advertising campaign with just a good printer, a phone, and an internet-connected device without paying for digital space. Here are seven proven marketing strategies for small businesses.
7 Trendy Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses:
1. Flyers:
This is the equivalent of dropping a bunch of flyers all around town. You locate a potential market and then hand out flyers to every regional mailbox. Your flyer should be short and sweet, focusing on the items or services you provide and how to contact you. You can attract your initial consumers by giving them a free estimate, coupon, or discount.
Don’t confuse flyers with posters. Flyers contain further detail, including descriptions of services and items offered, phone numbers, physical addresses, and areas of expertise.
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2. Posters:
Advertisements and notices can be posted at no cost on bulletin boards found in most grocery stores, public buildings, and shopping centers. Having a poster with tear-off tabs that customers can use to redeem a discount is risky, but it could pay off if enough people take advantage of the offer.
Use tabs of varying colors to understand which regions produce the most leads. If most of your leads are from one place, you can focus your marketing efforts there (flyers, ads in local media, cold phoning, etc.).
Posters should include eye-catching imagery and memorable language so that people will remember them when unsure where to get what they need.
3. Value Additions:
Any product or service can greatly benefit from including value adds (or ads). Value adds are a form of marketing that looks a lot like coupons and free consultations but aims to increase customer happiness and expand your market share.
The following are examples of typical value additions:
Assures Loyal Clients of Special Rates
Index cards
Payouts for referrals
When deciding between two similar businesses, a client may choose the one that offers a loyalty program or rewards program. You don’t have to make impossible claims to add value; just highlight an aspect of your product or service that the customer might have missed. When developing promotional materials, stress the benefits your customers will receive.
4. Referral Networks:
A company’s referral network, which frequently consists of satisfied customers, is priceless. Discounts and other incentives for each referral are a great way to boost these. However, referral networks also encompass recommendations made by one company to another. If you have ever said something like, “We don’t do/sell that here, but X down the street does,” you may want to meet the owner of X and discuss a referral fee arrangement.
This network is especially robust in high-status occupations. A lawyer, for instance, may suggest you speak with an accountant; the latter, a financial planner; the latter, a broker. In each case, the individual’s professional standing is on the line because of the recommendation. It’s important to cultivate a referral network that shares your vision and dedication to excellence, no matter what kind of business you run.
5. Follow-Ups:
Customers can be attracted through advertising, but follow-up can improve retention. The success of your advertising campaign can be gauged in part by responses to post-campaign surveys. Some questions you might ask are as follows:
Why did they decide to do business with you?
Whence did they obtain such information?
Which competing firms did they evaluate, if any?
Which factor most positively impacted patron satisfaction?
Why was there so little joy
Customers with similar wants and interests like to congregate in the same areas, so if your employment requires you to visit them, drop some flyers off at their mailboxes as well.
6. Cold Calls:
Many startups and small businesses learn the hard way that cold calling is an absolute must. When making cold calls, you have to pitch not only your company but also yourself. People won’t buy from you if they don’t believe in you as a person.
People can be less than pleasant on the phone without the social cues of a smile or eye contact. In fact, we’ve all been guilty of this at least once. The agility of thought under pressure and adapting to new situations is a valuable skill to have while making cold calls to potential clients.
7. Online Marketing:
It would be difficult to exaggerate the value of the Internet in establishing a prosperous enterprise. Except for the advent and quick development of the Internet, marketing strategies have remained mostly the same over the past 50 years. Even a small neighborhood cafe needs to have a website where customers can find information like hours and directions. Everyone who turns to the Internet for information before making a purchase needs a single place to go for all of their needs.
