April 25th, 2019 | Updated on August 17th, 2019
Marketing is one of the biggest thorns in a small business‘s side. Every business owner knows in order to survive and thrive a company has to market.
But for small businesses, this can seem like a never-ending struggle of balance. A business needs to invest in marketing, but invest too much with little to no return and there becomes a problem. Don’t invest and market enough and customers won’t come.
Believe it or not, marketing is not the dreary, stress-filled topic most believe it to be for small businesses. There are a few ways a small business can choose to revamp their marketing ideas and begin seeing higher returns on marketing campaigns.
1. Clean Your Data
Data cleaning should not be relegated to only once a year. Data cleaning should be a constant routine. Why? Because marketing and advertising are all about data. Everything is data driven. Essentially, out-of-date data equals out-of-date marketing ideas.
Make sure any obsolete data is archived while current and useable data is updated to reflect as close to real time as possible. Having only relevant and usable data can be very important to your business – you can use software like Maptive to analyze all of that data and make a Google heat map which will give you a better insight into the locations that have the highest sales density!
2. Direct Mailing
Direct mail marketing is still effective, especially for small businesses. However, there have been a few new concepts and ideas about what makes is successful.
The idea with direct mail marketing is to generate potential leads and hopefully convert them into paying clients or customers. Some people may ask “Doesn’t everyone just throw those away without opening?” And those people would be correct. Which is why you need to stand out from everyone else.
Entice the potential client to open the envelope and read what’s inside. A great way to do that is with foil stamped print. Add a personal touch to the envelopes and newsletters.
If possible hand write or sign any signatures by hand as much as possible. This will give the letters or postcards a personal feel that will set you apart from other companies.
3. Online Presence
Today a company which does not have an online presence is sure to fail. It’s nearly impossible to survive without either having an online store or a social media presence.
While social media marketing and advertising typically involve paid advertising, there are other alternatives.
One great way to generate buzz about a business is to create a facebook page, twitter account, and instagram profile.
Showcase your best products or services, engage with your followers, and provide updates and exclusive deals.
The idea is to get people talking about the company. Through Facebook posts and the use of hashtags, a company can begin to generate a buzz.
4. Know Your Audience
Or, if you have to, get reacquainted with the intended audience. Evaluate the data and metrics already gathered and determine if they are still accurate.
Have the shopping habits of the targeted audience changed? Have consumers tastes and expectations changed in terms of customer service?
These are just a couple of questions that should be asked in order to ensure the intended target audience is being reached appropriately.
5. Company Blog
If there isn’t already a company blog on the website now would be a good time to start developing one. If one already exists begin running analytics to determine if there is any room for improvement.
Are the posts still getting traffic? Are new posts lacking in traffic where they once would rank high for a time?
Make sure to be posting well written, interesting, and unique content. Pay particular attention to SEO for organic traffic. If you want to outsource your SEO and digital marketing needs. Let the experts drive traffic to your site.
Revamping Marketing Ideas
Whether it’s instilling new marketing ideas and strategies or revamping the current ones, marketing should always be evaluated.
Small businesses often run into trouble when more money is being poured into marketing than what is being made in revenue off the advertisements. But, there are ways to revamp your marketing ideas without breaking the bank.
Re-evaluating how the company is reaching its target audience, whether or not the data is up-to-date, and starting a company blog are all great ways to revitalize and antiquated marketing strategy.
For a more personal touch, that helps the company stand out from the competition, try using foil stamped print for your direct mail marketing. The idea is to entice the consumer to open the envelope and become a new sales lead.
Marketing should never be placed on the back burner, nor should it consume an entire company’s budget. Work smarter, not harder, and think outside the box to bring those consumers banging on the door.
