5 marketing ideas for small businesses

When it comes to successful marketing, it’s always the big guys that are used as examples. Endless research highlights the success of Nike, Apple and McDonalds but how can you compete without the time, budget or resources available to them? We understand your pain, which is why we’ve come up with a list of marketing tactics that won’t blow your small marketing budget.

Marketing is impossible without great content. Regardless of what type of marketing tactics you use, content is the driving force and it should always be part of your process rather than something separate. You can rarely justify the costs of advertising and often you’ll regret the money you spent on a new website because it isn’t generating the appropriate leads and clicks. People no longer want to receive traditional marketing methods and they simply don’t work like they did years ago.

Educate your clients with appropriate information and demonstrate how you are indispensable. Creating and distributing this kind of relevant, valuable information will then help you turn prospects into buyers and buyers into long-term clients. Create content and information that people actually want to consume. Before starting your new approach to marketing, you have to un-think everything that you have learned. Instead of trying to tell the world how great your company is, explain why your company is useful and the answer to every problem.

It has been proven time and time again that social media can aid businesses and in a modern world not using social media marketing could actually do more harm. Nowadays the first thing we do before using a company is search for them online. Having active social media accounts is just one method of securing your brand’s reputation and also means you can have a better relationship with potential clients, guiding them through the sales funnel. However, there is no point going on social media without a plan of action.

In a digital world, video content is valuable. Whilst it can be a costly project, there are cheaper options available such as local film companies and there is nothing stopping you from getting behind the camera yourself. Video marketing ties in with content marketing – give your customers something for free such as tutorial videos, advice and inspiration.

The impact of consistent and professional looking material across EVERYTHING your business produces is huge. If one branch is using a different logo and font from another branch, you will struggle to gain any long-term recognition for your brand. Aside from the consistency aspect it also looks really bad and by running all marketing through a specialist design firm, the whole business will be better off.

Most industries have business awards you can enter and if you are lucky enough to win, you will be provided with an online badge to place on your website. Even highlighting you were nominated or got into the top 3 can boost credibility and as a result increase sales.

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