To call effective marketing vital to a small business’s success would be an understatement. Fledgling enterprises that are unable to properly get the word out often experience tumultuous first years and premature closures. As such, it’s in the best interest of every small business owner to make results-driven marketing a top priority. Business owners looking to give their marketing efforts a shot in the arm can benefit from carefully examining past errors and avoiding the following mishaps.
Not Reaching Out to Experts
If your marketing experience is minimal – or entirely nonexistent – you’d do well to reach out to a seasoned web marketing company. Experienced web marketers will be able to walk you through the ins and outs of search engine optimization (SEO), social media promotion, pay-per-click advertising, content creation, and many other forms of digital marketing. In addition, the right marketers will assist you in creating, implementing, and refining an assortment of results-driven marketing campaigns. They’ll also be all too happy to answer important questions, such as “What is programmatic marketing?” So, if you’re currently on the fence about working with a web marketing company, you needn’t struggle with this question any longer.
Failing to Identify the Most Effective Avenues of Promotion
While wanting to promote your small business across as many outlets as possible is perfectly understandable, this approach may not prove particularly cost-effective. As such, it’s important to identify the avenues of promotion that are likely to prove most effective before beginning any marketing campaigns. For example, businesses that are aiming for a younger demographic should focus their efforts on social media, search engine optimization, and other forms of digital marketing. On the flip side, businesses looking to reach older audiences may find success by purchasing ad space on local television, radio, and print outlets. In short, make sure to have a clear picture of your intended audience and the most effective ways to reach them before diving into any new marketing endeavors.
Regarding Social Media as Unimportant
There’s no big mystery as to why social media has become so important to so many businesses. In addition to being free and easy to use, some of the web’s most popular social platforms can serve as highly effective promotional tools for your brand. So, if you’ve written off social media as unimportant, it’s in your best interest to correct this error posthaste.
For starters, if you haven’t already created accounts for your business on the web’s leading social media mainstays, you’ll need to do so as soon as possible. Secondly, you’ll need to make a point of updating each of your social media accounts on a daily basis. (Of course, since many posts can be reused across various platforms, you won’t necessarily need to worry about creating platform-specific posts.) Furthermore, take care to engage with your followers – and prospective followers – and respond to any questions or comments they put forth in a timely and polite manner. The friendlier you are, the more likely your followers are to become personally invested in the continued success of your business.
If neither you nor anyone in your employ has the bandwidth or expertise needed to craft effective social media strategies, consider recruiting a dedicated social media manager. Per the title, this individual will be responsible for all of your business’s social media endeavors. From creating engaging posts to interacting with followers, a knowledgeable social media manager can be an invaluable asset to any modern business.
Not Optimizing Their Websites for Mobile Devices
Since a sizable number of prospective patrons are going to find your business through search engines, it stands to reason that your website is going to serve as their official introduction to your brand. Additionally, since the majority of global web traffic now comes from smartphones, it is imperative that you optimize your business’s website for mobile devices. Should your site fail to function properly on smartphones, there’s a good chance many potential customers will quickly lose interest.
If your small business has failed to garner sufficient interest from new patrons, there’s a good chance subpar marketing is to blame. Even business owners who think they’re going above and beyond in the marketing department often wind up making unfortunate errors that only serve to undermine all of their efforts. So, if your small business’s current approach to marketing could stand to improve, now would be the time to start setting the necessary changes into motion.