Pages

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Popular Small Business Marketing Tools

By Tammie Caldwell


Promotional tools are always in need of a makeover, even the successful ones. As customer needs change and evolve, it is the responsibility of a brand to keep up. A mix of virtual and offline methods have the power to make new visitors lifelong customers or turn them away. The world of small business marketing leaves many options from which to choose.

Social media can have many purposes, including building a customer base or testing a promotional event. Since there is a great variety, knowing the purpose is the first step in planning. This would be followed by meeting the customer needs.

People new to online promotion feel that adding a lot of keywords to content is the way to go. The result is eventually getting in trouble with search engines while listing too few will not bring in traffic. Using relevant keywords is also better branding than going with trending phrases in content.

Making frequent posts is also recommended but should not conflict with announcements or other news, as audiences will turn away if they find their mailbox is filling up. Marketers should use a calendar to schedule posts. Keeping track also helps to see the effectiveness of each type of content.

The use of images and infographics is popular. Jpeg images can be used to inform site visitors about products and services. It is recommended to hire a graphic designer or layout artist create these for most effective use of white space online or print.

There are some new promotional products that are useful such as mobile device apps, portable drinking items and other accessories used in communication today. The whitepaper has replaced the traditional newsletter as a secondary marketing tool. These can be essential as well as cost-effective when it comes to improving an email list. The process is also easy for those with basic operation skills.

It can be hard to part with a successful marketing plan but it is often necessary, as customer needs change along with products. By knowing what will attract visitors and the anticipated reach, is can help create content or tool usage that will introduce brand offerings to a new audience. Instead of simply repurposing, use the content that will make visitors return.

Checking out competitors can also inspire necessary changes, as ideas about their sites and possible improvements can result in more visitor traffic. Making content personable and engaging can also help drive audiences. This can act as a natural hook, as opposed to using content to make a direct sale or tell visitors what they need so they might buy a product or service.

Addressing common concerns about a product can start the engagement process. Attractive headlines that ask questions, followed by an immediate answer can benefit on search engine pages or direct links from related sites. Delivering in a format that is easy to navigate brings more traffic than interruptions.

Inquiry forms that pop up on contact can be distracting, along with things that cause slow loading. These may bring a source of revenue but should be utilized with caution. This also applies to landing pages that are used to ask visitors to be added to an email list. Giving the reader time to peruse is more welcoming than dropping the ball at first contact.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More