This is part 2 of Tips and Tools for Small Business Marketing. Last week I wrote about a variety of tools that we utilize to help our business marketing. As a small business, we know what it is like for the responsibilities of a “marketing team” to really be on the shoulders of one or two people and so I shared about how we have used tools like Hootsuite and Mailchimp to optimize our marketing efforts in order to compete with other companies with greater resources without looking like the “little guy.”
In this article I want to focus on some practical tips to help direct or correct your marketing. Some of this might be simply a reminder, but it can often times be extremely beneficial to be reminded of proper ways to strategize our marketing.
- Create ads that stir emotion. Your ads should not only make sense, but they should create a feeling that is in line with your brand.
- Proof & Re-Proof. Watch out for silly misspellings and other preventable errors, e.g. There, their, they’re, or loose vs. lose.
- Match your marketing and your audience. We have a wide variety of clients, and our relationships change from one person to the next, so make sure that you are using the right marketing for the right audience. This can be very frustrating if you feel like you have a great idea, but when it comes to the results, the return just isn’t there, and the only problem was that you marketed this great idea to the wrong crowd.
- Consistent, consistent, consistent. Be consistent with your messaging.
- Show the value. If you have a product or service worth paying for, you should showcase the benefits.
- Don’t use self-aware ads. We hear things like, “We are #1 in…” you can fill in the blank. Ambiguous awards don’t catch people’s attention. Results do.
- Mobile friendly sites can make all the difference. Make sure that your website is updated to a “responsive” format that looks good on a mobile device.
- Find the balance between creative and simple wording. Don’t go over the top. If you have to err on one side, stay simple.
- Create a marketing budget.
- Get attention quickly. If your marketing doesn’t get the attention of your audience within 5 seconds, change it.
- Allow your customers to shape your marketing. This doesn’t mean that you should always change your marketing, but allow your marketing to be influenced by your audience. Don’t ever try to force something down their throats.
- Use social media the way it was meant to be used. Your audience don’t go onto their social media pages to be sold to. Use social sites to make friends, stir interaction, and build relationships.
- Seek objectivity. Every once in a while, have an outsider review your ads. Their feedback might help shine light onto a spot that you didn’t see.
I hope that these 13 points were helpful and insightful reminders. Until next time, I am Tyler Weber, signing off.
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