Small business matters; best marketing strategies on a budget

Small business matters; best marketing strategies on a budget to gain constant sales growth without breaking the bank We have the solution

What do I class a small business as?

First of all, a small business may be online, in a suburban street, in a shopping mall, or center of the main street. It also includes your tradespeople and support services working from home or even a factory unit.

These are the backbone of the economy offering such a diverse range of goods and services that we use on a daily basis. Medical, legal, shopping as the list grow food, fishing, and even the humble coffee come from your local small business.

30.7 million small businesses

There are 30.7 million small businesses in the U.S. which account for 99.9 percent of all U.S. businesses (SBA, 2019). The Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business as a firm that has fewer than 500 employees.

So that takes up the business world and many want to improve their position in society.

Are small businesses safe?

The answer is yes and no however the failure rate is really quite high

Believe it or not over 42% state that failure is through lack of market demand or lack of appropriate marketing that causes failure. That is why I have written this post to bring this statistic down.

The most popular forms of advertising

I sat and thought about this as my original intention was to say signage. However, with the changes in the internet world, it would really need to be a basic website.
So much activity is now done over the internet that your online appearance really must qualify in the first place.

Less than 64% of small businesses have a website. 70-80% of people research a company online before visiting it or making a purchase. 58% of small businesses without websites plan to create one in 2019. 94% of small business websites are mobile friendly.
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The next would be branding and collateral. Your name and all the materials that go with it including invoices brochures letterheads, and business cards.

This should be 100% instead it is just over half the businesses that take advantage of a cheap and extremely effective marketing channel

Lets look at some stats and wonder why

Less than 64% of small businesses have a website.
70-80% of people research a company online before visiting it or making a purchase.
58% of small businesses without websites plan to create one in 2019.
94% of small business websites are mobile-friendly.
Only 17% of small businesses invest in SEO.
43% of small business owners’ strategy for improving revenue growth is improving customer experience and retention.
70-80% of potential customers could be lost to businesses without a website.

Small business review

Are you starting to get the message

Unless you are using modern techniques to market your business you have a great chance of being in that massive percentage of failures. Furthermore, you will blame everyone else but yourself for that failure rate when it is in black and white,

70-80% of potential customers could be lost without a website

Don't get me wrong here, I am not flogging websites I am just delivering a message supported by facts.

If you don't have a website you will miss customer trade
Understand SEO and how it works
Social media is necessary for all businesses
More is better than less in marketing

Then we wonder why so many businesses go broke. So what are you going to do about it?

Small business matters start at the basics

Start your Internet training and gain the knowledge you need

I will certainly give you more ideas as we go down the page however let's go back to basics.

I have my own business and paid for a website quite a few years back. The results were not what I wanted and no one could/would tell me why.
My solution was to learn how to build a website and include SEO so I could understand what I wanted from my own perspective. Now when I want a website I understand what I want to achieve and how to get it.

Now I don't want you to go off and spend a ton of money instead you should try the free version and do the basic training to see if this is for you. You can build a website from scratch and learn all about SEO with these easy lessons..

Plus, there will be a section on social media so you will know how to set up properly and get some results without paying out money.

In fact, have a look at the first class in the training module just to get you interested.

Small business matters and understanding your customers

Understanding your customers and having them come back

Your customers are not faceless people with fat wallets that are in love with what you do.

They are people just like you and me that want respect and consideration. They love being spoken to by name and reminded about your business.

Collecting customer details will set up a database that will grow in value faster than your business. When you know who your customers are you can communicate with them and have them want to come back.

I had two fish and chip shops trading near me, one was well established with a good name and the other a new business.
The new business started a VIP club and emailed a monthly special, while the old one worked on his brand and time in the business.
The offers were good value and designed around repeat business. In fact many times I said to my wife let's do fish and chips tonight they have a great offer. I would then drive past the old shop by a mile or so to get the offer.
Within six months the new one was outselling the traditional shop and the answer was marketing, simple but true.

Small business matters and a rewards program

Rewards promotions

I really like this idea when the customer builds up a bank from a small discount on each purchase. It certainly brings them back. I am sure you have a coffee card of some kind and this is a type of reward however it has a problem. You never know who the customer is.
Having your customer details is pure gold. Therefore you need an incentive to gather the names, numbers, and email addresses. A VIP club achieves this purpose. Furthermore, it must be an active club that staff push on every purchase and provide value for them in some small way.

Don't be shy just ask for referrals

The least cost highest selling feature available to get new business. Yes, you can pay a spotters fee in some cases however it is mostly not necessary, people like sharing their love so ask them for support.

Small business matters and Newsletters

Why newsletters work so well

Marketing is all about touch. In fact, attracting new business can often mean that a client must see you at least seven times before they make a decision. Have you seen a TV ad that is repeated ad nauseam, annoying however it embeds in the subconscious and triggers awareness when the time to buy is right?

Newsletters are probably the easiest and cheapest method of mass marketing that is available. Results are quick to come in so it is easy to work a return on your investment.

However, it is not all about selling it is a communications tool that works long-term. My point is that if they are not reading your newsletter they are reading one from elsewhere.

While this is just one form of touch it is an important one because it shows you care and understand your customer's needs. To do this you need to get those names and addresses
and build that database.

Do SMS messages work

Using SMS is really underrated and I see countless examples of successful applications in business. However, it does come at a cost so this needs to be weighed against returns.

It is really good for inviting customers for a trade night, seminar, product release or simply advising about a sale.

A customer has a car park sale every three months, he used newspaper ads to advise people of times and dates at a cost of thousands of dollars. He changed to SMS and the cost was only about 25% of the press and the attendance went up threefold. A successful venture.

Another has a trade breakfast on a regular basis. He found that one message a week prior to the meeting and one in the morning could get an 80% attendance, not bad for a $100 cost.

Small business matters and signs

Street Signage

Signs of all kinds still work. Fluttering flags attract attention, window decals get readers, a fully decked vehicle parked outside is noticed. I understand this takes some money but look at the best ways to achieve a result.

A customer is not a one-time trick

Your clients can be lifetime spenders and that lifetime value may be worth a lot of money. A mate of mine owns a couple of car tyre outlets. A purchase may only be every couple of years
however over a period the sum is quite large. In fact I have bought my tyres from him for over fifteen years and so have all my family and others I have recommended.
Does Bryn do a newsletter every month telling me about tyre trends, he sure does and a birthday greeting as well. He wants me to come back for another fifteen years not just next week

Concluding these matters

I have shown how important marketing is and why so many businesses fail to make the grade.

I could have thrown in customer service, support and other matters however stayed true to marketing.

This would include eCommerce and online marketing a must-do in this time and age but we leave that until another day.

What are your seven marketing touches? If you struggle with this think hard and clear about what you need to do. If you are not in the client's vision when the time comes to buy you stand very little chance of success.

All the large stores market the heck out of customers, and why? It works, a simple answer however a true one.

Remember to take an online course if you are unsure