To increase sales, one of the savviest moves black-owned small businesses can make is to develop a strategic marketing plan. Small business owners who hone their marketing skills and take a multi-pronged approach to growth are much likelier to increase their customer acquisition rates than those with a spray-and-pray approach. Understanding how to optimize your outreach efforts for success is crucial. Integrate the following nine small business marketing tips into your company’s growth plan, and you’ll be amazed how quickly you start to see results.
9 Marketing Tips for Black-Owned Small Businesses
1. Use ‘Google My Business’ to create custom offers for your target audience. Potential customers are already using Google to find companies just like yours; why not stack the odds of engagement in your favor?
2. Conduct sales feedback calls with your existing customers. A quick phone call to current customers to ask for their feedback on interactions with your business shows you’re interested in continuing to earn your customers’ patronage and helps keep your company top-of-mind.
3. Posting new videos on YouTube not only helps turbocharge the effectiveness of your video marketing efforts but can improve your search engine optimization (SEO), too. Make sure you’re uploading both seasonal and evergreen video content to maximize the potential of your video outreach.
4. SlideShare is a powerful customer outreach tool many small business owners overlook. Adding slide presentations to SlideShare not only gives you more niche-specific pages for search engines to index, but it can also help increase your social media marketing too. Sharing individual slides from your SlideShare presentations can drive traffic to your brand while increasing your thought leadership reputation at the same time.
5. E-book downloads are an excellent tool for small business owners wanting to double down on email marketing. Offering a free e-book in exchange for an email address helps build your subscriber list and showcase your small business’ expertise to prospective customers.
6. Don’t overlook your opportunities to market your small business at local community events. Attend trade shows and conferences in your area wearing a jacket with your business’ URL on the back. Who knows how many visits you’ll have to your small business’ website simply because you advertised your URL to local conference attendees.
7. LinkedIn blogging is a must-use tool for savvy small business owners. Post fresh content marketing posts on your business’ LinkedIn page on a daily/weekly basis to draw attention to your brand. Be sure to share your LinkedIn posts on social media with hashtags specific to your local area for maximum impact.
8. Speaking of social media, promoting your brand and local community on social media networks like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook is an excellent way to boost brand awareness. Not only will you be connecting with community members, but you’ll also be sharing insights about your small business at the same time.
9. Digital marketing for small businesses is essential for company growth. Be sure you develop a detailed search engine optimization strategy to grow your company online. Use everything from blog posts on your company’s blog to guest posts on websites specific to your target customers. A detailed SEO strategy can drive traffic to your small business for years to come.
Small business marketing doesn’t have to be overwhelming if you take a strategic approach to company growth. Incorporate these nine marketing tips for small business owners into your company’s growth strategy, and you’ll be amazed at the results.