Running a small business certainly presents more than its fair share of challenges. In many cases, though, creating a successful marketing strategy is one of the primary challenges that most small business owners face. In this article, we will explore some of the top marketing challenges that keep many small businesses from reaching their full potential as well as offer a few tips on how to overcome these challenges.
1) A Lack of an Audience
You can have a stunning website filled with compelling content that is selling some of the most desirable products in the world – but none of those things are going to do you any good if you are simply shouting into the void. Unfortunately, many small business owners have only a basic understanding of how SEO works and the vital role that it plays in making sure that people actually see the content that they produce.
Before you can begin successfully marketing your products or services, you have to create a strategy for being found in the first place. Paying for visitors via PPC ads can be an effective way to start, but it’s only a temporary fix. In the end, nothing is going to be more valuable than building organic traffic to your website through an effective SEO strategy.
2) Producing Compelling Content
When it comes to digital marketing, content is king. Filling your website or blog with amazing content serves a dual purpose. For one, great content is an essential part of your website’s sales funnel and can go a long way toward educating visitors about your products and eventually converting them into paying customers. Great content also plays a vital role in SEO. When determining which websites to rank at the top for any given search result, search engines such as Google prioritize high-quality content above all else.
The problem is that many small business owners struggle to produce content that is well-written and compelling. Unless you happen to be a talented writer/content marketer, outsourcing your content creation needs is likely your best bet. It may be a bit of an investment, but the value of high-quality content is well worth the cost.
It’s also important to note that great content doesn’t always have to be in the form of written text. Images, infographics, and videos are all other forms of content that can offer small businesses a lot of marketing benefits. Creating live stream videos on live streaming platforms is another excellent option to consider since they are affordable to produce and allow you to quickly capitalize on emerging trends and opportunities.
3) Capitalizing on Data
The best marketing strategies are those that are driven by quality data. When you are developing a marketing plan, the data you are able to collect should drive your every decision. If you aren’t yet collecting and analyzing data regarding your customers, their behaviors, and the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns that you launch, now is the time to start.
By using metrics such as conversion rate across campaigns and customer demographics, marketing spend per customer, customer engagement, brand awareness, and beyond, you can fine-tune your marketing strategy using a data-driven approach that is sure to lead to optimum results.
4) A Lack of a Social Media Strategy
It’s always important to go where your customers are – and no matter what type of business you are running, you can guarantee that your customers are spending a great deal of time on social media. While most small businesses do indeed have social media accounts, few take the time to create a coherent and effective social media strategy. It isn’t enough to simply create an account for your small business and throw up a few posts from time to time.
In order to capitalize on all the benefits that social media has to offer, you need to cultivate an active and engaged community of followers, develop a voice and branding persona for your social accounts that will set them apart from the competition, and regularly populate those accounts with high-quality content.
5) Converting Marketing Efforts Into In-Person Customers
The majority of small businesses still rely on customers actually visiting their physical location in order to turn a profit. Unless your business model is completely centered around selling products online, figuring out how to convert your marketing efforts into in-person traffic is going to be vital.
Unfortunately, the disconnect between digital marketing and attracting in-person customers is something that many small business owners struggle with but now with the arrival of many no code website builders , it will be easy for businesses to go online.
In addition to focusing on brand awareness campaigns that are targeted toward customers in your geographic area, one great strategy for converting digital marketing efforts into in-person customers is to put an emphasis on local SEO.
If you own a flower shop located in Boston, for example, having your website show up when people in Boston search terms such as “flower shops near me” or “flower shops in Boston” can offer a ton of value – and local SEO is how you ensure that your website ranks as high as possible for such searches.
There are several ways to go about maximizing the potential of local SEO. Populating your website with geo-targeted keywords is a great place to start. Setting up a “Google My Business” profile for your business is also an important step. Lastly, encouraging online reviews from your customers is another proven way to optimize the local SEO of your business.
Conclusion
There are plenty of marketing challenges facing small businesses that hold those businesses back from reaching their full potential. The good news, though, is that all of these challenges can be overcome with the right approach.
No matter how amazing your business and its products or services might be, you are going to need to develop an effective marketing strategy in order to succeed.
By focusing on the top marketing challenges facing small businesses and developing an innovative strategy to overcome them, you can set your small business up for long-term success.
