Marketing a business is no easy feat. It takes structure, creativity, and an analytical mind— areas that are often contradictory to one another. For many small business owners, marketing efforts often get put on the back burner due to limited resources and conflicting priorities.
Setting clear goals and following best practices can help your small business succeed in attracting and retaining customers. Here are four marketing best practices your small business is likely overlooking.
Creating Customer-Centric Content
One of the most common mistakes small business owners make is creating content they think will attract customers rather than creating customer-centric content.
Customer-centric content answers pain points and questions potential customers ask about an industry, product, or offering. For example, in medical spa marketing, testimonials and before-and-afters are powerful pieces of social proof. However, many leads in the early stages of the sales funnel may have questions about whether laser hair removal hurts or how injectables last.
Creating resources to pre-educate the audience and build confidence is a powerful way to move people through the sales funnel to become paying customers. This approach is proactive rather than reactive, telling customers what they need to know rather than simply responding to inquiries. It also helps streamline customer service and boost your reach and engagement by providing shareable resources you can share to answer questions.
Adding Foolproof CTAs and Navigation
Another commonly overlooked best practice is incorporating simplified navigation and foolproof calls-to-action (CTAs) in marketing materials. The thought behind this oversight is that customers know what to do when they want to reach out. Yet, there’s psychology behind having clear action statements directing a customer to transact.
CTA buttons can increase conversions by 83% when added to a blog post or information page. For service-based businesses, CTA buttons should encourage the audience to book now, click a link, schedule a free consultation, or get started. For product-based businesses, CTAs should include buy now, add to cart, or contact us.
Incorporating CTAs throughout your website will also help. Customers shouldn’t have to scroll back to the top of a page to transact; include buttons and links throughout your copy to minimize customer friction.
Taking a Two-Pronged Approach
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Yet, social media can be flawed.
When Instagram, Facebook, and Whatsapp crashed in 2021, it cost a lot of small businesses substantial revenue. As Meta continues to experience multi-billion dollar losses and mass layoffs, small businesses risk losing their main customer base and audience.
Invest in another channel through which to connect with your audience. An email list is a powerful alternative to social media and presents an opportunity to share alternative content. Work on developing your email list and converting social media followers to list followers.
Being Human
Finally, never overlook the value of being human in your business. Customers respond better to brands with a human approach rather than a faceless entity. Transparency and authenticity are paramount in modern marketing.
Keep these best practices in mind as you reflect upon your current business efforts and plan for the future. Create value for your customers and add safety nets to ensure a continuous connection in an uncertain future.
