6 Killer Marketing Ideas for Small Business Startups

According to the Infusionsoft & LeadPages, 47% of SMB owners handle marketing on their own. However, with business owners facing a multitude of responsibilities on a daily basis, as a consequence, one or more departments tend to suffer. With marketing being an integral part of growing a business, entrepreneurs cannot afford themselves to fail in their marketing efforts.

Still, since there is no blueprint for successfully spreading the word about your products or services, business owners must continually work on educating themselves on the best possible marketing techniques that will help them stand out in a competitive business market.

1. Learn the basics of SEO

With more than 70% of customers reporting they conduct online research before making a final purchase decision, it is evident that a small business needs to build a strong online presence. Note that businesses that have established themselves online and are continually working on taking advantage of everything the World Wide Web has to offer are expected to grow 40% faster. So, what happens to those who fail to do so? They stay in the shadows of their competitors.

Setting up a white hat SEO campaign will allow you to grab more market share, it will provide your business credibility and deliver long-lasting results. Furthermore, it’s considered to be extremely cost-effective, especially in comparison to traditional marketing. Don’t believe us? HubSpot proved it back in 2013.

2. Start a company blog

Did you know that small businesses that blog get 126% more lead growth than the ones who don’t publish anything? Namely, publishing regular quality content on your company website will help you build trust and long-term relationships with your potential customers. By concentrating on posting articles which give answers to some of the most trending questions in your industry, you will drive traffic to your blog.

In addition to providing valuable results to your potential clients, bear in mind that companies that blog receive more than 430% more indexed pages, meaning it will contribute greatly to your SEO efforts.

3. Grow your email list

Once you have something worth sharing, it’s essential to find the way to get to your customers. Although email marketing may strike you as an old-fashioned strategy, it actually provides the most direct line of communication for conversion to sales. With an ROI of about 4.300%, it basically pays for itself. If you’re new to email marketing and wish to follow in the footsteps of expert content marketers who are already reaping the benefits of this marketing technique, check out the detailed guide on Kissmetrics blog.

4. Establish yourself on different social media platforms

More than 50% of U.S. small businesses utilize the power of social media to promote their companies. Maintaining a consistent social media presence and sharing the details of your business will ultimately help you attract new customers, as well as retain the regulars.

What puts off many busy professionals is a misconception that social media marketing involves hefty time commitments. What they fail to realize is that there are a number of hacks that can help your business stay on track:

• Set up accounts only on those channels where you’re likely to reach out to your target audience
• Start with only one or two platforms
• Take advantage of Buffer, Hootsuite, or any other scheduling tool that will post on your behalf
• Use Paid Ads to get right in front of your target audience

5. Ask for referrals

Aside from the fact that WOM marketing costs nothing, over the past two years, companies with formalized referral programs experienced 86% more revenue growth. The fact is, every referring customer makes an average of 2.68 invites, meaning that for every satisfied customer, you get 2 or 3 more new ones. Word-of-mouth marketing will contribute to significant increases in revenue, create new customers, as well as reinforce brand loyalty and help retaining existing customers.

6. Create video content

Owing to its growing popularity, video content is no longer reserved for big brands that can afford to spend millions on advertising campaigns. With video converting better than any other online content, and with social media videos generating 1200% more shares than text and images combined, it is obvious that this is the right investment. It represents the best way to reach target audience, engage them and convert.

Bottom line

In order to establish a successful marketing campaign that will yield positive results, one can make minimal investments if he knows where to direct his funds. To stay at the top of your game and in front of your competition, stay informed about the latest marketing trends.

Author bio: Steven Clarke is a digital marketing expert/business consultant, currently working for a company that deals with website design for small business. In his spare time, he likes to write about his ideas and share them with the world. Steven is a regular contributor to several websites.