Ah, it’s the lazy days of summer – time to roll out the sunscreen and relax! Unfortunately, small business owners don’t have the luxury of taking off during the summer. You must always be working on your business, especially when it comes to marketing. Depending on your business, it can require some time to work through the process of taking a person through the stages of target customer, prospect, engaged participant, and active customer. If you let that go during the summer, and start again in the fall, it may be the end of the year before you get any new customers. Get a jumpstart by using these six marketing tips to help grow your small business this summer:
• Make Your Website Work Harder: Find one thing you can do this summer to make your website work harder for you. You must understand how prospects use keywords to search for your products or services in Google and Bing. Use keywords in the body copy, the anchor text in page URL links, page titles, and video descriptions and tags. Also make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
• Define Your Target Audience: Know exactly who is likely to become a customer, and market only to them. Don’t waste precious marketing dollars on opportunities that have little potential of generating a return.
• Develop a Brand: This makes it easy for prospects or customers to think of you. “The Carpet King” is more memorable than John Smith’s Carpet & Linoleum. Develop a brand that will resonate with prospects, and incorporate it into all of your marketing.
• Gather Testimonials: Leverage the happiness of current customers by asking them for testimonials or online reviews. Add the testimonials to your website and marketing materials. Find out where businesses like yours are reviewed online and ask your customers to add their input. For example, a restaurant should constantly ask for Yelp reviews.
• Start a Blog: A blog is one of the most cost-effective ways of providing a steady stream of information to prospects. It informs and educates, and also affects your search engine rankings.
• Get Involved in a Social Media Platform: Social media isn’t just for sharing pictures of kids and dogs. It can be a powerful business marketing outlet. Pick one social media platform like Facebook or Twitter, and dedicate the summer to making it work for your business.
Evaluate Whether You’ve Made the Right Choice
Step back and make sure you’ve made the right choice about which business endeavor to pursue.