Yoon Cannon, Author at Yoon Cannon

Lead Generation for Service Based Business Owners

As a small to medium sized business owner in the service industry, generating leads is one of the most important aspects of growing your business. But with so many different marketing strategies and tactics out there, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you generate leads today using tactics that are working in 2023.

1. Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Social media is one of the most powerful tools for generating leads today. With billions of active users across multiple platforms, it’s an excellent way to reach new audiences and connect with potential customers.

The first step is to identify which platforms your target audience is most active on. For example, if you’re targeting younger consumers, platforms like Instagram and TikTok may be the most effective. If you’re targeting professionals, LinkedIn may be a better choice.

Once you’ve identified your target platforms, start creating content that resonates with your audience. This could include educational blog posts, informative videos, or engaging social media posts that showcase your services. Make sure to include calls-to-action (CTAs) in your content that encourage people to learn more about your business or schedule a consultation.

Focus on getting engagement on your social media posts. Use your content as a targeted topic conversation starter to attract your ideal clients to want to share a comment.

For example, as a business growth coach my target market are established business owners, Founders, CEO’s Presidents of service based businesses typically generating $300K/year to $30 Million a year in sales revenue. My clients are mostly using LinkedIn, so that’s where I focus my lead generation.

Here is an example of one of my LinkedIn posts:

Once they like your post and/or share a comment your future posts will now get throttled out to their LinkedIn feed, so every time you post again on LinkedIn you get to stay top of mind to your growing network of LinkedIn connections.

BONUS TIP: You want to respond to the people who took the time to share a comment AND if they are your target market or a potential referral partner I would also send everyone who commented on your post a request to connect on LinkedIn, so that you grow your 1st degree connection network.

2. Create Valuable Content

Creating valuable content is an effective way to generate leads. Content marketing is all about creating and sharing content that is relevant and valuable to your target audience. Here are some tips to help you get started with content marketing:

Identify your target audience: To create content that resonates with your audience, you need to know who they are. Identify your target audience and create content that addresses their pain points, challenges, and interests.

Use a variety of formats: Content can take many forms, including blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media posts. Use a variety of formats to keep your content fresh and engaging.

Optimize your content for search engines: Make sure your content is optimized for search engines by using relevant keywords, meta tags, and descriptions. This will help your content rank higher in search engine results pages, making it more visible to potential leads.

Today, when it comes to lead generation – quality content is the new currency to attracting your ideal target market. In my experience working with SMB Owners however, I find most entrepreneurs get stuck on content ideas, or they don’t feel like they’re a good writer, or simply they don’t have the bandwidth to turn their knowledge and expertise into content.

If that’s you, the easiest solution could be to outsource your content creation, so you don’t need to add that project on your plate. Because this was a common barrier that held back many of my business coaching clients from executing their marketing, we started offering a la cart done-FOR-you marketing services.

RENT OUR MARKETING TEAM. Read more here:

https://www.paramountbusinesscoach.com/membership/rent-our-marketing-team/

3. Use Email Marketing

Email marketing is a tried and tested way to generate leads. It is a cost-effective way to reach a large audience and can be personalized to target specific segments of your audience. Here are some tips to help you get started with email marketing:

Build your email list: The first step in email marketing is to build your email list. You can do this by offering a lead magnet such as a free e-book or webinar in exchange for an email address.

Personalize your emails: Personalized emails have a higher open rate and click-through rate than generic emails. Use segmentation to send targeted emails to specific segments of your email list.

Provide value: Make sure your emails provide value to your subscribers. This can include exclusive content, promotional offers, or helpful tips.

4. Attend Networking Events

Networking events are a great way to meet potential leads in person. Whether it’s a trade show, conference, or industry event, attending networking events can help you generate leads and build relationships. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of networking events:

Be prepared: Before attending a networking event, research the attendees and prepare your elevator pitch. This will help you make a good impression and start conversations with potential leads.

Collect contact information: Make sure you collect contact information from the people you meet. This can include business cards or email addresses.

Follow up: After the event, follow up with the people you met. This can include sending a personalized email or connecting on LinkedIn.

RELATED ARTICLE: Top 3 Business Networking Mistakes. Read here:

https://www.paramountbusinesscoach.com/blog/top-3-business-networking-mistakes/

5. Leverage the Power of Video

Video is quickly becoming the most popular type of content online, and for good reason. It’s highly engaging and can be used to showcase your services in a way that’s more compelling than text or images alone.

Start by creating videos that highlight your services or demonstrate how they work. For example, if you’re a massage therapist, you could create a video that shows the benefits of different types of massages or techniques you use.

Once you’ve created your videos, share them on your website, social media channels, and YouTube.

You can also use paid advertising on platforms like YouTube to reach a wider audience.

Here’s an example of one of my videos I published on YouTube. I simply invited 3 other SMB Owners to have a discussion where we share how we each sold our businesses to help other business owners who are thinking of selling their businesses.

Once I published it on YouTube, I also published it on our blog and on LinkedIn.

6. Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is important because the higher you rank, the more visible your business will be to potential customers.

Start by identifying the keywords and phrases that people are using to search for services like yours.

Then, optimize your website’s content and structure to include these keywords in strategic places, such as the page title, headings, and meta descriptions.

You can also improve your website’s SEO by building backlinks from other reputable websites. This could include guest posting on other blogs, creating shareable infographics, or getting listed on local business directories.

WATCH MY FREE 23 MINUTE TRAINING ON SEO / DIGITAL MARKETING 101

Here:https://www.paramountbusinesscoach.com/marketing-mini-class-grow/

7. Offer Free Resources or Consultations

One of the most effective ways to generate leads today is by offering free resources or consultations. This could include a free cheat sheet, a free consultation, or a free trial of your services.

By offering something of value for free, you can attract potential customers who are interested in your services but may not be ready to make a purchase yet. This also gives you the opportunity to showcase your expertise and build trust with your audience.

Make sure to include clear CTAs in your free resources that encourage people to take the next step, whether that’s scheduling a consultation or signing up for your newsletter.

For example, I offer 3 different free downloads on my website

You can see each of the opt in pages here:

HOW TO START A BUSINESS ~ FREE CHECKLIST

MARKETING CHECKLIST FOR SERVICE BASED BUSINESS OWNERS

HIRING CHECKLIST FOR SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYERS

8. Deliver Webinars to Generate Leads

Webinars are a powerful tool for generating leads and building brand awareness. A webinar is essentially an online seminar that can be presented in real-time or pre-recorded and streamed later. They are an effective way to educate prospects, establish authority, and convert leads into customers.

Here are some of the benefits of doing a webinar to generate leads:

Cost-effective: Compared to traditional marketing methods, webinars are a cost-effective way to generate leads. They require minimal resources and can be conducted with just a few tools, such as a webcam, microphone, and internet connection.

Increased engagement: Webinars allow you to interact with your audience in real-time, creating a more engaging experience. You can use polls, Q&A sessions, and live chat to keep your audience engaged and increase their participation.

Demonstrates expertise: Hosting a webinar allows you to showcase your knowledge and expertise in your field. By providing valuable information to your audience, you can establish yourself as an authority in your industry, which can help to build trust and credibility.

Builds relationships: Webinars provide an opportunity to build relationships with your audience by providing a platform for two-way communication. This can lead to increased loyalty and repeat business.

Getting started with a webinar is relatively easy. Here are the steps to follow:

Choose a topic: The first step is to choose a topic that is relevant to your audience and aligns with your business goals. The topic should be focused and specific enough to attract the right audience.

Set a date and time: Once you have chosen your topic, set a date and time that works for your target audience. Consider time zones, work schedules, and other factors that may impact attendance.

Create the content: Develop a presentation that is informative, engaging, and visually appealing. Use slides, images, and videos to make your presentation more interesting.

Promote your webinar: Use social media, email marketing, and other channels to promote your webinar and build buzz. Encourage people to register in advance to ensure maximum attendance.

Host the webinar: On the day of the webinar, make sure you have all the necessary equipment and technology to deliver a seamless presentation. Engage with your audience, answer their questions, and provide valuable information.

Webinars are an effective way to generate leads and build relationships with your audience. By following these simple steps, you can get started with your own webinar and start reaping the benefits.

Here is an example of one of my webinars on

HOW TO GENERATE MORE LEADS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

When you go to this webinar registration page you can see exactly what attendees can expect to learn:

https://www.paramountbusinesscoach.com/How-to-Get-More-Leads-for-Your-Business-in-2023/

9. Pre-Qualify Your Lead Generation

Pre-qualifying leads is an essential part of any successful sales strategy. Pre-qualification is the process of identifying and evaluating potential customers before initiating the sales process.

This allows you and/or your sales teams to prioritize leads based on their likelihood to convert, thus saving time, resources, and effort. Here are some reasons why pre-qualifying your leads is important:

Saves time and resources: Pre-qualifying leads helps to prioritize the most promising prospects and reduces the time spent on unqualified leads. This allows sales teams to focus on high-value prospects and allocate their resources more effectively.

Improves conversion rates: By pre-qualifying leads, sales teams can identify prospects who are more likely to convert into customers. This allows them to tailor their approach and messaging to the specific needs and interests of each prospect, improving the chances of closing the deal.

Reduces customer acquisition costs: Pre-qualifying leads can help to reduce customer acquisition costs by focusing efforts on the most promising prospects. This can help to improve the return on investment for marketing and sales activities.

Enhances customer experience: By pre-qualifying leads, sales teams can better understand their needs, pain points, and goals. This allows them to tailor their approach and provide a more personalized customer experience, which can lead to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

There are several ways to pre-qualify leads, including:

Lead scoring: This is a method of assigning a numerical value to each lead based on their characteristics and behavior. Leads are scored based on factors such as demographics, industry, budget, engagement level, and readiness to buy.

Qualifying questions: These are questions designed to gather information about a lead’s needs, challenges, and budget. The answers to these questions can help to determine whether a lead is a good fit for your product or service.

Sales development representatives (SDRs): SDRs are responsible for qualifying leads and setting appointments for sales teams. They can use a combination of lead scoring, qualifying questions, and research to pre-qualify leads and identify high-value prospects.

Pre-qualifying leads is an important step in any successful sales strategy. By identifying and evaluating potential customers before initiating the sales process, sales teams can prioritize their efforts, improve conversion rates, reduce costs, and enhance the customer experience.

Here is an example of how I pre-qualify my leads:

Business owners who are interested to learn more about working with me ~ whether they’re

looking for a business coach,
a peer Mastermind Group or whether they’re looking to
outsource their marketing …

the calendar booking page I send them to is here:

https://www.paramountbusinesscoach.com/coaching/coaching-call-sign-up/

You’ll see before they can book a time slot, I tell them ahead of time, some basic pre-qualification filters:

Generating leads is a crucial part of any successful marketing and sales strategy. To summarize in this article we covered nine ways to generate leads:

1. Social media marketing

2. Content marketing

3. Email marketing

4. Attending networking events

5. Leveraging the power of video

6. SEO

7. Offer FREE resources (aka ‘lead magnets’)

8. Deliver webinars

9. Pre-qualify your leads.

Generating leads requires a combination of tactics that can be tailored to your business goals and target audience. By leveraging a mix of content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, paid advertising, referral marketing, events, webinars, SEO, and lead magnets, you can attract potential customers, build relationships, and move them closer to a sale.

QUESTION: Which of these 9 lead generation tactics are working the best for you in your business? Which of these do you need help with? Please share your comments or questions here

Hiring a Fractional Chief Strategy Officer in a Non-Profit Organization: What Are the Benefits?

by Yoon Cannon | General

Canada has approximately 86,000 registered non-profit organizations with different missions and programs to fulfill. To remain competitive and attract donors, volunteers, and staff members, these organizations should constantly look for new and innovative ways to push forward their mission. An experienced strategist can bring fresh perspectives to your non-profit organization to help you create revenue growth strategies, pioneer sales development and even drive digital transformation.

Dedicating the funds necessary to hire a full-time Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) can take time, money and effort. Fortunately, leveraging a fractional CSO can be the perfect solution, offering all the benefits of hiring an expert without over-committing your resources.

Read on to discover how a fractional CSO can take your organization’s strategic initiatives and potential for impact to the next level.

What is a fractional CSO?

A fractional CSO is a flexible strategy partner who provides part-time C-suite leadership to an organization. Fractional executives can help when a company’s growth exceeds its leadership team’s capabilities.

They oversee strategic planning and management within the organization, assisting the CEO with strategy development and execution and ensuring the implementation of the strategy. The main reason why many companies prefer working with a fractional CSO is they bring the skills and perspective of an experienced c-level leader without the expense of a full-time employee.

Why do nonprofits need a fractional CSO?

Nonprofit organizations don’t need fractional CSOs just because they have limited resources. Here are some benefits that a fractional CSO can bring to an organization:

Explores better ways to approach beneficiaries

A fractional CSO can provide valuable insights on how to reach out to beneficiaries and maximize your programs’ impact. The expert can help you develop strategies tailored to each beneficiary’s needs and suggest the most effective outreach methods. In addition, they can determine the best approaches by analyzing data, researching past case studies, and using their experience and insights from similar nonprofits.

The CSO can also provide feedback on existing methods for beneficiary outreach, assess any gaps or weaknesses, and provide strategic recommendations for improvement. They can also help you explore new technologies, trends, and campaigns that can reach more people, such as digital marketing techniques.

Deals with your organization’s urgent strategic needs

A fractional CSO can provide a fresh perspective on your organization’s strategic needs and create tactical plans for addressing them. As a strategic partner, they can help your organization navigate rapid changes in the industry.

A fractional CSO will assist the executive team in assessing the organization’s current needs and resources, analyzing data sets, and leveraging industry trends. In addition, they can offer informed advice on how your organization should best approach urgent strategic needs. For instance, if you’re looking to diversify your revenue streams or approach specific markets, the fractional CSO can provide valuable insights on how to go about it.

The CSO’s expertise will help your organization focus on the big picture while considering immediate demands. In addition, they can periodically review the progress of your projects over time to ensure the timely completion of goals set by your non-profit organization.

Focuses on program planning and strategy development

With the help of a fractional CSO, your nonprofit can strategize for development and growth. They have immense knowledge of resource management, budgeting, process improvement, and team structuring. This knowledge places them in a better position to help your organization maximize its impact while managing costs.

The fractional CSO can also help you develop organizational goals, strategic plans, and performance metrics tailored to your nonprofit’s mission. For instance, the CSO can assist you in creating a comprehensive program plan that covers the necessary activities and timelines for successful execution. In addition, they will guide you on which strategies are suitable for your organization and the resources you need to implement those strategies.

Offers cost-effective strategies tailored to mission and goals

A fractional CSO can help you develop cost-effective strategies tailored to your nonprofit’s mission. They know how to allocate resources for maximum impact best and can help you create a budget that meets your organization’s goals.

The fractional CSO’s expertise also allows them to guide you on where you can cut costs while maintaining quality services. For example, they can suggest ways to reduce operational costs, such as working with vendors that offer discounted rates or leveraging the help of virtual assistants. Or, if you’re looking to outsource specific tasks, the CSO can advise on which services and contractors are most cost-effective.

3 Key Disciplines to Growing Your Business

by Yoon Cannon | General

What are you focusing on this week to grow your business?

As entrepreneurs, there is no boss telling you to show up to work and no boss to guide you on where you need to improve your game.

As the Business Owner / Founder / President / CEO / Chief Everything Officer …

👉🏻it’s UP TO YOU to decide what strategy you will execute next to help you achieve your goals.

👉🏻it’s UP TO YOU to be intentional about WHO you surround yourself with who can inspire you, challenge you, motivate and encourage you, and sometimes give you a swift kick in the rear.

👉🏻 It’s ultimately UP TO YOU to be intentional about your business to growth:

In my 30 years+ of being an entrepreneur and 17 years of helping other entrepreneurs here are 3 disciplines I have found successful Business Owners have in common that you can apply to your business.

DISCIPLINE #1: PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR DAILY/WEEKLY KPIs

If you don’t know what KPI means 🥴(that’s an indicator you’re not measuring or tracking)

Sales is a numbers game. Whether it’s marketing your business, sales conversations, or interviewing for the right hire, you can’t give up after a few efforts didn’t work.

Remember failure is an opportunity to try again smarter. Growth happens from

1️⃣ taking FAST action

2️⃣ assessing & getting expert feedback

3️⃣ course correcting and

4️⃣ measuring/tracking…. Rinse and repeat

DISCIPLINE #2: NEVER STOP TRAINING.

Athletes will practice taking 50+ shots – over and over and over again. Even if you’re a seasoned entrepreneur for 20+ years, there are always new tactics, new strategies to learn, and old tactics to continue honing.

DISCIPLINE #3: NURTURE YOUR PERSONAL GROWTH.

Your business will only be able to grow as much as you grow. How often are you taking inventory of your personal leadership strengths?

Who are your trusted advisors, coaches, and peer entrepreneurs who observe and offer you feedback, support, and CHALLENGE YOU to GROW?

Try this exercise right now …

💡 What’s the first idea that pops into your mind when you read these three questions?

💡 Share your idea in the COMMENTS below to help you make that commitment to yourself … and to your business.

1- What is one specific action you will execute consistently in the next 30 days?

2- What is one new skill you want to learn and how to improve to help you grow your business?

3- What is one personality trait you want to become stronger at this year to make you better at your business?

Lead Generating Videos For Each Phase Of The Buyer’s Journey

by Yoon Cannon | Attract More Customers, Business Growth Tips Blog

The Buyer’s Journey is a key concept that allows brands to create more compelling marketing by understanding their customers’ needs and mindset. If you want to create world-class video content, it should be central to your marketing strategy.

Generally, the buyer’s journey is split into three stages:

Awareness – the prospect is researching a problem and looking for a solution. For instance, they may be searching how to get more website traffic.

Consideration – the prospect begins researching the solution. This is where you introduce your product as the solution and explain how it helps. For instance, you could create a piece of content entitled SEO Strategies for Your Business.

Decision – the prospect chooses which product to purchase. Typically, this involves comparing multiple products and brands and selecting the one they think will best solve their problem. In our example case, this could mean comparing Ahrefs and SEMrush.

These stages roughly translate to customers being cold, lukewarm, or hot leads. When they are hot, they are close to making a purchase, while cold leads may not even know they have a problem yet!

In this article, we focus on how to use video content to move prospects down the sales funnel and onto the next stage of the buyer’s journey.

Video is consumers’ favorite form of media – a staggering 88% want to see more video content from brands (Wyzowl) – and this guide is packed with actionable tips that will help you make the most of this brilliant marketing medium.

Awareness Phase Video Content

In the awareness stage, prospects are cold leads. They are positively freezing. As cold as cold can get. They may not know your brand and product exist. They may not know they have a problem at all!

Video content in the awareness stage should be centered on a soft-sell strategy. The goal is to introduce your brand and valuable industry information in a way that encourages the viewer to trust your expertise.

The buyer journey usually starts with prospects searching for information on a particular pain point. They are looking for content that features solutions to their problem. But they are not researching solutions in any depth. They just want to know what their options are.

Informational Content & ‘How To’ Videos

Right now, your potential customers don’t know they have a problem. Your video content needs to change that and make people more aware of potential bottlenecks in their everyday lives or businesses.

That is where informational content and how-to videos come in.

Informational content has no barriers to entry, meaning that anyone can watch them regardless of their knowledge level. This is crucial to bring people into your sales funnel.

Think of it this way: if your customer doesn’t know they have a problem yet, would they watch a testimonial video for your products? It’s unlikely.

Whereas informational content which puts the focus on educating the watcher (as opposed to making the sale) hooks their attention and introduces your business niche much more organically.

To know which content to create, you need to find out what your sales prospects are searching for and then create content that:

Answer their question(s).
Enables you to integrate your brand and industry organically.

How-to guides and informational content are popular. They typically generate high search volumes on both Google and YouTube. They are also applicable to all industries. Every sector has ‘how-to’ related keywords they can target and create content for.

Take the social media scheduling tool, Hootsuite. It might choose to create content targeting the following keywords:

How to get more social media followers
How to create better social media content
When is the best time to post on social media?

Interviews & Content Partnerships

Another way of raising brand awareness is partnering with other businesses to create video content. This gives you access to an established audience that already knows and trusts your partner’s opinion.

There are plenty of examples of this happening in the marketing world.

For instance, the SEO tool, Ahrefs, teamed up with the social media tool, Buffer, to provide a digital marketing masterclass that was a major success. And local restaurants often team up with cocktail makers to put on a joint event. Bars and pop-up kitchens also regularly collaborate, resulting in greater exposure for both parties.

When choosing a partner, make sure they are a non-competitor with a similar target audience. If you are looking for the great content you can make with that partner, consider:

Expert interviews and knowledge exchanges
Joint training webinars
Social media channel takeovers.

Consideration Phase Video Content

The consideration phase is where prospects go from cold to warm. They know there is a solution to their problem and they think your brand could have the answer.

Now is the time to start featuring your product more heavily in content. You want to prove that your product does the things they need it to. There is an art to this, though. If you are overly promotional, you might frustrate prospects.

Instead, you need to draw them in with more informational content. But this time, it will be less general and 100% industry specific. You are going to tell them how your brand benefits them.

Let’s return to the prospect from our intro who wants to generate more website traffic. They read Ahrefs’ awareness-stage content covering the importance of keywords in SEO. But now, they are wondering how you go about conducting keyword research. Ahrefs knows that and hits them with… Keyword Research: A Beginner’s Guide.

Perfect consideration-stage content.

Expert Guides

Once you have introduced your brands and products with awareness content, you need to move them onto another useful resource. Expert guides are an excellent choice.

Expert guides allow you to talk about how great your brand and product are. In the process, you explain how well it resolves the pain points highlighted in the awareness stage. You achieve this by properly introducing your products and explaining what they do and how they benefit the viewer.

This works because the content also provides immense value to the viewer, strengthening their trust in your business, ensuring they appreciate your expertise, and moving them one step closer to buying.

Product Explainer Videos & Demonstrations

Having introduced your products in the expert guide, you can also start going into greater detail about what they do and how they work. It is time for product explainer videos!

Cartoon explainer videos are a great way to simplify complicated information and explain how your product resolves your audience’s problems. They are engaging, informative, and easy to understand. The ideal combination for lightly educational content.

Product demos take this process one step further by showing your product in action and focusing on key features in greater detail. Prospects watching your product demos are warming up.

Decision Phase Video Content

Finally, decision phase content turns warm leads into sizzling hot prospects. At this stage, customers have decided to buy a solution but are comparing competitors’ products. This is where you start the hard sell by creating content that puts all the focus on your business, your product, and its USPs.

Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials are the modern equivalent of word-of-mouth advertising. They are extremely powerful. This is demonstrated by the fact that 9 out of 10 people say they trust what a customer says about a business more than what that business says about itself (Wyzowl).

When every day people come out and support your product, it puts you in a strong position. Their opinions can help sway undecided buyers by alleviating any concerns they have.

Industry Case Studies

Case studies are an excellent way of showing that your product delivers on your promises. They are evidence that it really does resolve key customer problems.

With this in mind, businesses should create case studies for every industry in which their products are relevant. This ensures you are targeting particular pain points and problems, while also speaking and appealing directly to specific customers.

When creating industry case studies, make sure your videos cover:

What the customer’s problem was
How the product resolved the problem
The end result or dream outcome for the customer. Focus on how your product made the customer’s life easier.

Competitor Comparisons

Finally, let’s look at competitor comparisons. Many businesses shy away from mentioning their competitors in their marketing materials. However, those companies are missing a trick.

Prospects can quickly and easily find your competitors. All it takes is a brief Google search. Rather than pretending these competitors do not exist, create an honest video that weighs up the pros and cons of these competing products and compels the viewer to buy yours.

It is a wonderful chance to snatch control of the narrative and give prospects a long list of reasons why your product is the right choice. Highlight the unique features your product has (and your competitors’ product hasn’t), but do not ever attack or criticize your competitors in the video. It will only backfire and reflect poorly on your brand.

Author: John Butterworth

John Butterworth is an experienced digital marketer who believes the fastest way to grow any business is by automating their lead acquisition. He’s helped many companies to scale rapidly through a tried-and-tested combination of SEO, CRO, and email automation. John’s career has taken him across specialist roles in China, Vietnam, and The UK. Currently, he works in-house for global video creation platform Viddyoze.

Secrets to Successful Marketing Strategy Execution for Small Business Owners

by Yoon Cannon | Business Growth Tips Blog, General, Success Mindset

Small business owners often struggle to find the best marketing strategy that fits their budget. Here is a look at some of the greatest tips for getting the most bang from your marketing budgeting.

Whether you’re a B2B, B2C or expert firm, you’ll walk away with enough secrets to successful marketing to add new leads and find loyal customers.

How Do You Successfully Market a Small Business?

Small and medium enterprises in the United States spend marketing dollars directly based on a business owner’s decisions. Smaller businesses might find it wiser to focus on local clients first. According to Statista, companies spend around $173.3 million per year on local advertising. They split the rest between TV, radio, digital and events.

Successful marketing strategy execution often starts with an overarching goal. Small business owners find a top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) strategy works well to build brand awareness and develop a loyal customer base. Over time, you’ll gain referrals from your current clients.

What are some of the top secrets to successful marketing campaigns? Here are our top suggestions for small business owners.

1. Learn From Your Customers

Get to know your audience and what their needs are. The better you understand your buyers, the easier it will be to meet their needs. You can survey them, pay attention to buying trends and ask what you can do to improve their experience.

With your TOMA marketing strategy, you’ll want to take actions such as:

Call those who buy from you repeatedly and ask why they chose your brand in the first place.
Inquire about how you can help them refer more friends and family. For example, can you offer any materials that would be of help? Reward them when they do refer new customers.
Survey your customers after a successful campaign. Find out why they chose to buy and if they have other needs. When you understand their pain points, developing the relationship you need to keep your brand at the top of their thoughts becomes much easier.

Pay close attention to any negative comments or complaints. How can you fix the issue for that customer and prevent it on future orders?

2. Use New Technology to Manage Clients

You don’t have to track every little detail of your clients’ needs. Instead, invest in technology that handles customer relationship management. Regular emails from you can keep you at the forefront of their thoughts.

Try to automate functions such as sending out emails when new products arrive they might be interested in.
Send a birthday greeting to let them know you enjoy their business.
Offer discounts when sales slow down to clear out old merchandise and make way for new.

The happier your clients are, the more you can use their reviews and testimonials in your marketing campaigns.

3. Promote Yourself

Put yourself in the shoes of the average person visiting your site for the first time. If you’re a newer business, they’ve likely not heard of you and don’t know if they should buy. However, they’ll feel more comfortable trying out your product if you stand behind your work.

People often have to hear of you several times before remembering the brand name and messaging. How can you promote yourself consistently and frequently for your TOMA approach?

Create a social media persona matching your brand personality.
Post frequently and predictably at the same time of day and on the same weekdays.
Enlist the help of others to get your name out there. Ask customers to share your social media posts or forward your newsletter.
Pay for ads to get in front of the same people repeatedly.

Feature glowing feedback from customers and highlight how much you believe in what you offer. Do you feel your product or service is the best in the industry? Thinking about your unique value proposition and using it in your marketing can help gain new clients’ trust.

4. Send Welcome Emails

You likely already know email marketing can be highly effective at attracting and keeping customers. However, did you know that welcome emails have a 91.43% open rate and offer an opportunity to highlight your brand personality?

How can you enhance your brand awareness via emails?

Stick with brand guidelines, using your logo and brand color palette for instant recognition.
Make calls to action (CTAs) look the same as the ones on your website so people know to look for a particular pop of color.
Create great subject lines that tell users exactly what they’ll get when they open the email.

You can also track how well an email performs by seeing how many opens you get and who clicks through to your offer.

5. Use SMS

Short message service (SMS) is an excellent way to add personal touches to messages you send. You might use it for customer service issues and to problem solve. There are also many ways to connect with your clients through small positive messages.

Circulate an offer, discount code or just share news.
Add links to orders or short surveys.
Send a happy thought just to let customers know you are thinking of them and care about more than just making a sale.
Thank them for an order or update them on the status of one.

Many businesses have found great success with this marketing strategy. 98% of people will open your message, which is why thousands have used texting to drive customer retention.

6. Set Clear Employee Expectations

As your company’s leader, you must train your employees in the customer service model you want to exude. Make sure everyone understands your expectations and their role in the buyer’s journey.

Write out what your company policies and philosophies are.
Encourage employees to tell others why it’s a great place to work.
Feature your top staff members. Put a face to the workers for better brand awareness.

At the same time, you don’t want to create an atmosphere where people say, “That’s not in my job description.” Set the example by jumping in and helping when someone feels overwhelmed or has a tight deadline. If your employees see you taking the lead and helping others, they’ll be more likely to embrace the same spirit with their work.

7. Watch Trends

Pay attention to what kids are into and how other businesses in your industry market to their customer bases.

When apps like TikTok first arrived on the scene, mainly preteens used it to repeat dances and popular songs. Today, companies worldwide use them to reach new customers via fun marketing videos.

Stay on top of what your competitors are doing.

Study their social media presence. What kinds of posts do they schedule? How often do they post? Do they use paid ads?
Why do people know their name? Do they do a lot of radio interviews? Perhaps they sponsor local groups and have a strong presence in your community.
Study their name versus yours. Is their business moniker more memorable or more applicable to the industry?

Take a step back and rethink your brand image. Don’t be afraid to rebrand if necessary or to tweak colors and messaging until you hit what keeps your brand at the forefront.

Why Should You Change Up Your Marketing?

Embracing new trends and paying attention to what works for the competition are the secrets to successful marketing. You may not have time to woo people one-on-one, but you can automate relationship management and invest in social media marketing.

If you fail to step up and try new things, you risk growing stale and your customers getting bored with your brand. You only have time and effort to spend. If something doesn’t work, replace it with a new idea.

If you choose to focus on a top-of-mind awareness strategy as outlined above, run everything through the filter of how it will impact brand recognition and keep your audience engaged.

Which one of these list items would you like to implement today to find your successful marketing strategy?

Eleanor Hecks is the founder and managing editor of Designerly Magazine. She’s also a web design consultant with a focus on customer experience and user interface. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dogs, Bear and Lucy. Connect with her about marketing, design and/or tea on LinkedIn!