Creating a business in a climate of ever increasing competition takes careful planning. The marketing efforts of a business are essential and directly linked to its success. While a company may have the ability to provide first rate services to customers, these are of little benefit financially without the backing of a marketing strategy:
Some proven methods include:
Registration with the Chamber of Commerce
Advertising of a permanent nature
Advertising locally
Setting up effective keywords for website access
The benefit of registration of a company with the Chamber of Commerce is that it provides an opportunity for networking with other businesses within the geographical area of your business. This opens the doors to the possibility of increasing the network upon which small businesses depend.
Strategies of advertising in a cost effective manner are dealt with in two specific areas which can be defined as Permanent advertising and Occasional advertising, Let us explorer these varying strategies further.
Permanent advertising.
The opportunity for small businesses to profit from their initial placement in Yellow Pages is often overlooked or neglected. By paying attention to detail, and adding keywords to advertisements that widen the scope of the search made by potential customers, a company is maximizing their permanent advertising. Yellow page advertisements are of a permanent nature, and thought should be given to presentation as this is the front door to your business.
Here, taking care to note the catchment area of the Yellow Pages, a business may be able to advertise in adjoining geographical editions, thus maximizing the impact of their advertising to include a larger population of potential customers.
Occasional advertising.
Of a more specialized nature, occasional advertising offers the company a chance to highlight those areas of business that are timely, and to use local press to their advantage, drawing customers towards offers that are irresistible. This type of advertising is expensive, yet by careful planning of timing, the company can achieve better results than advertising every week. This will aid in drawing the seasonal specialties of the company to the attention of those seeking services.
For companies that produce services, or products that fall within the definitions covered by local specialist magazines, taking the opportunity to enlighten readers and gather customers through recognition of the company brand helps build a larger database of clients, specifically targeted by interest. For example, an article on a new brand of car would be more noticed in a car publication than in a general subject non-targeted publication.
Keyword success for the local business website
Keywords unlock possibilities of success and should never be under-estimated. On written text, inserting keywords into text at regular intervals, without seemingly stilted and intentional distraction, reaps great reward. As a small local business, the keywords should include reference to the locality, and to gain greater impact be appraised for effectiveness measuring traffic and making the necessary adjustments in subheadings until maximum impact is achieved.
Marketing tactics
The small business success depends upon clever marketing as well as planning of permanent advertisements which maximize exposure of the services or products offered by the company. Together, coupled with a marketing plan that takes into account changes in the market or seasonal fluctuations, will increase your ROI substantially. Strategic planning in the initial stages of the set up of a company is the backbone to success.