The main goal of any business is to generate profit but how can you earn if people don’t know about your business?
Instead of disappearing behind businesses like yours, it’s time to focus on your company’s visibility. But if you’re a busy business owner, you might find yourself in a budget or time crunch with your marketing. As a result, you lose opportunities to improve your business’s visibility.
Fortunately, you don’t need big money or more time to increase the visibility of your business. You just need to sharpen your smarts when it comes to marketing.
Investing in small marketing efforts can help you establish stronger relationships with customers, as well as create a loyal fan base for your services and products. Apart from putting up business signs for your company, your business can increase visibility in many ways.
Build Your Website
Your website is the online identity of your business. In a world where almost everything – work, school and shopping – is done online, it’s shocking to still see businesses ignore the need for a strong online presence. Your customers are online; if they can’t find you online, they won’t buy your products and/or services.
The good news is you don’t need extensive technical or coding skills to create your website. Today, many people set up their websites using tools like Wix or WordPress, both of which offer free accounts and useful templates that you can customize according to your business’s needs.
By creating your website, you add credibility to your business and build trust with your customers. A website is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which enables your customers to learn more about you and your products whenever, wherever.
Apart from using your website to market your products and services, you can use it as a way for customers to schedule appointments. Use a scheduling system for group bookings, one-on-one appointments, rentals and reservations.
Market Right on Social Media
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make on social media is they set up accounts on multiple social media platforms at once. It may seem exciting at first, but as you spend more time and effort in growing your business, you may forget about marketing on social media.
Instead of creating many accounts in the beginning, consider the following steps:
- Select two to three social media channels that suit your business.
- Observe your competitors and see which channels offered them the most number of leads.
- Use free tools like Unsplash and Canva to create graphic content for your social media accounts.
- Schedule your posts online.
It’s a quick and effective process that doesn’t consume much of your precious time. You can spend two to three days a month planning your content calendar and schedule them.
Invest in Networking
Establishing a strong business network can help your business succeed faster. Increase the visibility of your brand by expanding your network.
Start by networking within your community. Reach out to other business owners in your area and discuss with them the common challenges you experience in the business. This way, you have the opportunity to share your experiences with others and vice versa.
Networking is relationship building so when connecting with others, remember to speak less and listen more. The key to building stronger relationships is to actively listen to what others have to say, not bore them by talking about yourself.
You can also attend networking events in and around the city to meet potential partners and customers personally. Run the extra mile by connecting with these people via social media platforms like LinkedIn.
Audience-First Content Marketing
For small business owners, marketing and promoting their products and services on a budget is always a welcome option. Content marketing can help you achieve this, as well as bring in new target markets and new leads without breaking your bank.
Content marketing isn’t just about writing a blog and being done with it. It creates interest around your brand by providing value to your audience to gain their trust. You need to put effort into publishing relevant content on the right platforms. When writing, keep the sales funnel in mind. The stage of the funnel you’re aiming for plus the type of content your customers want determines the type of content you publish.
Start your content marketing journey by guest blogging on trusted platforms. Also, your articles should educate the readers, not directly sell to them. If they find value in your content, they’ll naturally want to learn more about your business. For example, if you’re a hot pot business, create an article that talks about the benefits of eating hot pot, how they can make their hot pot at home and where they can buy delicious hot pot (aka your business).
Your business offers quality products and services. Make sure people know about it by improving your business’s visibility with the strategies mentioned above.