Marketing your small business is important to raise your brand awareness and build a pipeline of qualified leads that can turn into customers.
If you’re struggling with a limited budget, time restraints, or even a lack of direction, a solid marketing plan can provide guidance as you scale your business.
Here are 5 tips to consider when initially starting your marketing plan:
- Know Who Needs Your Help
Understanding your target market’s pains, problems, triggering events, and priorities is essential in effectively marketing to them. Spend time networking and talking to other small business owners. Find out what they struggle with in their business. Read industry blogs, join online entrepreneur groups or listen to small business podcasts. Targeting the right audience with your value proposition can make all the difference in having a successful marketing campaign and attracting clients.
- Set Yourself Apart from Other Small Businesses
What do you do that will differentiate you from others in your space and make your target market feel that you’re the VA to go with? What do you do better than anyone in the industry? What talent or experience will resonate with their pain points? Conveying this makes a compelling argument to learn more about you and your services.
- Be Strategic
Start small and be scrappy. Figure out where you spend your time online and start there. Use free online tools or invest in a paid Google ad or sponsored Meta post. All these options are an effective and budget friendly option to start with. As your business starts to scale you can invest more time and energy into larger marketing goals and more sophisticated online tools.
- Leverage Current Clients
Your current clients can easily help you with your marketing by sharing your social posts, adding you to their newsletters, and providing word of mouth referrals. Don’t be afraid to ask them for their help by mentioning your business to their network. As long as there is reciprocation, this can be a win/win for everyone.
- Have a Professional Visual Identity
Having a logo and an easy to navigate website can make a difference in attracting customers. Having a unique branded identity (as previously mentioned) is important for your professional online presence. There are free and inexpensive options for designing your logo or website online, or you can also reach out to freelance graphic or web designers who can provide you with design assistance and website building tools.
BONUS TIP: Hire a virtual assistant to help you in the areas of marketing that you may not be confident in. Social media markting, graphic design, and email marketing are a few areas where hiring a VA a few hours a week (or more) may be worth the investment. We are always here to help you find the right virtual assistant that will become an asset to your team.
