Throughout 2020, there was a great deal of attention placed on small businesses and their value and importance to the ecosystem of our local community. The emphasis on keeping such organizations in business, profitable and top-of-mind has not dwindled. While there has been local, national and legislative efforts to drive consumers to shop small and allow for continued survival, private organizations such as Barstool Sports have raised funds ($18 million worth of funds in Barstool’s case) to assist struggling small businesses keep their doors open.

While not all private organizations have the ability and means to achieve the Barstool Fund’s profound success, they can and are eager to lend their expertise to the small businesses within their community. We are one such organization. While we know that some readers of this blog may work for larger corporations, we very much believe that we can still learn from one another and apply any gleaned information to better business operations.

For small businesses that do not have in-house marketing teams, there is little need to be concerned over the inability to create a marketing plan in this new year. Today, we’ll introduce a few core concepts of small business marketing that can be used to guide your efforts in acquiring new clients or customers in a simplified, refreshed approach.

If you build it, they will come… A website that is!

Small business owners manage quite a lot on a daily business. Add in a comprehensive marketing campaign to the daily to-do’s, and things can quickly become (even more) overwhelming and costly.

When you’re an organization that doesn’t necessarily have the resources to build out an omni-channel marketing campaign, one of the most crucial pieces of puzzle to keep customer communication streamlined and to maintain an organized workflow, is to build a website for your business. And not only that, but a website that is responsive, visually appealing and SEO friendly.

A website conveys brand legitimacy and establishes trust with a potential customer by allowing them to cross-reference your business between media channels where and when possible. Frequently an underutilized tool in an organization’s marketing arsenal, a website is typically one of the first glimpses into a business a customer gets.

If your business is not yet online, now is the time to join the digital ranks. We can work with you to create an engaging site that is within your budget, easy to manage and optimized to bring increase online traffic and reach new customers.

Effectively distribute content

We’ve all seen the traditional, flat (can we say stale?) marketing collateral showcasing products and services. Content is the new creative and it is rapidly becoming the premiere marketing tool for businesses.

Small businesses don’t need to invest large sums of money in order to authentically share their story. During the pandemic, it has become commonplace to allow customers, clients and co-workers glimpses into our lives at home. This look behind the curtain has allowed small business owners to tell their stories and life experiences and share what has been buried in their minds for years. Expressing passion for an industry or showcasing grit during times of trial has become a manner for many organizations to cut through the digital noise and come out the other side as a powerful entity.

While storytelling may come naturally, the know-how when it comes to distributing it in the best way can be a challenge. That’s where we can assist. Creating captivating and inspiring content grabs the attention of consumers and when shared properly, gains your organization more business.

Native content distribution is often a remedy to the challenge of creating authentic marketing collateral and sharing it with a target audience. Native content distribution is largely a non-disruptive advertising method that leverages data in order to share your organization’s story within or on media outlets that relate to your organization’s mission and your audience’s interests.

Does native content distribution sound appealing? We’ll be diving deeper into the nuances of this marketing method in the coming weeks.

Better utilize customer personas

Determining a defined customer profile or persona is essential when it comes to crafting a strategic marketing campaign. But how do you know who your ideal customer is? What are their needs and interests? We suggest using your current clients or customers as a template for expansion.

Consider a customer persona as a puzzle that only makes sense in marketing initiatives when you have all of the pieces put together. While the identity of your customers is ever-changing, having a set list of relevant information to collect eases such a headache.

To create an the foundation of a customer persona, incorporate three kinds of data:

• Identity data – Who your customers are, where to reach them (what devices or platforms), their geographical location and any other personal specifics available to you.
• Profiles built from first and third-party data – Such sources provide the basis for establishing demographic information and purchase behavior data (what a consumer has recently bought and the manner in which they shopped for a good or service).
• Intelligence data – Building a predictive model using data already known to you (such as a good or service a consumer has recently purchased or searched for) can help to predict what needs must be met in the future. This can help drive the decision-making for marketing strategies.

You’ve worked hard to establish a business that is best suited towards a certain demographic. Now, use this hard-earned knowledge to expand.

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