How to Develop an Effective Small Business Marketing Strategy
As the CEO of a marketing agency that has been in business for over 20 years, I have heard the laments of many businesses that wasted enough resources through attempting to market their companies. The Internet has brought a different landscape to marketing. It has allowed small businesses to compete with larger companies by opening new possibilities. The differentiators don’t always come with how much money the company has, but how well these companies can figure out how to utilize their various online marketing resources.
So, how can a small business leader get the best results out of online marketing? Here are three ways to achieve your company sales goals without wasting too many of your financial resources.
Concentric Marketing
Human capital is becoming more and more expensive. We must be more productive and efficient. With that said, here is a hard pill for many small business owners to swallow that every skilled experienced marketer is aware of: About 50% of your marketing efforts are usually wasted. The question, then, is which part of that 50% is wasted?
Concentric marketing is a growth strategy that uses a diverse set of marketing tactics to attract new customers. Our marketing company, Cazarin Interactive, has advised many companies and increased sales by taking a diverse approach that flows through the following phases:
- Brand invigoration (Phase 1)
- New Brand Messaging Document
- New Brand Guidelines Presentation
- Creating a strategic marketing plan that separates the customer from the competition (Phase 2)
- Marketing Plan – Report
- Detailing the marketing campaign
- Detailing the information architecture of the website
- Frequency of Social Media Postings
- Strategy for LinkedIn
- Strategy to achieve something that is tangible such as 10 leads per month
- Survey customers to clearly define personas
- Surveying and reporting provide us with the key personas so that we can create the right message
- New, sophisticated website or upgrade
- Great UIX
- Well thought out information architecture
- Metrics to capture what prospective customers are looking for
- A way to capture prospective customers’ information
- Making sure it helps all of the personas of the company
- Marketing materials to support the sales team
- Brochures
- Videos
- Sales Presentations
- Brand Materials
- Business Cards
- Letterhead
- etc.
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization
- Ranking higher on Google for specific keywords in your market
- Ongoing blog posts
- Marketing Campaign – Multi-channel social media and online ads management
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- LinkedIn Influencer Campaigns aimed to generate qualified leads
- Ongoing monthly reporting on leads
- Marketing Automation
- Automated messaging and prospect nurturing with personalized emails.
- Reliable Hosting for the new website
Apply valuable Elements
These next elements will ensure your marketing waste is minimal after 6 months. The key is to follow up on these five factors.
- Metrics on the Website
- Marketing Tactics
- Every time a marketing tactic is implemented that sends people to your website, you must create a way to measure the effectiveness of the tactic. Here are some ways to do that:
- Create a hidden URL that is NOT part of the website navigation. These hidden URLs track visits to a specific page. For example www.company.com/abcoffer
- Add a bold promotion code or coupon to your homepage
- Give website visitors an extra gift when a code is entered
- Every time a marketing tactic is implemented that sends people to your website, you must create a way to measure the effectiveness of the tactic. Here are some ways to do that:
- Review
- Review your marketing efforts every month. Every three months, dig deeper into those marketing efforts and look for trends and items that can be improved.
- Make the website the focal point for concentric marketing
- The website should be the center of your marketing strategy. It is the most effective way to serve your customers and your prospective customers. Your website can accomplish the following for your small business:
- Sales
- Customer Service and Support:
- FAQ’s
- How-to videos
- Create a place to facilitate returns
- Technical specifications
- An online catalog that replaces the need for print by:
- Combining your catalog with email can replace printed catalogs as long as that online catalog is built out well.
- Employing a marketing Automation software such as HubSpot or SharpSpring.
- Teach – Train
- By having videos and technical specifications for how to use your products. When these videos have people in them, it helps prospective customers envision working with you.
- Certifications
- Online courses, tests, and ways to increase your credibility
- Human Resources
- An Intranet is an internal online portal that a company can use to save significant amounts of money and support employees. Online HR tasks such as the following can be completed with the right website:
- Time-off requests
- Employee handbooks
- Internal referral programs
Have a Crystal Clear Objective
My final advice for developing a small business marketing strategy is this: Have a crystal clear goal. Make sure your employees are also crystal clear on these goals, whether it be for increasing sales or other specific metrics of growth.
At Cazarin Interactive, we strive to help our customers set these goals and provide a clear objective for us to work towards to know if our marketing efforts are successful. These goals need to be tangible, such as gaining 10 new prospective customers per month or obtaining a 20% increase in eCommerce sales.
Final Takeaways
When someone selects Cazarin Interactive as their marketing partner, our team becomes a part of their company. We look to have long-term relationships with our customers and pay for ourselves by increasing sales and enhancing their brand. We have helped a number of small businesses develop marketing strategies that help them reach their goals and we strive to continue to do that well for years to come.
Do you want to utilize our Marketing Fusion (™) and see real growth in your business? Contact our marketing department today.
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Do you want to utilize our Marketing Fusion (™) and see real growth in your business? Contact our marketing department today.
