By Michelle Deery
Is 2019 the year you’re going to dominate your niche online? If this is your plan, you need to make sure that you’ve got a bulletproof marketing strategy in place for your small business.
Picking and selling the right products is one thing, but marketing is where the potential for scale really lies. If you implement an awesome marketing strategy, it can be the one thing that separates you from your competitors.
In this article, we’re going to run you through what needs to be included in your 2019 marketing strategy.
Put Out Great Content
As a blogger or small business owner, it’s kinda important that your website gets seen. One of the best ways to increase traffic to your site is by pumping out great content. The better your content is and the more relevant it is to your audience, the higher Google will rank it. Moreover, great content has a better chance of getting shared and going viral and, organic traffic can increase if your content goes viral.
If you run a small business, including a blog on your site is a great way to boost sales and overall growth. But what if your content just sucks? The hardest part can be coming up with content ideas in the first place.
One of the best things to do is to think of questions that your customers are asking and then use a blog post to answer them. Not sure what questions they’re asking? Use your social media pages or email newsletter to find out.
You could also pop over to Reddit or Quora to see what things are being talked about that are relevant to your niche, check your website’s analytics to find out what blog posts were popular in the past, or join a Facebook group related to your niche to see what your audience are discussing.
Use Popups Properly
Popups used to be annoying. They’d pop up at the most annoying of times, frustrating the Internet visitor and causing them to bail out of a website.
However, in 2019 popups are back in the game. They’ve got an average conversion rate of just under 10%, which means that you need to start using them.
Wondering what popups are? They’re those forms that spring up on a website, asking us if we want to opt-in or not. If you use them properly, you can boost your conversions and sales.
Timing is key. If your popups load as soon as someone enters a site, you might annoy a prospective customer. On the other hand, if they load too late, you might lose out.
Unbounce has done a lot of research into the optimal time to strike with a popup and decided that 60 seconds makes a lot of sense. It means a prospect has been on your site long enough for you to reason that they’re interested in what you’ve got to sell.
When you use pop-ups, always make sure you’re using ones that are relevant to the right pages. For example, if a popup appears on the “proceed to payment” page asking a customer if they want a free eBook, it makes no sense. The customer was prepared to spend cash, which means now’s the time for the upsell.
Target the relevant pages with the right popups and you’ll be golden.
Offer Free Shipping
Not offering free shipping yet? This should probably change for 2019. Free shipping comes with lots of smart benefits. For one thing, it’s been found that “retailers who always offer free shipping can directly increase revenue by 10%.”
This is one of those instances where what’s good for the customer is also good for business. Of course, there is a caveat. For example, if your warehouse is in Texas, you can reduce the minimum purchase for anyone who lives in Texas while increasing it for states and countries further afield. In this way, you don’t lose out while the customer hardly loses out. It’s good marketing and good business.
Exploit Reviews and Testimonials
Got some excellent customer reviews and testimonials in the bag that showcase your business’s excellence? Then get flaunting them!
Leveraging customer reviews need to happen in 2019. Customers put a lot of trust in a review from a fellow customer. In fact, as much as 9 in 10 people put a lot of faith in a review.
If you’re a small business owner struggling to make headway at the moment, it’s time to start showing off your reviews. Put them on your landing page where people can see them.
Remember that any reviews and testimonials you display absolutely must be authentic. Trust is key. If you break trust with consumers via a fake review, the damage you do to your brand will be irreparable.
How to get a customer review or testimonial? Get it as soon as possible and ask for it via email. I suggest waiting 3 days before emailing them with a link to the review submissions section. Don’t be afraid to send up a reminder email, too.
Install a POS Card Reader
A POS card reader integrates with your inventory and makes it easier for you to sell your products online and offline. Crucially, it makes it easier for your customers to buy from you.
Because a POS card reader integrates with your inventory, it means there’s no chance you’ll sell an item that you’ve actually run out of because your inventory is automatically updated each time there’s a sale. This means customers aren’t left feeling frustrated when they buy something only to be told it’s no longer available, while you’re not left red-faced.
If you run a Shopify store, you can download a Shopify POS reader that syncs up your entire business onto one dashboard. It helps you to get more organized and boosts the customer experience.
Conclusion
These are the best ways to scale your small business marketing strategy in 2019. Implement these strategies and see what your customers respond to best. Of course, always ask for their feedback as their opinion is what matters most.