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Acquiring customers takes more than great products and services. It also requires a strong marketing strategy that drives audience members to engage with your business and ultimately make a purchase. As a small business, however, you might not have the know-how or manpower to execute a robust marketing plan.
With limited time, staff, and budget, small business owners need to prioritize only the most impactful marketing tools and strategies. This lays a solid foundation that you can build on and develop as your business grows and changes. If you want to grow customer acquisition and loyalty through marketing, start with the tips in this guide.
Build a Website That Works for You
Think about the last time you needed to purchase an item, like plant food or a hammer, that wasn’t available at a store you frequent. You probably whipped out your smartphone and looked up where the nearest plant nursery or hardware store was. Then, you navigated to their website and quickly perused it to determine if the shop offered what you needed.
What does this tell us? Your small business’s website is often the first impression potential customers have of your business. An effective site can be one of your most valuable marketing assets.
According to eTailPet, consider these elements when designing your website:
- Visuals and branding: Visual elements like your business’s logo, brand colors, typography, and imagery inform a web visitor’s first interaction with your website. Make sure that your website is visually appealing and accessible. This might mean implementing practices like ensuring the right contrast level between foreground and background colors.
- UX and navigation: Your website should provide a good user experience (UX) by having a clear navigation menu, mobile-friendly design, search bar, and optimized load speed. You should also highlight key actions to guide visitors, such as by adding buttons labeled “Shop Now” or “Book Appointment.”
- E-commerce: Aside from allowing visitors to learn more about your business, your website can also enable sales by allowing customers to purchase products online. If this option interests you, create product listings, synchronize your inventory with your real-time stock, and offer secure payment processing.
Your website is the place to show that your business is trustworthy and well-regarded. Social proof is a powerful way to do this. Include customer reviews, testimonials, and certification badges on your website to boost your credibility and show visitors that your small business deserves their patronage.
Use POS Tools to Power Your Marketing
Usually, when people think of marketing tools, they’re not imagining a point of sale (POS) system. Modern POS tools go beyond transactions and can even assist you in building stronger customer relationships.
Here are a few ways your POS system can support your marketing efforts:
- Customer contact info: At checkout, ask customers for their email or phone number in exchange for digital receipts or loyalty points to capture their contact information. Then, send follow-up communications thanking them for their purchase and encouraging them to visit again.
- Learn from customer data: Your POS system can identify repeat buyers, top-selling products, and seasonal trends to shape your marketing strategy. For instance, a pet store’s POS system might help the business identify that only one specific type of customer purchases your most expensive dog food, helping you target the right individuals for promotion.
- Integrated tech stack: You can integrate your POS system with your marketing tools and customer relationship management (CRM) platform so your data flows easily from one system to another for easy communications.
Don’t overlook the impact a robust POS provider can have on your store. For best results, look for a system built specifically for your type of small business to ensure it meets your needs.
Choose the Right Marketing Channels for Your Business
Although omni-channel marketing allows you to reach the widest audience, it’s extremely challenging for a small business owner to juggle marketing on every available channel while managing day-to-day operations. Luckily, you don’t need to market everywhere. You just need to focus on the channels that matter most.
Prioritize channels based on your audience’s preferences and your capacity. MassageBook recommends starting this process by identifying your target market based on your business’s sector. As part of this process, develop client personas that include details about demographics, needs, habits, and marketing preferences. In particular, think through where your customers spend time and how they like to interact with your brand.
For instance, if your store is brick-and-mortar only, that narrows your audience down to local individuals. In that case, direct mail marketing through letters, postcards, and flyers might be the most impactful and effective route to take. On the other hand, if you operate an e-commerce store, then you may use social media to attract a wider range of customers.
It’s easiest to conduct this process if you already have marketing data to review. If you don’t have any information yet, go with your best judgment and review your results periodically. If certain channels are outperforming others in terms of ROI, then you know where to focus your attention!
Create Simple, Repeatable Campaigns
When you’re starting your business, having an easily repeatable marketing campaign that attracts customers is extremely valuable. Consistency beats complexity in marketing, so you should prioritize campaigns that are easy to replicate.
Here are a few tips for creating easily repeatable marketing:
- Plan around seasons and events: Depending on your business type, you can create campaigns for back-to-school, holidays, or store anniversaries that you update each year. For example, a pet store that offers flea and tick prevention treatments in the spring and summer can create an annual marketing message promoting these treatments during those seasons.
- Recycle and repackage content: “Syndication” in marketing refers to republishing content on multiple platforms or channels. Use this principle to repurpose a single marketing message into communications across all your channels. For instance, you can turn a print flyer you designed into an email, social media post, and even a poster.
- Automate simple tasks: Your marketing tools should enable you to schedule posts, emails, and other communications, allowing you to essentially set it and forget it. If you’re running promotions or discounts as part of your marketing strategy, your POS system should be able to help with that.
Remember to set up a system for tracking key data points. Measure metrics like website traffic, customer acquisition rates, message open rates, click-through rates, social engagement, sales, and coupon redemptions to understand what works and what doesn’t.
You don’t need a large budget or dedicated team members to successfully market your small business. However, it’s important to keep your limitations in mind and work around them. With the practices in this guide, you’ll be able to craft a marketing strategy that engages customers at every stage of the customer journey and ensures that your business stays booming.
