In today’s business world, competitors fight real battles to take hold of clients’ attention. According to research, around 540.000 new businesses arise each month, all ready to fight for the attention of potential customers.
As much as new businesses emerge to conquer the world every day, the majority of them close in the first year or so. So, if you don’t want your small business to hit the loose end, you should be fighting fiercely, using all of the means at hand. This is a lesson that we at Chronoexpert learnt pretty early on, and it helped a great deal in establishing the business.
Online presence, using the whole abundance of channels available and making the most of them is still one of the most pragmatic ways of keeping up with the ever changing business landscape.
Why market your business online?
Even if you’re a small local business relying on the word of mouth, neglecting the power of the digital world is quite
- The usage of the internet has grown more than 800% in the last decade. Online population right now accounts for over 55% of global population, including your locals.
- More than 80% of internet users worldwide have used the Internet for making purchases. We’ve utilized that power when trying to grow our business of selling pre-owned luxury watches, and it proved pretty amazing.
- For more than half of online population, buying online is something they do regularly.
What strategies to use when marketing?
- Instead of promoting yourself, promote quality and value. This is a true method of acquiring customers that stay.
- Engage with your customers every chance you have- through social platforms, surveys, email and many more channels.
- Work on creating a customer loyalty program to show appreciation for the customers that stay. Be it a 10% discount or a nice giveaway, you can’t go wrong with being generous.
- Elaborate on an incentives program for your own team, since it increases performance and motivation by a whopping 25%. More sales for your company, more income for your team, and more for you.
- Don’t neglect the importance of networking. Creating useful ties will enable you to reach out to your network for marketing purposes
- DInvlove influencers. And we don’t mean spending millions for a Justin Bieber campaign. Find small blogs with dedicated fan bases and reach out to their owners. The results might surprise you.
- Utilize email marketing, but keep it as personal as possible to be able to get the most out of it
Emails have been around for almost as long as the internet itself, making them the oldest online communication method, and unsurprisingly, emails are still critical to any successful digital marketing strategy. There are over 4 billion email accounts in the world, which means that this communication channel can be used to reach virtually any person around the globe.
- Do some Search Engine Optimization (SEO), even if it’s the basics like keyword research, competitor research and content optimization.
- Get listed on all relevant directories to make it easier for everyone to locate your business. This is especially useful for local businesses- there are reviews, and if good, your potential customers will have more trust towards your business even before they’ve met you.
- Get started with social media marketing, keeping your audience engaged with posts that recur. Make it a rule of thumb to post regularly, and make it about stuff that matters.
Use every powerful outlet on your way to capturing your share of the market, and it will pay you back, major time.