Printing for Less

At Printing for Less, we've offered high quality online printing services since 1996. Shop business cards, booklets, stickers, and more!

4 Sure-fire Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

Two men looking at a laptop

By Kyle Payton, General Manager, ThriftCart 

Starting up and then running a small business is complicated. It can involve complying with legal requirements, renting a storefront, purchasing inventory management software, designing your products or services, and so much more. However, none of that matters if you’re unable to market your business well enough to attract customers. 

Whether you want to acquire new customers or retain existing ones, your business requires a thorough marketing plan tailored to the needs of your audience. Let’s look at four dependable marketing strategies that will help you grow your reach and boost sales. 

1. Create Customer Personas 

Before you can revamp and improve your existing marketing strategies, you must first understand your customers. Start by creating customer personas— profiles of target customers that help marketers understand the audience—to design messaging, customer journeys, service experiences, etc., that will appeal to your ideal audience. 

Each persona should include the following information: 

  • Demographics: Determine the age, gender, location, education level, occupation, and income level. 
  • Interests and desires: Find out as much as you can about hobbies, core values and beliefs, and lifestyle choices. 
  • Purchasing behavior: Does the customer prefer to buy in-store or online? Do they put a lot of effort into researching a product before they purchase or are they an impulse buyer? How loyal are they to brands they’ve purchased from before? 
  • Marketing preferences: How does the customer prefer to be communicated with? Which channels do they use? How frequently do they want to receive communications? Are there any key individuals they’re influenced by? 

For example, let’s say that you run a thrift store. Your customer persona might look like this: 

Ashley is a woman in her 30s who lives paycheck to paycheck. She’s owned most of her clothes for a very long time and is looking for a way to spruce up her wardrobe on her very limited budget. She’s looking for thrift and resale stores in her area that stock reasonably priced and stylish clothing. 

Since she’s on a budget, Ashley always knows exactly what she wants to buy when she goes shopping. She prioritizes high quality over everything else, knowing that these clothes must last her a long time. As such, she makes sure to shop in-store so she can feel the materials and take her time choosing0 and trying on items she’s interested in. 

Ashley doesn’t spend a lot of time on social media, but she does check her email frequently and is open to receiving direct mail from businesses she’s interested in. 

Not only will this persona help you determine what type of marketing channels to use, but it will also help you shape the direction of the message. In this example, the thrift store might emphasize the impeccable quality of their clothing to bring individuals such as Ashley into the store. 

If you don’t have enough information from your existing data to complete a persona, try tapping external data sources. More information about your potential customers will help you create thorough and accurate personas, resulting in more successful marketing campaigns. 

2. Build Your Online Presence 

After identifying and creating your customer personas, it’s time to build your online presence. Your website is one of the first places potential customers stop to learn more about your business and your products and services. Ideally, your website should be: 

  • User-friendly and easily navigable 
  • Well-branded 
  • Mobile-responsive 
  • Search-engine optimized 

Be sure to include compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) pointing to key pages on your site. For example, if you sell a service, add CTAs that take visitors to your bookings page. If you sell software or other technology, direct viewers to book a demo with your team. It’s a little trickier If you sell products, but with the right e-commerce capabilities, you can direct viewers to the pages from which they can make a purchase. 

3. Don’t Overlook Direct Mail Marketing 

In an increasingly technological world, most marketing best practices point to digital channels, such as email and social media. While those channels are valuable for reach, don’t underestimate the power of direct mail for engagement. Because of very real “digital fatigue,” sending a postcard, letter, or catalog can successfully capture a prospect’s or customer’s attention. 

Here are a few types of direct mail you might consider using as part of your small business’s marketing strategy: 

But don’t be afraid to incorporate digital marketing elements into print marketing as well. For example, you can direct interested individuals to your website by adding QR codes to your direct mail materials. Since you don’t want to overwhelm recipients with mailers that are pages and pages long, this is a great method to hook them in while still helping them conveniently explore all your offerings. Include your most popular services and products in your direct mail materials and encourage the viewer to scan the QR code to check out everything else you sell. 

4. Implement Referral Programs 

According to MassageBook, referral programs are a great way for small businesses to incentivize their customers to make a purchase. These programs take many forms: 

  • Customer referral programs: When most people think of referral programs, this is what they have in mind. In a customer referral program, customers will send their friends and family to your business. Usually, both the customer and the referred individual will receive a discount when the latter makes a purchase. 
  • Social media referral programs: This runs similarly to customer referral programs but leverages the power of social media. You’ll ask customers to share a referral link through their social media, giving them a small incentive to do so. When their peers click on the links and make a purchase, the original customer will receive another bonus. 
  • Affiliate referral programs: Here, you’ll partner with a well-known individual or influencer. The affiliate will promote your business’s products and services, usually in exchange for a commission on sales generated through their referrals. The individuals they refer also receive a discount on their purchases. 

Further Develop Your Strategy 

Use the results of these programs to further develop your marketing strategy. ThriftCart notes that a robust point-of-sale solution allows you to store customer information, such as contact details and purchase history. This means that once a referred individual makes a purchase, you can record key information about them and use it to refine your customer personas. Then, adjust your marketing strategy to better cater to your audience and convert them into loyal, repeat customers. 

Regardless of what stage of the customer lifecycle an individual is in, your small business needs dependable, effective marketing strategies to keep them engaged. Evaluate your current marketing plan and assess it for any weaknesses. Then, adjust as necessary to create campaigns that drive the results you want to see and ultimately boost your business’s profitability. 

ThriftCart is an all-in-one point-of-sale product assisting nonprofits and small businesses in navigating the complexities of retail.