Running a small business has always been hard. Aside from developing a stellar product or service and handling day-to-day tasks, successful businesses need to market themselves effectively. Most quickly discover that building a brand, understanding a target audience, and getting the word out through promotion is a full-time job in itself. In the digital era, even small business marketing must include a comprehensive online strategy.
At E10K, we work with all types and sizes of businesses to help them conceptualize, develop, and promote their brand through proven strategies that integrate tried-and-true digital marketing techniques with new trends and data. Over the years, we have learned what works to successfully promote a business, reach more customers, and grow a brand.
Why Business Promotion Matters
One hallmark of the digital marketing era is noise — both literally and figuratively. Every day, consumers are bombarded with push notifications, targeted ads, endless emails, and curated social media posts designed to drive them to buy specific services or items. In such an environment, it’s easy to understand why small business marketing might seem like more work than reward.
However, as much noise as there is on the internet, participating in it is the only definite way to get noticed. Business promotion has always mattered, whether it was ads in the Yellow Pages, billboards off the interstate, or shiny mailers sent to everyone in town. Promoting a business intentionally is the only way to cut through that noise and get noticed by the customers who need its products or services.
Understand Your Target Audience
Step one to successfully promoting a business is understanding the exact target audience. In marketing, understanding the target audience is a process that involves taking time and conducting research to identify and deeply understand the specific group of people who are most likely to be interested in buying a particular product or service. Several demographic elements need to be explored, such as the target audience’s age and gender, where they live, their income, and other interests or traits.
This information will then become the backbone of future marketing and promotion efforts, as it helps determine which sites or spaces to target with ads. Target audience knowledge is also used to tailor the content of marketing strategies in a way that will drive more genuine engagement and increased impact because the ads speak directly to those potential customers.
Build a Strong Brand Identity
Once a business knows who it needs to speak to, it’s time to decide the method for doing the talking. A brand’s voice and identity is a powerful tool that must be cultivated and then used as part of an ideal business promotion strategy. Brand identity encompasses many aspects of a business, from the voice and tone used in promotional materials to the visual assets that are used alongside those words. The goal is to clearly express a brand’s values and the value added to customers at every promotional touchpoint.
Leverage Digital Marketing Channels
Once a business knows its audience and develops its brand’s voice, it’s time to consider where and how to use this knowledge to promote the brand in the digital landscape. One popular way to get started is a method known as organic marketing, which, depending on the industry, includes everything from email marketing to content, social media, and even exploring the role of video marketing in your digital strategy. Some of the most relevant organic digital marketing channels to consider include:
Content Marketing
Content marketing encompasses many different activities focused on developing content, such as blogs, videos, social media posts, and more. These items need to be valuable, relevant, and designed for the desired target audience.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is when businesses use social media platforms, such as Instagram or Facebook, to connect directly with members of the target audience. Social media sites are all about engagement, so a successful social media strategy often involves genuine content, responses to followers, and participating in conversations. For more ideas, check out these 8 social media tips in a business crisis.
Email Marketing
One of the oldest and perhaps most successful digital marketing strategies is email marketing. The goal of email marketing is to build a list of interested, engaged subscribers who want to interact with a business through periodic email messages. These might include content, such as a newsletter, as well as special promotions targeted to their needs and buying habits.
Use Paid Advertising for Faster Results
Although leveraging digital marketing channels is an important aspect of a successful business promotion strategy, it’s important to understand the difference between organic vs. paid media marketing and when one strategy is preferable over the other. As its name implies, paid advertising will cost money to run ads; however, it can also create faster results because it uses more direct digital tactics, such as cookies and algorithms, to ensure that promotions reach the desired target audience.
Network and Build Partnerships
Finally, just as in the era before digital marketing, word-of-mouth is a powerful force for business promotion. Networking with others in the industry and partnering online or in person with other businesses offers a unique opportunity to increase promotion and further establish a brand’s trust and voice in a particular community.
Furthermore, especially in the modern marketing age, this means that businesses want to take special care to harness the power of social proof in online advertising. Social proof encompasses marketing tactics such as user reviews and ratings, customer testimonials, case studies, and influencer marketing. Social proof (or word-of-mouth) can help make a business feel more real, genuine, and connected to a specific target market.
Track, Measure, and Adjust Your Strategy
Remember, no matter how strong, well-researched, and successful a promotion strategy may seem, it cannot truly be evaluated without data. Tracking ads, viewing email open and click-through rates, and watching social media engagement numbers are all ways to measure the relative success of each marketing strategy used. Plus, by tracking progress in these areas, it’s possible to identify strategies that don’t work or could work better, allowing businesses to adjust in ways that save them both time and money while maximizing their marketing returns.
Elevation 10K’s Expertise in Business Promotion
As a marketing firm with experience in both traditional and digital marketing techniques, Elevation 10K has the knowledge and tools to help your business increase its promotion through marketing strategy. We offer services that range from full marketing audits to maximizing already-running programs, such as organic and paid advertising. We also provide data and tracking services that you can use to measure and adjust your strategies to maximize the effect of all the ways you promote your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most cost-effective ways to promote a small business?
When it comes to effective and cost-effective online marketing for small businesses, the number one platform is social media. Once a business understands its audience (target market), it can use that knowledge to build its presence on the types of social media sites. Using most of these sites is free, even for businesses, and while there are opportunities to pay for ads, there are also free ways to promote a business via social media, including offering customers incentives for sharing posts, creating fun and interactive content that users want to see, partnering with other small businesses, and even giving customers “behind the scenes” perspective related to a particular industry.
How can social media help grow my brand?
When it comes to marketing success with social media, there are many options to consider. Aside from simply being on the sites that people use, social media presence can help to promote your brand voice and identity, alongside brand loyalty. The more positive engagement you have on social media, the more likely you are to stand out in a customer’s mind when they need your product or service. Social media also offers other advertising strategies, such as paid ads and influencer marketing, that can also yield very positive results when managed and tracked.
How often should I update my marketing strategy?
Strong marketing strategies are ever-changing and constantly running based on seasons, successes, and sales. However, minimally, taking time once a year to review your business’s marketing strategy is the best way to make sure you are maximizing your investment in business promotion.
What’s the difference between paid and organic promotion?
Paid promotion is exactly what it sounds like — promotion or advertising that costs money. This might include sponsored ads on search engines, social media marketing, or targeted or display advertising. Organic promotion, on the other hand, happens on its own — organically, if you will — without the business paying for ads or content to appear in a certain place. Examples of organic promotion include search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, blogging and content marketing, and user-generated content, such as reviews.
How do I measure the success of my business promotion efforts?
There are many different metrics that businesses use to measure their marketing and business promotion efforts. Part of a strong marketing strategy includes defining these metrics, known as key performance indicators (KPIs), before even beginning a campaign. Common marketing KPIs include customer acquisition, conversion rates, and social media engagement. There are many ways to track this type of data, including tools like Google Analytics.
Can E10K create a customized promotion plan for my business?
Yes! At E10K, we specialize in creating customized promotion plans for all types of businesses. As part of our initial meeting with your company, we will discuss your goals for marketing efforts, including promotion, as a way to help find the plan that meets your needs and your budget.
