Small businesses are the cornerstone of our economy. They not only create jobs and keep money in the community, but they also provide us with the goods and services we need in our daily lives.
And yet, small businesses face many challenges that larger companies don’t have to worry about. For one, it can be hard for them to compete with big-name brands, as they often work on a shoestring budget without much room for error or experimentation, and they face an uphill battle when it comes to marketing themselves.
About 47% of small business owners said in a survey that they handled marketing entirely independently, and they struggle with it.
It can be incredibly hard to figure out all the ins and outs of marketing when you’re running a small business, as you may not have all the resources or know-how of a larger company.
While you may already be in the know about strategies such as search engine optimisation and have gotten help with designing a website for your brand, there are still many other things you can and need to do to ramp up your marketing efforts.
Here, we’ve put together a list of 8 creative and powerful marketing ideas to help you sell it!
- Create instructional videos
One of the best things you can do for your marketing is to make sure it is engaging. You could create the most well-thought-out, persuasive, accurate, informative content in the world, and it still wouldn’t matter one bit if it didn’t hold anyone’s attention. And that’s what makes videos so awesome.
There’s something about moving visuals that draws people’s eyeballs in a way that makes them almost impossible to ignore. Creating and posting some videos of your own, whether on YouTube, social media, your website, or all of the above, is a great idea. Of course, you still want people to find your videos useful, so consider creating some useful instructional videos.
These videos should show users how to do something that relates to your products or services. With any luck, they’ll be educated and entertained, all at the same time. And the best thing is, you get to showcase your brand identity, leaving an impression on what your brand is about.
- Design compelling infographics
Even if you don’t have the time or resources to create a high-quality video, there are still some other ways you can engage users. One such option is to create original and compelling infographics. Like instructional videos, infographics combine useful information with appealing visuals.
On one hand, these visuals don’t move like they do in a video. But on the other, people can skim infographics faster than most instructional videos. Infographics are great for attracting users that might not get drawn to purely written content.
Some people might find paragraphs and bullet lists daunting, but they take an interest when they see the same information as a colourful picture. Remember to include your key brand identity elements, so audiences can recall your brand.
- Hold fun social media contests
Still, thinking that your brand’s social media management is all about the regular posting of your products? Think again
Almost everyone’s on social media these days. And everyone loves the feeling of winning. And combining both gets you social media contests, another great digital marketing strategy for your small business. When you offer people the chance to win something, they’ll start turning up in droves.
One of the best things about social media contests is that they can take many forms.
A contest could be a raffle that has people fill out a contact form to enter their names, or it could be a drawing contest that asks kids to come up with a creative postcard design. Whatever route you choose, you will be sure to increase public interest in your business.
- Create an Email Newsletter (Electronic Direct Mailer)
Email marketing is one of the evergreen digital solutions to keep your loyal customers engaged and build relationships with potential clients as well.
A study found that 72% of customers say they prefer email communication with their favourite brands.
An email newsletter that is sent out to your email list at regular intervals is a great way to connect with customers, keeping them updated with happenings around your brand. It especially helps if you are looking at E-Commerce development, having your own online shop to sell your goods and services.
You may choose to use email marketing platforms to start your email campaigns with a newsletter, or engage the help of a creative agency Singapore.
- Build lead magnets for your website
As mentioned earlier, humans love freebies. So if they can get something for free, and that something is beneficial to them, they will be willing to share their contacts for it.
To put simply, a lead magnet is a “freebie”, such as a template, an instructional guide, or a digital booklet, something that costs little to produce and is instantly downloadable, and an opportunity for you to promote your business offerings. And this “freebie” is given for free, in return for the potential customer’s contact details.
Ideally, it should add value for your new customer and solve a real problem that they are facing.
- Retarget leads with ads and emails
If you haven’t already used retargeting tactics in your digital marketing, you probably should start. It has been said that it takes between 6 to 8 touch points before converting subscribers to an actual paying customer. Retargeting, also called remarketing or cross-channel marketing, involves targeting ads towards people who have already visited your website but may not have made a purchase.
If you are able to track these potential customers using cookies or get them to submit their email before leaving, you can follow up with them, encouraging them to come back and make that purchase. This helps you build your local customer base and even earn some loyal patrons.
- Display glowing testimonials
When people say good things about your business, you don’t want to keep it quiet. Users will nearly always trust their fellow customers’ opinions over those of a company, so if you have the chance to advertise your business using testimonials, you should definitely take it.
To get testimonials, you can reach out to current and former customers for feedback. Alternatively, comb for reviews on your business from search engines and social media pages. You may also apply the remarketing tactics from the previous tip, and encourage your customers to leave a review. You can then post your testimonials on your website and other avenues.
On the other hand, it is important to respond to negative reviews on public platforms tactfully as well. Set a close watch on the reviews of your products or services on the sales platforms or search engines, and timely react to them. When you come across a less-than-pleasant review, do what you can to ease the negative reviewer’s frustration and, if possible, make it up to them.
- Update old content
Content marketing is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies out there, but for content to work, it has to be at least relatively fresh. When users come across articles that are five, ten, or even fifteen years old, they probably won’t trust that it’s still up-to-date.
That doesn’t mean that you have to scrap all your old content, though.
Instead, go through older articles and blog posts on your website and find ways to freshen them up. Often, you will be able to preserve most of it if you just update one or two parts.
Get Assistance on your Marketing Campaign with I Concept
If you are on the hunt for a creative agency to assist you with the digital marketing works for your brand, or need assistance with website design or E-Commerce development, I Concept Singapore is ready to be at your service.
We’re a top creative agency Singapore, offering a diverse range of creative services and digital solutions, from website and E-Commerce store design to digital marketing, and more.
Get in contact with us at I Concept today!
