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Your small business has a product or service that you know is important to customers. People need what you do, and you do it very well.
How do they find out about your business and choose to buy from you instead of someone else? The answer is marketing. Marketing involves discovering your unique selling point (USP), creating a message around that USP, and amplifying that message so the right audience hears it.
You know that marketing is essential if you want to succeed, but do you know exactly what marketing does to help you grow? Here are just a few of the benefits.
Not everyone needs what you offer. And of the people who do need it, only a specific group is truly an ideal customer base for your business.
Your ideal audience is the people who benefit most from your product or service and have the resources to afford your price point. While a discount hair salon chain and a professional salon owner both offer hair services, they have very different ideal customers.
When you go through the marketing process to create a marketing plan, you take the time to identify and understand your target market. That helps you focus your marketing message as well as future products and services so that you can maximize your success.
Everyone who hears about your company is going to ask themselves, “Why should I buy from this business instead of the one I already use?” If there isn’t a compelling reason, you won’t be able to gain customers and grow your company.
Marketing helps you create reasons that you stand out from your competitors, and then share those reasons with consumers. When you can give someone a great reason to buy from your business, then they’ll be much more willing to work with you.
Identifying your unique selling proposition (USP) can be challenging, but it’s essential. If you can’t find one, you need to create one. If your hair salon is just like every other, why would someone come to you? You need to structure your business so that there’s something that matters to your ideal audience that’s different from your competitors.
As you look at what marketing does to grow your business, don’t overlook the fact that educating your potential customers is also part of your marketing.
Maybe consumers need to understand how they benefit from your product or service, or why your specific process is better than others. Or, you might want to share information about your industry and the impact it has on society or the world. You might offer DIY tips for simpler tasks while recommending your company for more complex needs.
Educating consumers helps build a relationship with them and encourages them to trust you. When you become a trusted authority, you’ll be the first one customers think of when they need your product or service. Being a likable, friendly expert can help you draw customers away from your competitors.
The most common kind of Google search is one looking for information, so having a lot of educational content can also help you rank highly on Google search results. This makes you more visible so that when a consumer is ready to buy, they find you easily and are likely to purchase from you instead of a competitor.
The final and most important job of your marketing program is to create new customers for your business. You do this by building a relationship with potential customers while regularly inviting them to buy from you.
Strong calls-to-action (CTAs) invite a website visitor or someone reading your marketing material to take the next step forward in the sales process. That might mean signing up for your email list, scheduling a consultation, or making a direct purchase from your website.
A strong CTA makes a specific request that is as simple as possible. “Click here” or “Call today” are common starting points. Then, you need to make a promise about what they will experience if they take action. For example, “Click here to experience these great results for yourself!”
You can also add urgency to a CTA by limiting the duration or quantity of an offer. You might offer a discounted service to the first five respondents, or have only 24 items available before you sell out. When you create urgency, people are more likely to follow through on the CTA.
When you build trust and establish authority, and then follow that with a powerful CTA, your marketing will be very effective in growing your business.
If your marketing isn’t getting the results you want, you may be missing out on important parts of the strategy. Do you have an ideal target audience? Do you know your USP? Are you educating consumers about your offers and following up with a strong CTA?
Sometimes taking care of all those steps is more than you have time for. We get it! Local SEO Search can help. We’ve been helping small businesses succeed with digital marketing for many years, and we’d love to help you grow as well. Contact us today for a free consultation!
