Marketing ideas for small business - The extremely
low priced products offered by supermarkets such as Target and Walmart,
including items from consumer electronics to clothing has made it
difficult for small businesses to compete. These massive chains have
done this in an effort to dominate the market and the backlash is that
small outlets are failing as a result.
When small
businesses fail to compete with these giant companies, people are
inclined to take their custom to these giants instead and this means
that when the small businesses close, communities lose their local
amenities and are forced to follow the trend of relying on the
supermarkets too.
So, what is the answer to this worrying
problem? Will our only choice eventually be to shop like drones in
these giant warehouses?
MARKETING IDEAS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS ... BRICKS & MORTAR
If
you are a running a bricks and mortar business, you have a real battle
on your hands, especially if you offer anything that the enormous chains
also offer. You have to find a way to become unique. Become an expert
in what you do and offer the best customer service that you possibly
can. Then you have to get out there and market these facts as your
unique selling points!
There are three important things that
these big supermarket stores can't offer: uniqueness, experience and
proper customer service.
Personally I always try to shop at small
local businesses, because they're the backbone of any community and
they are often more informed and helpful than these large stores where
you are lucky if you can get any help at all from the usually
under-qualified staff!
It is surprising to me when I find out
that many
small business owners still don't wish to have a website or
any presence on the Internet, despite struggling to gain back business
from the supermarkets.
Some business owners are blind to the fact
that Google loves small businesses and supports them by placing them on
the top page of the search results, especially if the business includes
the name of the city and what they offer on their web page. Google
actually prioritises local businesses depending on the location of the
person searching for a product or service. This offers a massive
advantage to small business owners.
Another big
advantage is that small business owners can list their websites in local
directories through the local Chamber of Commerce and similar
organisations. This service is generally available for a small fee or
often even completely free of charge!
Many small business owners
have the miss-guided belief that it is very difficult and expensive to
build and maintain a website, but this is not necessarily true.
Inexpensive website creation and maintenance has become a small scale
industry of its own and prices for this type of service can be very
reasonable.
All a small local business really needs is to feature
on a Google map showing where they are situated and include a link to a
webpage that explains briefly who they are and what they do.
Additional information should be included such as opening hours,
contact details, some great photographs and perhaps
a brief history of the business.
That's it!
An extra touch would be to add an opt-in box so that once a month the
business owner could send a newsletter out to their subscribers
explaining anything of interest that is happening in the business. This
is a great way to keep customers informed and build a relationship with
the clientele! It might also be a good idea to include some affiliate
advertising links in the email broadcasts because then the website
would actually make the business owner some money as well as covering
the minor costs involved.
MARKETING IDEAS FOR SMALL sBUSINESS OWNERS ... ONLINE
So, what about some
marketing ideas for small business owners with online businesses?
Well, Web base businesses have a much harder task on their hands!
They have much greater competition and must be prepared to learn and
implement
SEO strategies, as well
as a lot of other marketing methods. The secret in both cases is to
build a list of customers (and opt-in subscribers).
A site's
popularity in search engines is affected by numerous things: the age of
the site, the consistency with which it is updated, the value of its
content and the relevancy of its content. The final key ingredient is
the quantity and quality of backlinks it has pointing to it.
In both instances (on and off-line) a website should offer beneficial
information, great customer service and unique branding. These are the
secrets of attraction marketing!
