Do you have a small business and have no idea as to why you aren’t reaching many customers?
Let me tell you that today, marketing is everything, and perhaps you’re using marketing in the wrong way. Unfortunately, the misuse of marketing strategies can make you lose both old and potential customers.
So here we’ll explain the common mistakes that your small business may be making and how to amend them. So without further ado,
5 possible marketing errors that small businesses often commit.
1. Believing that mobile-friendly websites are not a necessity, but an option.
Traditional websites have been falling behind since platforms such as Google demand that your website be mobile-friendly for users. But beyond these suggestions, the reality is that transforming your website into a mobile-friendly can make you get more visits.
The mobile-friendly sites are the ones that are adapted for your mobile phone or tablet. You will ask, why is it important?
Well, here are some reasons:
1. You can reach consumers faster because anyone can navigate your site from any device. The consumer sees your products quickly and easily.
2. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites: the algorithm changed in 2015 and now sites optimized for mobile devices appear first in searches. Google has also recommended it several times because more and more people are looking for information on the web through mobile devices.
3. 50% of internet traffic is carried out by means of tablets and/or smartphones (and this number is increasing!).
2. Focusing too much on the acquisition and not so much on retention.
It’s normal that when you’re starting a business you’re going to focus too much on finding new consumers, and therefore you’ll invest in it. The problem begins when you prefer to invest more in getting new customers and not retain those that you already have, which in fact, can buy more of your products and marry into your brand.
The success of a brand isn’t always attracting new consumers (this is just to grow). The real success lies in keeping your existing client-base happy with your products and content you provide. The probabilities of a new consumer buying a product from your brand can be up to 5-20%, whilst the probability of your existing consumers purchasing from your brand is 60-70%. Makes sense now, right? Especially considering it’s much more expensive to attract new consumers than to maintain those you already have.
3. Choosing the wrong media channels.
The marketing of your small business may fail if you try to replicate the strategies of others. Why? Because each media strategy adapts to the details of their business and the preferences of their consumers. If, for example, a similar brand did very well on Twitter or Facebook, it doesn’t necessarily your small business will do well on these social media platforms too. Whilst it’s strategic to look at what your competitors are doing – don’t take their choices for gospel.
Instead, you need to know how your target audience or niche behaves and what social media platforms they use the most. It will take more time, however long-term your strategy will be directed towards them and it’s likely you will see an increased return on investment.
Unsure what platforms you should be on? Or what you should be posting? Shoot us a message and we’d be happy to help.
4. Assuming you don’t need to blog.
Never underestimate the power that blogging has over your potential consumers. Did you know that businesses that regularly update their blogs see greater growth (by up to 126%!) online than those that don’t?
This is one of the cheapest ways to organically advertise your brand on the internet, as well as helping you reach a higher rank in Google searches and connect much better with your audience.
Some advantages of blogging for your small business are:
1. More traffic on your website (this will help increase the number of visits, helping boost your search engine ranking).
2. You get engaged in conversations, rather than simply be an ‘onlooker brand’. Brands who blog often appear more collaborative and interesting than their competitors.
3. You demonstrate your knowledge. Consumers will think that you have more answers for their problems, and they will get to know your brand better. Even if it doesn’t mean leads straight away, it will inadvertently make your brand more memorable when the need for your services arise.
5. Spamming.
Spam. We all hate spam, in fact, there’s a folder in our emails where those unwanted emails arrive, a folder that we never check. You don’t want your consumers to do the same with the emails or messages you send them, do you?
So how do know that you’re spamming?
1. You aren’t sending useful, interesting or relevant content. On the contrary, you may be sending exclusively sales deals, pitches or other promotional content that they didn’t even ask for.
2. You send emails to your subscribers once a week when they only wanted one email per month.
3. You send emails to people without their explicit consent. (GDPR plays a big role here!)
4. You send the same message to everyone on your contact list.
The best way to combat spam is by sending relevant and interesting content to your followers. (Easier said than done though, right?) It’s better that you spend more time perfecting 1 message per month that is useful, than to send 1 per week that doesn’t interest them at all.
Similarly, if you have data stored about the consumers past purchase history or other unique information – use that to your advantage to ensure the content you are sending is relevant to them.
In short, do not spam, use the appropriate channels to make yourself known, and invest equally in your current consumers as you do to new ones. Always keep in mind that your marketing strategies should be planned according to your audience, without trying to replicate other strategies because not only will you waste your time, but it’s you’re making uneducated decisions based upon guesses and not hard data.
So, be creative! Get to know your consumers, find a way to always keep them interacting with you and believe us, it will pay off.
Don’t have the time to invest into social marketing? Or unsure what channels to pick? Contact us & we’ll be happy to help.
Follow us on Instagram @doubleupsocial for more!