5 Money Stretching Small Business Marketing Tips Who Want to Do MORE with Less

Times have changed, friends. The general nature of the meeting, networking, sharing, and connecting with customers and business partners have pivoted for an unforeseen amount of time.

How do you bridge the gap of social distancing? We need to change direction, adapt, and anticipate how to do things differently.

Just like people, most businesses are feeling (and will continue to feel) the strain of the pandemic right now.

You are not alone. It is a balancing act.

Where businesses will continue to thrive depends on how you help the customer connect with you.

How will you stay in the forefront with your target audience? How do you show them it is OK and safe to do business with you? Therefore, it is necessary to think in terms of marketing through the era of COVID.

Word to the Wise: Do Not Cut Investments in Sales During Uncertainty 

We all know that through prior global economic hardships we have faced, that the focus becomes on using your investments on critical sales and operational programs.

During recessions, of course, consumers set stricter priorities and reduce their spending.

As sales start to drop, businesses typically cut costs, reduce prices, and postpone new investments. Marketing expenditures in areas from communications to research are often slashed across the board—but such indiscriminate cost-cutting is a mistake. 

What will be the effects of cutting a marketing budget? 

As the behavior of the consumer changes, businesses will react accordingly. However, making decisions driven by revenue streams can have an adverse effect. According to Harvard Business Review, companies that don’t cut their marketing budget have the ability to return to business as normal more quickly.

It is essential to remember that even though your customer may not be able to purchase your product now, what about when his/her purchase power returns? They need to remember your brand.

Customer retention is fundamental.  Marketing allows you to invest in long-term customer demand. Seek out alternative methods for marketing to maintain your presence leading to customer base retention.

5 Tips to Maximize Marketing Investments Using Cost-Effective Methods

1. You are What You Share

The key is to increase your brand awareness that is beneficial to your long-term goals. 

Social media allows you to engage with your customer. This will build and preserve your boss brand. Learn from brands such as Dove and Audi who missed the mark because they misjudged their target audience and left their customer SMH. Lack of awareness can cause your social media marketing strategy to fail. 

We all have that friend overshares on Instagram or TikTok. Come on, you know you do. How many times have you wanted to type SMH (shaking my head)?

And just like you should think before you speak, you should think before you post. Do not just be on social media because you think you need to. 

Don’t be that person.

Be strong, effective, and efficient. Social media is the 21st-century word of mouth.

Instagram Engagement Report by HubSpot provides concrete data that social media is beneficial for small businesses. Keep in mind, social media is free to use organically but HOW you show up matters.

• Know who you will specifically target – Who is your audience?
• Tag and engage with influencers or big-name businesses in your industry that have a strong reach. You will get noticed.
• Always lead with a brand aesthetic – visually, emotionally, tone. Here’s a shameless plug-in for our business page. Notice the brand colors, fonts, and personality. And of course, give us a follow! And don’t forget your hashtag ~ #buildingbossbrands 

2. Time to Sell and Be Kick-Ass

Create a kick-ass sales page on your website – it does NOT have to be your homepage.

The sales page can rotate, given you have the time and resources to do that.

For product-based companies, rotating landing pages are highly advisable. For service-based businesses, however, you can get away with a more static landing page.

In digital marketing, the landing page enables you to engage your target audience in a meaningful manner. 15 seconds is the approximate average a person spends on a website.

During the time you have to grab their attention and demonstrate that your product or service is what they want and need. More importantly that you truly have a boss brand.

Go on the offensive with your website. Your competitors want your share of the market, so stay ahead.

When you have a small business budget, it is important to remember the best defense is a good offense. Make it easy for people to buy and reach you.

Forbes Magazine stresses the importance of linking your social media pages to this page. Do not be shy about directing your customers.

Build ads that point to this page. Here the saying truly applies – Go big or go home.

Landing Page Must Have’s

The landing page should include the following items:

• Provide compelling, value-based messaging appealing to your target audience.
• Have clear calls to action (CTAs), visible buttons to make it easy for a visitor to convert (download a whitepaper, sign up for an event, schedule a reservation, buy, etc).
• It should address any possible reasons a visitor would not buy. Are they concerned about trying a new product? Include a trial offer. Concerned about safety during COVID? Address your company’s safety measures. 
• Don’t be timid about using pop cultural references to let your target audience know you are knowledgeable about trends while having a sense of humor.

“Don’t Make Me Zoom”, utilized by Industrial Strength Marketing, strikes a chord with everyone trying to figure out how to get off a Zoom meeting without saying good-bye nine times (if you are lucky).

3. Utilize free marketing insights reports that will give you priceless information on where to improve on business.

What is Better Than Free for a Small Business Budget? Nothing, Duh!

Data analysis is what will keep a small business competitive in digital marketing. 

• Maximize time management.
• Target where you spend your marketing budget.
• Creates awareness of competitor’s activities.

“Keep it simple, when you get too complex you forget the obvious.” ~ Al McGuire

Google Analytics is free.

Are you using it to its potential?

You do not have to be a data whiz like Karl Rexer (Who? Exactly the point.) to access the key reports, already built-in.

Even if you are not a savvy analytics leader, focus on the following reports to better understand how your marketing efforts are helping your revenue stream especially when you have a small business budget.

When you understand your audience, the content they like, and how they discover your website, you can tailor your digital marketing strategy to:

• Increase your customer leads
• Keep potential customers engaged on your site
• Make the right decisions to grow your business!

Here are our favorite reports for small businesses.

Key Report: The Behavior Flow Report – Where is the traffic coming from?

How did customers move through your pages? What did they do? Is there a noticeable pattern that leads to more conversions?

Conversely, is there a page or set of pages that are less successful at keeping users engaged in your website?

Email Assessment report (like the analysis report above) will help you understand the role these campaigns play in sales. By understanding which email campaigns lead to the greatest amount of transactions or revenue, you have additional data—aside from open and click-through rates—to optimize your email marketing efforts. 

“The goal is turn data into information, and information into insight.” ~ Carly Fiorina

4. Feature your business on other blogs, social media sites, videos, and podcasts.

Just as personal connections are the foundation of a relationship, business connections can have a similar impact.

For example, you are a business targeting small business owners who are women. You would build relationships with business owners such as coaches and other professional services to be featured on their blogs, podcasts, interviews, and even joint live social media events.

Building those reciprocal relationships improves search engine optimization (SEO).

Develop partnerships with other bloggers and companies who provide you more access to your target audience.

Brand visibility translates to increased traffic flow and a flourishing revenue stream. The relevant keywords, meta-tags and descriptions, and backlinking strategies utilized in SEO will lead to a higher company ranking.

That ranking translates into greater Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) visibility. 

5. Map out your customer journey.

Do you know how your customer gets to your digital door?

When you examine your customer journey, your evaluation must include your customers’ needs and wants.

Figure out how your customer interacts and leads to buying from you, and consider every channel. Understanding this will improve your customer experience and expand your revenue stream. Follow these steps to figure this all out:

• What step are your customers taking as they navigate your website?
• What are the areas of confusion for your customer?
• What barriers are present to prevent your customer from navigating your website?

Yes, you can do this with something as simple and easy as keeping it old school with Post-its. But we like digital and do not recommend it. Sites such as Lucidchart allows you to brainstorm, collaborate, and create an action plan. And when you are on the move, go no further than your App store where even Post-Its have gone digital.

To follow the yellow brick road to the digital world of online consumer journey maps, there are a variety of templates available. 

The goal is to make the experience for a user simple, easy, and effortless. 

It does not require huge investments in technologies right up front which is ideal for small business budgeting.

Map it out and know your gaps. Where do you need to focus your efforts?

To summarize:

Regardless of the size of your business, abiding by your budget affects your bottom line. Running a business during uncertain times like COVID, decisions on your marketing budget cannot be indiscriminate. This is why a transformation in your digital marketing is a natural part of your business’s evolution. 

• Social media provides you with a free resource to engage with your customer.
• Digital marketing expands the accessibility of your website in conjunction with a savvy social media vision.
• Know the facts and data. Data analysis is what will keep a small business competitive in digital marketing.
• Create and develop digital partnerships to increase traffic flow to your target audience.
• Map out your customers’ journey and fill in the gaps to make it easier to buy from you.

The digital (socially distancing) connection you put into place is your commitment to communicate and engage your customer.  

Surviving the pandemic is challenging both personally and professionally. Whenever you need some guidance, our Complimentary Strategy Session that will take your marketing budget to the next level.