When you’re a small business owner, marketing can be challenging to do on your own. Many have trouble finding and reaching the right audience, and from there, getting that audience to visit in person or an eCommerce shop. If you’re having difficulty deciding how to market your product or services, follow along as we give options on the top strategies business swear by and how to use these strategies for your business. Having the right strategy can help you drive traffic to your store and increase shop sales.
These strategies are easy and quick to implement, making it easier to begin today and test what options work best for you and your business. So don’t get stuck on marketing, and find fun ways to get the work done right.
Strategies to Implement Today
Let’s review five strategies you can implement into your marketing plan today.
Email Marketing
Email marketing refers to those email promotions, newsletters, and advertisements you receive in your inbox from brands that you’ve subscribed to or shopped from before. You can use this as a way to inform customers of new products, promote sales, educate them on products or services you offer, and so much more.
Since this is a communication form owned exclusively by you, you can choose what’s implemented and how you will design and send these email marketing campaigns. These programs’ costs can range from $20 to hundreds depending on your needs. Below are some programs you can look into that are perfect for email marketing.
Email Marketing Programs:
- Constant Contact
- SendinBlue
- MailChimp
- ActiveCampaign
- GetResponse
Keep in mind that many of these services offer automated email marketing campaigns, making life easier for you and saving you time. Below are some examples of how you can use automated email campaigns.
- Emails upon Purchase: These can be sent after checkout and help send shipping information, customer service information, and anything else you feel is essential for the customer’s purchase.
- Promo Emails: Use these campaigns to promote new products, back in stock announcements for popular items, and sale promos your shop might be having like cyber Monday.
- Relationship Building: Use this platform as a way to share business newsletters. Share videos to introduce yourself, products, or services. Promote your blog or team members. Think of this as a road between you and the customer.
Finding Your Influencer/Affiliate partner
One of the best ways to market your service or product is finding those influences or affiliated businesses with a trusted customer base that resonates with your brand.
Influencers involve partnering with creators who align with your brand message and promote your product or services on their pages. They can bring high user engagement to your social network pages and website and create a relationship between you and your niche base. If you’re going to work with an influencer for your brand, the top-selling social media sites are Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Tiktok, and Twitter.
Affiliate marketing, on the other hand, is a business-to-business transaction. Usually, the affiliate you work with will help you generate those leads and sales you’re hoping for. These are often paid companies that find fun ways to promote your brand for you. They can share it on their blogs, podcasts, social media platforms, websites, and more.
Google Ads
This marketing strategy is a little more pricey than the ones we’ve mentioned, but let’s talk about how they work and their cost.
Misunderstood and labeled as tricky to use, Google ads can be one of the best ways to reach your customer base. The search engine can run your ads to those looking for products similar to yours by using keywords. For example, if someone searches “personalized t-shirt”, you can promote your products under this, bringing in new customers.
There are different ads you can run. One type is a text that commonly pops up after searching for a product or service. These are labeled as Ads and show up in a blue or green link URL. Another is google shopping and product advertising with images. You can place products in their shop with carousel images, prices, and reviews. These are also labeled with a small tag that says Ad for customers to be aware of.
When it comes to cost, you can go as low as $5 and higher. You only pay when your ads are clicked, and you have the ability to target your ads to the right customer base. By choosing preferences on location, search history, and more, your product has a higher chance of going to the right customer base.
SMS – Text Message Marketing
One of the new and fastest ways to reach your customer base, SMS marketing offers a new and innovative way to share sales, purchase updates, and so much more. With over 90% of SMS marketing messages opened, compared to emails that average 20%-30% opening rate, SMS is a great way to connect with your audience.
Like an email marketing system, you control what content your campaigns have. You can create promotions for sales, membership exclusives, campaigns, and more. These can also be scheduled and sent out at any time. A thoughtful and purposeful campaign can do well on an SMS campaign and bring in those sales you’re looking for. Look below for recommendations on your SMS programs.
SMS Marketing Programs:
- Clickatell
- ClickSend
- BurstSMS
- Trumpia
- SlickText
Get on Social Media
One of the best things you can do for your brand is exposed your business to social media sites. You can promote and sell your products and services by using social networks. You have the option to pay for your post to be boosted (non-organic advertisement) or to not pay at all and use tricks like hashtags and geolocations to bring attention to your socials (organic advertisement.)
Many social media sites are out now, and each one has its own audience and trend. To choose the right channel where you should market, pay attention to who is in your niche and how you plan to advertise to them. Choosing the right channel can also depend on the merchandise you’re selling and your goals.
Your goal when using social media as a tool for marketing usually falls along with the following:
- Building a relationship with the customer base
- Bringing in new leads
- Showcasing your brand
- Increasing sales
The best way to complete this effectively is by creating content, scheduling your posts, and automating what you can. Remember to take this a step further and communicate with your followers. Respond to comments, like posts that tag or reference you, repost relative stories, and keep up with customer-related questions. Building a relationship through these services is one of the best ways to create new and returning customers.
The Next Step
If you’ve been researching new ways to market your business, take one of these techniques and try it out! Trial and error can be the best way to see what works for your customer base and you when it comes to marketing. By taking the initiative to try new marketing tactics, you can follow the results and see what options are best for your sales and overall branding.
Some strategies will work better for others than you, and this is okay! Marketing is about finding your audience and reaching out to them on their channels—test techniques and channels to see where you can get the best response from shoppers.
Whatever technique you choose, don’t forget to change it up every while and explore new channels. Marketing starts with you and deciding what best ways will get your name out there.
Do you have tips for those marketing their small business? Let them know and leave a comment below!
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