Starting a small business is highly challenging and the bigger challenge awaits entrepreneurs in making the business grow. The primary focus of entrepreneurs is to get the business off the ground, but at the same time, they must create strategies for growth once the business gets going. Small business owners know well how challenging it can be to implement the right marketing strategies without which it is almost impossible to sustain the business. The biggest bottleneck is lack of budget that does not allow even thinking about big marketing campaigns. Difficulties in managing time due to multiple tasks handled by entrepreneurs often create impediments to focus on growth. As an entrepreneur, you cannot stay bogged down by problems but instead have the courage and commitment to overcome it with some guidance from Eric Dalius, a marketing exponent who has mentored numerous small enterprises.
When faced with the odds, you must stay positive and start experimenting with product development, marketing, sales, and other areas to find out the best way to grow your business. Marketing is like fuel for business, and you must implement it to stay in the path of growth. Leaving aside the challenges of marketing, you must understand that it is risky, too, because it is a game about taking calculated risks.
Well, you may wonder how big companies can implement successful marketing strategies, but remember that they have the financial muscles to bulldoze the campaign. But that does not mean that small businesses should sit with folded arms because there are many other cost-effective and affordable marketing techniques that they can implement.
Use social media as suggested by EJ Dalius
The social media platform has opened new avenues of marketing without spending money even though there are options for investing in social media advertising like Facebook advertising to bolster the marketing campaign. It is easy for small businesses to host their business on selected social media channels by creating business profiles and reach out to the targeted audience. Considering the ease of setting up a social media marketing campaign and its low cost, it is now mandatory for small businesses to go for it.
To get the most from social media marketing, you must stay active across the channels and interact with customers to build and nurture relationships, which go a long way to provide excellent business returns. Choosing the right channels is extremely important to gain from the marketing efforts, and you must consider the channels where you could find most of the audience that you target.
Content marketing
According to Eric J Dalius, content marketing is another effective marketing technique that small businesses must use as one of their marketing strategies. Publishing high-quality content that provides solutions, guidance and tips that the audience finds useful is one of the best ways to keep them engaged and bring them closer to the business and brand. Content that is relevant to the audience and conveys some value to them is the best means for arousing their interest in the brand as they discover its usefulness.
To create appropriate content that moves the audience, you must know how the audience looks upon the brand and what they expect from it. Know about the difficulties they face and their needs so that you can address these through suitable content. Create long term strategies to interact with the audience by publishing content regularly that leads to building relationships and trust, which forms a strong foundation for business growth.
Type of content
Text content is usually what we think about when discussing content, but you should know that everyone does not like text content. Images, videos, and infographics are some other types of content that are popular among various sections of the audience. Since you want to reach out to the largest section of the audience, you must create assorted content to satisfy all types of people. Including images in text content enhances its appeal, and you must use suitable images with discretion to generate higher interest.
Video content has high acceptance because the human brain is more receptive to it, and you must include videos in your content development plan. Use infographics wherever possible as the content is convenient to read and easier to understand. More use of infographics leads to a higher level of engagement. Create useful do-it-yourself guides that the audience appreciates.
Positive word of mouth
Just as important it is to create a strong impacting first impression for your business, you must sustain the positivity throughout the journey by offering the best services to your customers always no matter how small your business might be. Provide the best products and services to your customers so that you leave nothing to chance that can dent your reputation.
You cannot afford to make customers unhappy because customer happiness is key to business growth. Remember that one happy customer can drive 5 more customers to your business. Never feel complacent and work tirelessly to keep customers happy by knowing their expectations and meeting them to the fullest. Pay full attention to quality in everything that you do because the good word spreads like fire and propels your business towards growth.
Customer referral programs
The dual goal of marketing is creating brand awareness and generating sales. Since both go hand in hand, you must blend strategies to achieve both the goals. One of the ways of creating brand awareness is to launch customer referral programs, which is a free modern marketing technique that yields good results.
When some satisfied customers refer your brand to others, it not only generates brand awareness but also develops trust at first sight because the referral comes from someone who has been satisfied with the brand and felt like sharing it with others. Develop a program for customers to reward them for every referral they make. The investment in rewards is just too little as compared to any other marketing investment. Technology can help small businesses find this method most suited because of cost and effectiveness.
Keep evaluating your marketing performance continuously to judge the effectiveness of the strategies. Make ongoing improvements to lend more solidity to the campaign.