It’s a tough world in which to start a business. We’ve just witnessed a major global economic meltdown – which we still haven’t fully recovered from – and cutting back on costs is a necessity for most businesses. Nevertheless, the basic rules of running a successful business still apply: you need to offer a great product at a competitive price; you need to offer unrivaled customer service; and you need to market in an effective yet cost-efficient way.
The explosive growth of the internet and e-commerce, which are still growing exponentially in popularity, has given birth to a variety of opportunities. You could turn a locally-run shop into a national or even international supplier through effective online marketing methods. However, when you don’t have the money for an expensive marketing strategy, you might give in to the belief that internet retailing is only accessible to the big players. We want to stop you thinking like that because it’s simply untrue.
If you’re a business who depends on local customers simply to stay afloat, you might need a way to secure a quick loan. This is only recommendable if you can depend on future profits. It’s a smart option if seasonal economic climates have hurt your profits, or if you have a genuinely fool-proof plan to make new investment yield an increased turnover. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do for free – right now – that could help you increase your customer base.
A successful marketing campaign comes down to decent search engine optimisation (SEO) tactics, from making sure the content on your website captures the attention of major search engines to investing in paid marketing. The first essential we mentioned – managing the content on your website – is detrimental to your paid and free marketing methods if you do not optimise it for both search engines and target audiences. Think about it: if your written website material doesn’t persuade people to make a purchase, any paid marketing tactic is going to be a wasteful effort.
Keyword research has given birth to an industry unto itself. Without a doubt, working with professionals to get this right is likely to result in the best return on investment. Even without paid support, you can still take the initiative and think about which keywords will be used by customers who are looking for a business like yours. A common mistake in determining which keywords are relevant is to aim too broad. If your business sells used phones with operations based specifically in a small town, targeting a highly competitive universal keyword like ‘phone shop’ might not lead customers to your website.
You should attempt to use localised keywords – i.e., keywords that relate to your specific area – to target potential customers utilising local searches. People carry out local searches all the time because if they’re looking for a business in their area, they’re not going to find it without a localised search that references their location. But please, whatever you do, don’t stuff keywords into text indiscriminately. Quality content is what ultimately helps to make a sale, and Google is moving towards filtering out spammy content even from reputable businesses. Use keywords in natural sentences – if it doesn’t read well to you, it’s a good sign that potential customers and search engines won’t favour you, either.
Use these keywords sparingly but whenever practical in blog content, social media updates, and even LinkedIn profiles. And, this is important, try to post new content across various internet channels as often as you can. Nobody’s looking to make connections with people who don’t like to engage in a dialogue, and that applies to your potential web-based customers. Your content (and the frequency with which you post it) is a reflection of your brand’s attitude and its relationship with both existing customers and potential customers.
If you can’t invest in internet marketing right now, you might want to secure a quick loan to get you on your feet. A new investment could be just what you need. Always prepare a detailed turnover forecast if you intend to utilise a loan to secure future growth. It’s probably a good idea to try and optimise your website a little by yourself first. That way, after you’ve seen the results, you might be ready to estimate how much a paid campaign could make. Invest time and money in SEO and other marketing strategies to allow your customers to get to know and trust your business.
