There used to be a time when small businesses haven’t paid that much attention to marketing. Word of mouth and the position within the community was enough to make your business known and lucrative. This is no longer the case and even the smallest business needs to have a marketing strategy ready.
The strategy needs to take into the account your target audience and you need to create a budget that covers all the expenses that your marketing plans may require.
Content
It’s often said that “content is king” and this saying is there for a reason. Good online content can promote your business better than most of the offline campaigns and it costs much less to produce and distribute.
This doesn’t mean that the content is easy to produce and deliver to your audience. In fact, production might be the most difficult thing about it and you need to be on a lookout for the creative talent from day one. They also need to have a clear set of boundaries about the themes and the general direction of your campaign.
Free stuff
It may seem like an oversimplification, but giving away free stuff is always a good way to promote your business. That’s an additional expense for a small business and something not everyone can afford right away, but it’s a rather useful addition to the opening event.
Everyone who comes in on the opening day should get a free product of some sort and that’s something you should use to reward loyal customers that keep returning to your company. Valid alternatives are promo cards and gift cards that are bought in bulk.
Promotional products
Promotional products have been around for ages and they are still one of the best ways to promote a company and its brand. They don’t cost that much and they are designed to be passed around among those working in the industry. These could be something small and simple as long as they are useful and easy to print with your logo and information.
Something as simple as custom umbrellas with the logo of your company could be seen by thousands of people if they are given away at the right moment. Office materials, notebooks and USB drives could be used to the same effect.
Charity work
Doing local charity work is beneficial in numerous ways. First of all, it’s a chance to help those in your community that need help the most. It’s worth it even if it doesn’t benefit your business. However, the truth is that it does. When your business works with local charities, it becomes an integral part of the community.
The best way to go about this is to get the employees and the customers involved in the process. It can be done by clearly stating that a percentage of every sale goes toward a charitable goal.
Industry-related events
At least a portion of your marketing activities shouldbe focused on the industry itself. These business to business marketing campaigns will help you establish yourself within the industry and find lucrative deals with your competitors.
Corporate events take time and skill to be organized. This is often best left to the professionals since it requires understanding of both the industry and the events themselves. It isn’t enough for the business owners to mingle and make deals. There also needs to be some sort of content that makes the event itself necessary and noticeable. These are often about the education and the tech trends that are going to shape the industry in the years to come.
Small business marketing needs to be well planned and organized. You need to understand the market you’re getting into before you can start promoting the company.