26 Best Marketing Strategies for Small Business to Compete with Big Business
Are you a small business looking for an edge in the competitive marketplace? It can be hard to compete with bigger businesses when it comes to marketing, but that doesn't have to be the case.
With the right strategies you can effectively differentiate your brand, reach new audiences, and leverage digital marketing in order to maximize profits and gain ground on your competition.
In this article, we will outline 26 of the best marketing strategies tailored specifically for small businesses trying to compete with big business.
1. Understand Your Ideal Customer
One of the best marketing tips for a small business is to learn about its ideal customer. Unlike massive brands, you can't sell to just anyone. You must choose a niche and focus on the one type of person who is most likely to buy your product or service.
Think about your main offer and who's purchased from you in the past. Then, you can develop a marketing plan that will attract more of those ideal customers. You'll want to create all of your messaging for that one person.
If you're trying to speak to everyone, you're speaking to no one. Niching down is vital, especially if you want to compete with larger businesses. You can become an expert in your niche and build trust with your current audience.
Then, when new people find you, they'll know exactly how you can help them. It will be a lot easier to close the sale.
2. Retarget Current Customers
If you already have a customer base, focus on getting recurring sales. Customer acquisition is much more expensive than customer retention. Your current customers already know what you can do for them, and they like your product or service.
You'll have to do less to convince them to buy again. So consider ways you can get that next sale, such as running a limited-time promotion. You could also launch a new product that helps people use the products they own.
Review how you got these customers, such as through email or other sources. Then, use those same sources to attract your audience back to your website or store to buy from you again.
3. Focus on Your UVP
Your unique value proposition is what sets you apart from your competitors. Perhaps it's the special process you use to finish all of your handmade creations. Or maybe it's the extras that you provide when a client books your service.
If you don't know your UVP, figure it out as soon as you can. Then, make it a part of every marketing campaign. For one, this will help build brand awareness, so they may start to recognize the name of your business.
Showing off your UVP can also help people differentiate between you and similar businesses. If your UVP appeals to someone, then there will be no question about who they should work with or where they should shop.
4. Tell a Story with Your Brand
Another one of the best marketing tips for small businesses is to develop and tell a story. Consider if anything made you want to start your business. Maybe you wanted to stay home with your kids more.
Lean into whatever your story is, and share it along with your offers. You can add it to the about page on your website so that people can learn more. People may also feel more of a connection, especially if they have a similar story.
Mix in some story-related content along with your promotional content. That way, you can build an authentic brand to help promote your products and services.
5. Start with Free Marketing Methods
While brands like Target and Apple have massive marketing budgets, most small businesses are limited on funds. However, you can still market yourself using free methods and tools. The internet is the perfect place to start.
Good options to consider include social media and search engine optimization (SEO). You can reach your ideal customers, and you just have to spend your time on marketing. Of course, you could also hire employees to help.
Either way, these strategies are less expensive than advertising. You can also scale your social or SEO strategy more easily. As you start, use free tools, such as a free social media scheduler, to help stay consistent when marketing your business online.
6. Set Up an Email List
As great as SEO and social media are, you should also set up an email list. Email marketing can help you connect with your most loyal fans. You can ask for email addresses in exchange for a free download, for example.
Then, you'll have a list of people to contact whenever you have a new offer or if you want to run a special promotion. People can easily find the content in their inboxes. You won't have to compete with a social media algorithm.
Plus, not everyone will subscribe to receive emails except for people who are already interested in what you have to offer. That can help you get a higher conversion rate than from other marketing channels.
7. Create a Referral Program
One of the best ways to market your business is to set up a referral program. Your current customers can be some of your best marketers. They can help you get more clients or customers.
You can do as much marketing as you want, but potential customers may trust what others have to say more than what you say. In exchange for a referral, you could offer your current customers a discount or a gift.
You'll get more sales than you otherwise would have, and your customers can get something for free or cheaper. If you make the referral reward a discount, you could also get a recurring sale from your existing customer.
8. Use Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile (GBP) is a tool you can use to help optimize your business for search. You can add your business name and contact information. Then, when people search either for your business or the type of business you have, you may show up.
If you show up in the top results, you may get more customers to your website. GMB is particularly useful for local businesses.
You can fill out your profile with as much information as possible to increase the chances of ranking higher in Google. Plus, it allows customers to leave reviews, which can help prospective customers want to buy from you.
9. Compare Social Networks
Social media can be an excellent marketing channel for small businesses. However, there are tons of platforms to consider, from Facebook and Instagram to Twitter and TikTok.
Instead of setting up a profile on every platform, choose one or two that make the most sense based on your ideal customer. For example, if you want to reach young adults and teenagers, TikTok is a great choice.
On the other hand, if your target audience includes working professionals, you may see better results on LinkedIn. You can look into the demographics of different social platforms to get an idea of which one is right for you.
10. Don't Forget To Engage
Once you choose which social media platforms to use, you'll want to set up a presence. Not only should you post original content related to your business, but you should also engage with your target audience.
If you use Instagram, you can use hashtags to find potential customers. Other platforms have similar discovery methods. That way, you can like and comment on posts from people in your audience, and you can follow people whose content you genuinely like.
After you publish a new post on social media, spend 10 or 15 minutes engaging with your audience. Reply to any comments you get on your new post. Then, you can build relationships with your followers to help turn them into customers.
11. Implement User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is content that your customers create using your product or showcasing your service. You can share this content on your profile to show potential customers that others love what you do.
Pay attention to your notifications to see when people tag your account on social media. Then, you can reshare those tagged posts in your Stories on Facebook or Instagram. If you want to share those posts in your main feed, ask the creator for permission.
You can also pay creators for UGC posts, specifically. Send the creator your product to use and test out. Then, they'll make a video or take a photo that you can share on your business account.
12. Connect with Influencers
Influencer marketing is similar to UGC, but influencers have a substantial following. And instead of posting their content on your account, they'll post it on their own. That way, you'll have direct access to people in your ideal audience.
Now, influencer marketing costs money, so you'll want to have a budget in mind. You should also research influencers in your industry to find the right person to promote your business.
However, putting in that work can help you generate better results. You can also form a long-term partnership with one or more influencers. As your business grows, you may start to get even more referrals from these creators.
13. Hold a Giveaway
If you want to make social media a big part of your strategy, consider holding a giveaway. You can offer a free product or service to the winner. Set up rules for how to enter the contest, such as by following you on social media or subscribing to your email list.
A giveaway is a great way to get a lot of followers quickly. Plus, you can partner with an influencer or some other account in your niche. Then, you can generate more buzz and get more entries (and therefore, more followers).
Set a timeline for the giveaway and a method for choosing the winner. You could randomly assign everyone a number and use an online number picker, for example. Then, you'll want to contact the winner to help get them their prize.
14. Invest in Social Media Ads
If you have a bigger marketing budget, you may want to use social media ads. You can set up ads on most platforms, and you can target the campaign to reach your ideal audience. Then, you'll get more reach than you could with organic posts.
Depending on the platform, you may be able to boost an existing post. Otherwise, you can create a post from scratch specifically to advertise your business.
The first time you run social media ads, you may want to hire an ad specialist. They can help you optimize the campaign and choose a daily budget to get better results. An ad specialist can also track the campaign performance so that you know what to do for future campaigns.
15. Develop a Website
Another marketing strategy that costs some money is creating a website. You can use your website to list your products or services, and you can send people to your website from social media.
Creating a website also gives you more control over the branding. You can use your brand colors and fonts and add your logo to the top of each page.
Be sure you choose a domain based on your business name. Then, you can set up a host and add a homepage, an about page, and a product or service page. When people search for your business, your website may come up, and you could get more customers.
16. Start Using SEO
As you work on your website, you should start implementing search engine optimization (SEO). Choose a keyword for each page of your site. For example, the keyword for your service page may be the service that you offer.
It takes time for search engines to index your website. However, eventually, you can start to get more website traffic from people using Google. SEO can provide excellent results in the long term, so don't expect quick results.
You can implement SEO yourself or hire a company to do it for you. Outsourcing SEO can help you save time, and you can make sure you don't make any mistakes when working on your website.
17. Add a Blog
An amazing way to increase the results of SEO is to add a blog to your website. You can publish one new post per week, and you can optimize each post with keywords.
Those blog posts may start to rank in relevant search results. So you could get traffic from people who aren't searching specifically for your business. If they find value in the blog post they read, you can get them on your email list or as a client.
Plus, every new blog post is one extra opportunity to reach the top of search results. As you add more blog posts, your SEO results can compound. You won't have to spend as much time on social media or other marketing strategies to get traffic.
A blog is also a good way to link to your products or services. When you publish an article, include a call-to-action (CTA) at the end encouraging people to make a purchase.
18. Try PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a great way to start getting traffic from Google before your SEO tactics kick in. Like social media ads, you can create a campaign with a set daily budget, and you can link to a specific page on your website.
You'll also need to choose the keywords you want your ad to show up on. When you pay, your website will show up before that top organic search result. That can help you get more clicks to your website, which can increase your sales.
Of course, you need to be strategic about the keywords you target. Be sure you focus on keywords that allow you to reach your ideal customer.
19. Look for Ad Discount Codes
Advertising can quickly get expensive, but you can find discount codes. Some services, like website hosts, offer discounts on PPC ads. Consider if you have access to any of these sales so that you can save money on your first ad campaign.
You'll need to follow the same steps when creating an ad. However, you won't need as big of a budget to get started.
20. Upload Videos
One of the best marketing tips for a small business is to use videos. You can share videos on social media, but you can also create a YouTube channel. Consider what you sell to come up with video ideas.
For example, if you sell a physical product, you could create some tutorials. Make sure the tutorials include the use of your product.
If you have a service, you could create videos to give people a look behind the scenes. Show yourself working on your service. You can then mention your product or service in the video to help encourage people to purchase from you.
21. Host a Webinar
Along with short, free videos, you may want to create a longer webinar or online class. You can offer it for a small fee, but webinars are also great for building an email list. Schedule a webinar and ask people for their email addresses to attend.
You can offer a webinar on a topic related to your main product or service. At the end of the webinar, leave time to pitch your offer to attendees. You can encourage sales by offering a special discount to people who book you during the event.
If you record the webinar, you can send out the replay. They won't have the limited-time offer, but they can still watch you pitch your service. Then, you could get new leads and clients without having to offer a live webinar over and over.
22. Know When To Hire Help
When starting a small business, you may be able to do most of the marketing yourself. As you grow, you'll have to spend more time on other things, like executing your service. When that happens, you may need to hire help with your marketing strategy.
You can decide to hire
employees or freelancers based on your needs and budget. Freelancers are better for small projects or when you have a smaller budget. However, if you want someone to handle everything related to marketing, you may want to hire an employee.
Make sure you have the money to pay someone well. Then, you can post your job on various job boards to get some applications.
23. Partner with Other Businesses
Another great way to market your business is to form a partnership with another company. Avoid direct competitors, but stick with businesses in your industry. For example, a pet store may partner with a veterinary clinic.
Then, both businesses can promote the other to help them gain new customers or clients. Using the pet example, the vet clinic may offer a free first exam to pets from the pet store. Or the pet store may offer a free bag of food to clients of the vet.
Pitch your businesses to others in your industry that you want to work with. Work with the other business owner to develop a marketing plan that helps both companies.
24. Attend Industry Events
You may want to make time to go to industry events, conventions, and conferences. Events are an excellent place for you to meet potential clients and customers. For example, you could set up a booth in the exhibit hall.
Another option is to attend sessions and meetups where you can talk to other people. You can even apply to present a session at the event.
While you're there, mention your business to the people you meet. You can also exchange business cards with people so that you can get new leads. Networking can be exhausting, but it's a great way to build awareness of your business to help generate more sales.
25. Take Inspiration from Your Competitors
If you're not sure which marketing tips to try first, check out what your competitors do. You can look at their websites and social media accounts to get ideas on the best strategies for your industry.
Don't copy what your competitors do exactly; take their strategy as inspiration. Then, you can save a lot of time experimenting to find what works for you.
For example, you could figure out which social platforms are right for your business. You can also get an idea of whether or not ads are worth paying for.
26. Track Analytics
As you start marketing, set up analytics for your social media accounts and website. Then, every month or so, go into those analytics and track your numbers. You can choose from a lot of key performance indicators (KPIs), so consider your goals.
If you want to get more sales, you'll want to track things like website clicks. On the other hand, if you want to gain brand awareness, tracking followers is best.
Track these numbers in a spreadsheet so that you can keep records over time. You can compare the results from month to month to make sure your business is growing consistently.
Use your analytics to decide what strategies to keep and what to drop. If your website gets more views from SEO than social media, for example, you can dedicate more time to website content.
Which Marketing Tips Will You Try?
The right marketing tips for a small business can help you increase your revenue and grow your brand. Be sure to consider everything from email to social media to SEO.
Not every strategy will work for every business, and it can take some experimentation to find what works for you.
If you want to try SEO, PPC, Retargeting or other strategies, contact us to get a
free plan and assessment.
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