From product testing to overhead costs to managing a physical store or website, running a company can take a lot of work. If you’re managing a business of your own, you’re sure to have spent at least a few sleepless nights going over the numbers and plans. And you’re not alone — the U.S. Small Business Administration reports that there are over 30.7 million small businesses in the United States. Small businesses make up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses, so it’s no surprise that competition is fierce.
Standing out from the crowd is essential on the path to success, and can take a lot of work. There are no shortcuts to greatness, and if you want your company to last you’re going to need to do a lot of careful research and planning. Your marketing and branding are part and parcel of capturing the market, so you’ll need to get them right down to the tiniest detail. Here are a few ways how.
Websites
It’s no secret that the Internet has become an inseparable part of daily life. In fact, Pew Research found that only 10% of Americans are not online, and the numbers are shrinking year by year. Most companies now recognize that a lot of their interactions with customers need to take place online. One of the most important spaces where that interaction happens is your website.
Your website is the public face of your business, so getting it just right can take some work. The specific design may depend on your branding, but overall you’re going to need something that’s clean, easy to understand, and welcoming. Your digital brand is important, and professional guidance can help you go a long way. If you’re interested in building the right online presence, you can take a look at our ‘Complete Website Solution for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners’ for more information.
Direct Mail
Direct mail may seem out of fashion when compared with the glitz and glamor of other, digital marketing techniques, but you’d be surprised at the kind of results it pulls in. Direct mail marketing has some of the highest ROI among all marketing techniques, and can be especially useful when you’re trying to pull in customers from a certain area or community. But how do you make it even more effective?
The answer is simple: send quality materials. A feature on sending out quality direct marketing materials by Triadex Services states that plastic postcard mailers are three to five times more effective than traditional paper postcards. If you invest in materials that are professional looking and can withstand the wear and tear that comes with posting them out, you’ll find that your customers are more likely to pay attention.
Email Marketing
Since their rise in the 1990s, email marketing and digital mailing lists have become pretty commonplace. But with customers’ inboxes bombarded with correspondence day in and day out, it can be hard to convert all these emails into actual interest and engagement. The reason for that is in personalization— or specifically, how you use it.
According to research conducted by the Temple University Fox School of Business, 95% of customers responded negatively to email ads that greeted them by name. What was instead effective was companies sending ads to items that they actually wanted. Personalization, like all things, needs to be handled carefully. To keep your email list successful, you’ll need to really build your relationship with your customers and send them deals, products, or information that’s actually useful to them.
