Entering the world of small business marketing can feel overwhelming at first; so many options, so many decisions, so much cost – where do you start? Not to worry, as with many new endeavors, what may seem complicated at first can be quite easy once you understand the basics. Here is our list of the 5 Rules of Small Business Marketing;
Source
1. Be Genuine
Seems simple, right? Unfortunately, it’s not always the case. It’s important to understand that “Genuine” does NOT mean perfect or friendly or accommodating – it actually doesn’t need to mean anything other than THIS IS WHO YOU ARE. Of course, who you are should be the things that make a business appealing to work with; smart, savvy, authentic, reliable etc… but do not get these qualities confused with genuine. If you’re expensive, be upfront about your costs and support the reasons why – don’t pretend to be cheap. If you’re cheap, be upfront about your costs and support reasons why – don’t pretend to be expensive. This notion of authenticity should ripple through any voice you give to your business.
2. Communicate
Very few people will know who you are if you do not communicate it. Yes, word of mouth will always be the backbone of your business but even the people who have used your product or service need to understand how to communicate it to others. Whether it’s the people your customers speak to or the vendors you work with, be sure that your brand and value proposition are front and center. If your business is centered around “speed”, then people should know this from your logo to your representatives to your suppliers. Word of mouth is valuable but only if it’s a consistent story that matches the next customer’s experience.
3. Start Small
You don’t need to buy a super bowl commercial to start marketing. Begin with the basics, most of which are free.
- Directory Listings: Google, Yelp, Nextdoor, YP.com, these are all high ranking sites which will help get your business seen and cost you $0.
- Website: There are hundreds of basic website building solutions which cost very little to build and host. YOU NEED A WEBSITE.
- Logo: Ya, basic. You need a logo that visually communicates who you are and what you do. Again, there are a number of free logo design tools to get you started.
4. Track Everything
- Information Capture: “I don’t know if it works” is an unacceptable answer in marketing. Tracking doesn’t need to be complicated. For some businesses this may be a pen and paper next to your phone so people can write down “How did you find out about us” during each customer call or, for more sophisticated companies, ensuring every page on your website is tracked and you have conversion pixels fore each action. Whether you’re doing a lot or a little, you’ll very quickly start to see where people are finding you and how. This will give you direction on where to begin spending additional time and money.
- Value: Now that you know where someone found you, measure their value. Did they buy a lot or a little? How much did it cost to get them to make a purchase? This is a key measurement as you’ll now gain a clearer understanding of the Return On Ad Spend or ROAS. This is a simple calculation that takes your customer’s Value and divides it by your Cost to acquire their business: ROAS = Customer Value/Acquisition Cost. If the value is greater than 1, you’re making more money from the customer than you’re spending to acquire them. If the value is less than 1, you’re spending more on the cost to acquire a customer than the value you’re receiving from them.
NOTE: “Cost” is generally dollars & cents but it may also be tied to time spent or other resources used as well. This can be a trap many small businesses fall into as they spend a lot of time on a single project that doesn’t cost money and yields little results BUT people see it as good ROAS because it’s “free”. Time is expensive!
source
5. DO!
The biggest barrier to marketing is getting started. YOU HAVE TO START. If you do nothing, nothing will change. Whether it’s updating your listing on google or just asking your customers “How did you hear about us”, you need to get moving. As with anything, it only takes seeing it work once to do it again and that can lead to extraordinary results.
We hope you find these helpful and check out the following articles for more information:
- How to Get your Business on Google, Yelp, Facebook, Nextdoor and other Local Online Directories
- The Complete Guide to Getting Your Business Online
- Software Reviews
Thanks for reading a feel free to leave a comment if you have anything to add!
This is great! I keep talking to my team about ROI and how TIME needs to be a factor. Thanks!