Small Business Marketing
- Details
- Written by Amanda Greenslade
We live in exciting times where the internet is changing the landscape for businesses and marketing at a rapid pace. What this means is there are small holes and niches where you can get a foothold even if you are only a small business or a group of small franchises. How do you market your business, get more work and sales, and compete with bigger companies? It's about the right strategy, the right communication and the right timing for your customers. Anything is possible with the right attitude and the right budget. Below are some pertinent questions that business owners may be asking themselves right now in 2011.
Should I advertise in the print Yellow Pages or just digital?
I would have thought the YP digital should take priority over the print. I think most people just use the web nowadays and this trend is only going to increase. My Yellow Pages print book goes straight in the bin. Online I tend to use truelocal, not Yellow Pages, when searching for a service online, but that's because for a few years there the YP online service was slow and full of ads. I sometimes go to google for services in my area. With Yellow Pages digital and True Local there are some potential SEO benefits (at least they claim there are, through their 'partnership with google).
Should I spend money on SEO, Google Ads or both?
Google Ads and Search Engine Optmisation should be a higher priority. Depending on your keywords, if there are tens of thousands of dollars available in the marketing budget for your company you could really make some inroads there. For the best SEO firm in Brisbane, go to Ben Maden, Matter Solutions. http://www.mattersolutions.com.au/ He will deliver what he says. He will only commit to what is possible. In SEO that is rare.
And don't forget - anyone and everyone thinking about internet marketing MUST MUST MUST use the google adwords keyword tool. You can see exactly how many people per month in australia are searching for certain terms. Go to https://adwords.google.com.au/select/KeywordToolExternal?
What should my marketing priorities be?
For marketing a small business or franchise into the future, my priorities would be:
- Develop (or update existing) marketing plan for overall franchise and for each company. Get all involved in research and decision making. Have specific goals to aim for.
- Database marketing, mining your existing data for all you possibly can - with email newsletters and direct mail, a referral program, anything you can think of to get more business
- Search Engine Optimisation (getting onto page one for keywords like [SERVICE] [CITY] etc.)
- Social Media Marketing (facebook and twitter) - I can do this for as little as $93/month (see here) - drive to promotions that capture contact details for future direct marketing
- Own website improvements, including videos done through a professional eg. http://www.7degreescreative.com.au/ (videos on youtube give SEO benefits as well)
- Advertising online (Google Ads, local website sponsorship etc.)
- Directories online (YP, Truelocal etc.)
- Directories in print
- Random mailbox drops - suburbs - drive to promotions that capture contact details for future direct marketing
- Advertising in print - drive to promotions that capture contact details for future direct marketing
