With an ever-evolving marketing landscape, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out what your business needs to succeed and how best to use your limited resources. But don't stress; we're here to bring you some ideas for small changes that can bring big results.
Utilize high-impact, low-cost communication channels
What we mean by that is finding those communication channels (social media, website, email, SMS, etc.) that allow you to reach your target market and have the best return on your investment of time, energy, and money.
Start by pinpointing the channels that resonate most with your audience and look at how these channels are currently performing for you. Is there a channel that is outperforming the others that you can invest more in? Are there channels with potential that you might have overlooked with your communication strategy?
Develop Your Skills
Elevate your digital marketing game by investing in your skills and resources. With practice, affordable design tools, and ongoing education, it is not out of reach for a business to create compelling content in-house. While this route may not save you time or energy, it is a way to save money while effectively marketing your business until you are ready to invest in additional support.
Here are a few tools to help you get started:
Leverage Local Partnerships
Collaboration is key in the local business world! By exploring partnerships with minded businesses, there is an opportunity to join your marketing efforts to expand your reach, audience, impact, and value of your efforts. Collaboration for cross-promotion, service/product packages, and co-hosted events are all great avenues to explore. Just make sure to look for partnerships with businesses that align with your values, goals, and audience.
Leverage Engagement & User Generated Content
Harness the power of your satisfied customers by encouraging user-generated content. Run contests, ask for customer reviews and testimonials, and showcase success stories. This content adds credibility to your brand and creates a sense of community involvement, turning customers into brand advocates.
While there is a lot you can do online, don't overlook the value of engaging your community offline. This could involve participating in local events, sponsorships, or partnerships to engage with your community and raise brand awareness. Being present in the community builds trust and loyalty among potential customers. It also allows people to ask questions about your business in person and get to know the people behind the logo!
Optimize Your SEO
Show up in more searches by optimizing your Google Business profiles, obtaining local backlinks, and ensuring consistent business information across online platforms.
Start by claiming and keeping your Google Business profile up to date at all times. Next, work on securing local backlinks by engaging with local websites and directories. And remember to engage with comments and reviews from your customers.
Lastly, knowing that consistency is key, ensure that your business information is the same across all online platforms. This not only improves your local SEO but also enhances the overall online presence of your business.
Track and Analyze Your Results
While you want to provide enough time for your strategy to start to work, you also don't want to continue allocating resources to something that isn't going to work. All that to say, no marketing strategy is complete without a plan to track and analyze results.
Use analytics tools to measure the success of various campaigns and platforms. This data will help provide insights into what works and what doesn't and can help you determine where best to allocate your resources moving forward.
