9 Marketing Tips for Small Businesses To Start Making an Impact Immediately
Marketing can be overwhelming.
For busy business leaders, it’s hard to know where to begin.
No worries, y’all.
I’ve put together a list of pro tips that will help you make immediate impact.
You’ll be dancing around in celebration of your growth before you can say “Can I get a double-shot, half-decaf, oat milk latte with two pumps of pumpkin spice and just a whisper of whipped cream?”
Marketing Pro Tip #1
Understand Your Target Audience
This is crucial. You absolutely must know your audience before you can even begin to market to them. Get to know their interests, values, where they spend their time, and to whom they give their attention. If you don’t make the effort to get to know the people who are mostly likely to purchase from you, that sales funnel is going to dry up real quick.
3 Ways To Get To Know Your Ideal Audience:
Conduct market research to identify demographics, interest, and pain points
Create customer personas representing your ideal clients
Tailor your marketing messages and strategies to address their specific needs and preferences
✨ Get a free Buyer Persona template on Canva!
Marketing Pro Tip #2
Build a Strong Brand Identity
Your branding is essential to building credibility and trust with your audience. Buttoning this up will revolutionize your marketing. Put together a style guide and stick to it, avoiding brand creep. Be intentional with this so that eventually, your customers will see something from you and instantly know it’s you!
3 Ways To Strengthen Your Branding:
Develop a consistent visual identity (logo, colors, fonts)
Craft a clear and compelling brand message that communicates your values and mission
Apply your branding consistently across all marketing materials and channels
✨ Launching a new brand? Access a free Brand Launch Checklist here!
Marketing Pro Tip #3
Create Quality Content
Everyone on the planet consumes content. When you understand your target audience, you will learn where they consume content and in which formats. Then the task ahead of you is producing content that will resonate with them. In most cases, quality trumps quantity, so start small and make this manageable. Find other companies that find success in content creation and make note of what makes them successful — format, design, messaging, distribution channels, etc.
3 Ways To Produce High-Value Content:
Identify topics relevant to your audience’s interests and pain points
Produce high-quality content (blogs, videos, infographics) that provides real value
Distribute your content through your website, social media, and email newsletters
✨ Get a free crash course on developing a content calendar here!
Marketing Pro Tip #4
Leverage Social Media
Most people think of marketing on social media when they think of marketing at all. It is definitely not the only channel to use, but it is admittedly very powerful when used well and with intention. Have a presence on channels that make most sense to your audience, post about things that are relevant to your audience and that they will delight in, and then engage. Posting and ghosting just ain’t gonna cut it!
3 Ways To Master Social Media Marketing:
Choose the social media platforms where your target audience is most active
Create and share engaging content regularly (posts, stories, videos)
Interact with your audience by responding to comments and messages promptly
✨ My favorite social planning platforms are Sprout Social, Plann, and Later.
Marketing Pro Tip #5
Utilize Email Marketing
Email is not dead. You read that right. Email is arguably the most engaged marketing channel, even in 2024. It’s a direct line to your customers and one they’ll interact with regularly because they gave you access to their inbox. It is imperative that marketers do not abuse this privilege! Send only your best content, and make it less about what you offer and more about the problem you solve for them.
3 Ways To Boost Engagement with Email:
Collect email addresses through sign-up forms on your website and at events (don’t just add people to your list without their permission… we call that “black hat” marketing!)
Segment your email list based on customer preferences and behaviors
Send regular, targeted email campaigns with valuable content and offers
✨ My favorite email platforms are MailChimp, Flodesk*, and Convertkit.
Marketing Pro Tip #6
Optimize Your Website for SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) is simply the work of making your website move up the ranks in search results. I call it “Google Juice.” 🤓 There are a multitude of tasks you can perform on your website to improve SEO, which can admittedly cause overwhelm, but my advice is to just chip away at it. Use the Ahrefs free dashboard to get started. Advanced users can upgrade on Ahrefs or use the ever-popular and super robust platform, Semrush.
3 Ways To Get More Google Juice:
Conduct keyword research to identify relevant search terms
Optimize your website content, meta tags, and images with these keywords
Build high-quality backlinks to improve your site’s authority and search engine ranking
✨ Get The Ultimate List of Free SEO Tools here!
Marketing Pro Tip #7
Leverage Local Marketing
This one is often overlooked by larger companies, but it can create a huge impact when you focus your marketing efforts on hyper-local tactics. Do your research and find the best places to promote your business on local sites that can point to your website. Building trust in your local community will create a snowball effect and eventually, referrals will be the name of the game. Until then, and even then, you’ll want to get in front of local residents when and where they are online and out-and-about.
3 Ways To Boost Local Awareness:
Optimize your Google My Business profile and local directory listings
Participate in local events and sponsor community activities
Use local SEO strategies to ensure your business appears in local search results
Marketing Pro Tip #8
Collect and Showcase Customer Reviews
Customer reviews fall into the “consideration” phase of the marketing funnel. Good reviews are the result of a satisfied customer who you will likely retain, but they benefit those who are still considering using your products or services. Reading reviews is one of the best ways to help them make a decision.
3 Ways To Develop a Review Strategy:
Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on Google, Yelp, and other review sites
Respond to review, both positive and negative, to show your engagement and care
Display positive reviews and testimonials prominently on your website and social media
Marketing Pro Tip #9
Track and Analyze Your Marketing Efforts
Don’t just put stuff out there without looping back to see how effective it was. Track and analyze your marketing efforts on a regular basis (at least monthly) so you can see what is working and what is falling flat.
3 Ways To Monitor Your Marketing Performance:
Use analytics tools (Google Analytics, social media insights) to monitor campaign performance
Analyze the data to identify successful strategies and areas needing improvement
Adjust your marketing tactics based on insights and continue testing new approaches
✨ Access a free Marketing Performance Template in Google Sheets, including pretty charts and nifty formulas built in!
*This is an affiliate link. Clicking this link gives you 50% off your first year of Flodesk! If you join, they’ll take a little off my next bill.
Need help getting started with marketing?
… or just don’t want to do it yourself?
