3 Awesome Tips To Gear Up Your Small Business Marketing

Small businesses don’t always have the same big budget to devote to marketing as their much larger competition.

This might make you feel intimidated by the thought of revving up your marketing campaigns but fear not.

This is all about new marketing trends, most of which are small business centered and guaranteed to attract your business the attention it deserves.

It’s time to dust off those spreadsheets and begin planning your marketing for this new year.

We’re seeing a lot of big shifts in the world of digital marketing.

Some of which you probably already know, like that more than half of people around the world use the mobile device more than they use their desktop.

Another big trend is the push towards better user experiences.

That’s right, customers are fed up with the lack of personalization and communication amongst big-name businesses.

They’re tired of feeling like a just another statistic, and they want to feel like they’re talking to a real-life human behind the screen.

That’s where you come in. As a small business marketer, you have a unique chance to make those key connections with customers.

From automation to creating content that appeals to your audience, it’s important to take these 3 tips below seriously if you want to gear up your marketing strategy.

1. Revamp Your Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing has come a long way in the past few years. While all marketers can agree content marketing is essential, it’s also evolving rapidly.

Let’s face it: content today doesn’t last long. The shelf life is shorter than ever before. In fact, 60% of marketers are producing new content every day to keep up with this demand.

Social media timelines are always focusing on the latest and greatest, meaning your new posts might only be seen for up to 24 hours by your key audience.

Instagram is even leaning towards Stories which actually expire in a day. You have less time than ever to hook viewers, and this means you need to adapt.

How do you reel in customers with your content if you only have a few seconds?

Know Your Audience – What interests them? What content do they engage with the most? This is why blog and social media metrics are so essential.
Define Your Value – Customers don’t want to hear a sales pitch. As such, you need unique ways to demonstrate why your content, product, and service is appealing and valuable. Don’t take too long to get to the point. Grab their attention and go deeper immediately.
Pay to Play – Unfortunately, paid ads are becoming more common on social media. This is just the nature of digital marketing, but that doesn’t mean it has to be expensive. You can advertise on Facebook, for instance, for a few dollars a day and see big results.

Use these tips above to hook your audience on your content.

Remember, content comes in all different shapes and sizes. Think outside of the box. From blog posts to podcasts to videos, there are different ways to communicate online today.

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Norwegian Cruise Line uses video on Facebook to attract attention

2. Automated Marketing with Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence

Automation is becoming more mainstream in today’s marketing.

This is good news for busy customers who need to focus their limited time and energy on the things that matter most.

Automated chatbots and artificial intelligence make this possible.

Customer service is an important part of curating a quality customer experience today.

Customers want instant answers to their problems and questions, and chatbots are here to help.

Chatbots are automated software that can assist with customer questions, ordering, and even complex problems.

Because they’re created with human-like interactions in mind, they are customized to your unique business needs and won’t compromise on personality.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also growing in other ways beyond chatbots.

For instance, automated tools are monitoring how your customers interact with your website and social media to provide smarter recommendations and timely messages.

For instance, when you add a product to your cart online and you see similar recommendations the next time you visit, this is an automated AI interaction.

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Spotify chatbot in action on Facebook

3. Build Relationships Through Email

Finally, we predict a return to email marketing.

While there’s growth across many different channels of marketing, email marketing has a unique place in customer’s perspectives.

This is because there’s a growing distrust amongst consumers when it comes to social media.

Consumers are highly critical of social media today. They’re worried about data usage, understanding advertisements, and recognizing inaccurate news headlines.

All of these things are making email marketing more essential as a way to connect with users directly and build genuine relationships.

However, don’t rely on old trends for email marketing if you want to grow your open rate.

Follow these best practices:

Segmentation – You’ll need to focus on segmenting your lists to appeal to the right customers at the right time. This means utilizing new technology to collect better data about your customers so you know when your leads are hot.
Long-Form Content – Start thinking of email as a way to deliver quality content to your users. Like blogging, email is a way to communicate value. When people are engaged, they’ll want to read more.
Personalization – Use AI tools to increase personalization in your emails. That might mean sending follow-up emails after a user abandons his or her cart, or sending recommendations.
Mobile – Optimizing your email campaigns for mobile is no longer optional. See here that 1 out of every 5 email campaigns isn’t created for mobile, and that simply won’t fly in 2019.

Email is important if you use it responsibly. Always educate yourself about the latest policies and regulations regarding email marketing.

In addition, regularly trim your email list with an email parser to ensure you’re only using valid, active email addresses.

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Spotify chatbot in action on Facebook

Future-Proof Your Marketing

Now that you know the 3 best ways to supercharge your marketing for this year, it’s time to get to work.

We’ve got a mix of new technology to look forward to, but don’t forget the tried and true: always build campaigns on authenticities and customer needs.

You know your customers best. Make sure you’re choosing trends that will speak directly to them, not the crowd.

If you want future-proof marketing, you need to adapt quickly.

We’re living in a mobile world, and your marketing needs to be ready for all devices.

Ultimately, finding new ways to add humanity back into content marketing, email marketing, and even AI technology is the biggest challenge facing small business marketers today. Are you up for it?