As a small business owner, do you find yourself wondering what the right marketing plan to get new customers is? Many business owners rely on word of mouth to get leads, but other marketing tactics work great for small businesses, even those with a lean marketing budget.
Promoting your small business, your brand, and your product or service can all effectively be done via digital marketing. Your ideal customer is online, and you don’t want to miss out on getting their business when they are actively looking for your services. There is, however, a right way and a wrong way to do digital marketing. Check out these common small business marketing mistakes below to make sure you are doing it effectively!
1. Lacking a clear marketing strategy
Does your business have a clearly defined marketing strategy? If not, your digital marketing efforts will likely fall flat. Not having a clear marketing plan is one of the costliest marketing mistakes small business owners can make. A clear strategy can tell you what channels to focus on and how much time and money you allocate to each channel.
Build your marketing plan by identifying your target audience, setting attainable objectives, determining your marketing budget, and tracking your progress. Knowing how your strategy is playing out can help you make adjustments where needed to reach the right people with your messaging. Be sure to track your results, so you know if your marketing campaigns are a success.
2. Not having a mobile-friendly website
Did you know that just over half of all website traffic comes from mobile devices? To convert visitors to customers, your site must be mobile-friendly. This is an important mistake to avoid. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, new customers will simply leave and take their business elsewhere. Having a mobile-friendly site isn’t just important from a marketing standpoint; it matters from an accessibility standpoint as well.
Updating your existing site to be mobile-friendly can be a challenge. If making changes to your existing one isn’t feasible, you can always build a new one or use an alternate solution like WordPress (which offers mobile-friendly site templates built right in).
3. Not optimizing for search engines
Do you know how to optimize for the most popular search engines? In order to have a successful digital marketing campaign, you’ll need to focus part of your marketing efforts on SEO. Part of SEO is identifying popular keywords that customers are using to search for products or services like yours. Then, you’ll need to ensure your website is built to rank well within those searches.
Having a regularly updated blog is a great way for business owners to take advantage of a virtually free way to attract new customers. By optimizing your content for search, your website will naturally start showing up for highly targeted keywords, which can help draw new customers to your site.
4. Not having a social media presence
Social media is an important part of digital marketing because it can help you build your audience and create brand awareness. If you aren’t using social media to boost your online presence, you are missing out on connecting with your ideal customer. By utilizing free social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you can easily run affordable social marketing campaigns to help promote your business.
It’s not uncommon for small business owners to think social media is simply a distraction, but it can actually provide business owners with an outlet to create valuable connections that lead directly to sales. Ignoring this channel is a mistake because customers are on these platforms daily. If you don’t promote your business on social media, someone else will, and you’ll be missing out on valuable sales opportunities as a result.
5. Not getting reviews
Reviews help small businesses by building trust with potential customers. While many companies look to rely on word of mouth, getting these reviews should be a priority for any small business looking to gain traction online. While it may seem like asking for reviews is an uncomfortable thing, studies show that consumers are generally happy to share their experiences and opinions.
To get reviews from your customers, ask for them directly or actively encourage your customers to leave a review after a positive experience. Positive reviews on platforms like Google My Business can help your business rank higher in the Google search results, including the high-visibility Map Pack.
Choosing the best marketing method for your small business
There are many common marketing mistakes that small businesses encounter when promoting their product or service offerings but avoiding these five will help you avoid the common pitfalls. Whether your preference is content marketing, social media marketing, or just focusing on reviews, growing your business online isn’t as hard as it may seem.
There’s no such thing as the “right” marketing approach; as long as it connects with your ideal customer and delivers a return on investment, then you’re doing great.
If you need help with a marketing plan for your business, get in touch with us. We would be happy to help you create a digital marketing plan that will increase your visibility and your revenue!
