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Small companies encounter challenges that large enterprises have overcome. A small company don’t have the resources to test multiple marketing techniques on a regular basis. Fortunately, there are ways that you can improve your marketing efforts without much financial risk.
Focus on Free Marketing
The favorite marketing channels today are the major social media sites. Each has its own strategies, but it costs nothing to create a profile and start reaching out to audiences. Another alternative is email marketing. Start asking for subscribers right away on your website, and you’ll soon build up a list of prospects that can be engaged with personalized texts or emails. You may have to offer incentives like e-books or coupons for signing up, but you’ll build a loyal audience for direct marketing at essentially no cost.
Save Customer Data
Invest in customer relationship management (CRM) software, though database software will do. Use it to keep track of every interaction with prospects and customers. Cross reference it with purchase histories, online behavior, demographics, and any other market data you can collect that could be useful. This will give you a clearer picture of both overall and individual customer behavior and preferences.
Utilize SEO
Search engine optimization should be a part of all your online content. This will put you higher up in search results and increase the chances of searchers visiting your site. SEO starts with discovering content-related keywords that consumers are searching on and including them naturally into your content. Other SEO tips include seeking inbound links from respected sites and ensuring that your pages are easy to navigate. Consider starting a company blog so that you can develop SEO there, also, and link to your business and social media sites.
Seek Referrals
Word-of-mouth is still effective marketing, though today it tends to take place on digital channels. But this also increases your market penetration. Don’t be afraid to ask for testimonials from happy customers, link to good reviews, and offer incentives to your audience for referring new customers with something like favored discounts or reward points. Learning to network is an important part of this. Professional services like law firms with limited sales experience might consider workshop retreats, like the one that The Rainmaker Institute puts on for law firms, that teach essential skills for networking and referrals.
These are some starting points for building out your marketing campaigns. While you may lack the funds for a media blitz on all channels, you can still develop a strong customer base for sustaining business growth.
