Did you realize that nearly 81% of American consumers spend time researching brands online before using them? Making a great impression on a potential customer is only possible if your business has an online presence. Not only will you need a website and social media profiles to create this presence, you also need to develop a marketing strategy.
As you develop an outbound and inbound marketing strategy, take some time to list the challenges you are currently facing. Knowing business marketing challenges can help you devise a plan to overcome them. The following are some common small business marketing challenges and what you can do to avoid them.
1. The Inability to Create Viable Sales Leads
When trying to grow your small business, you will need to create a buzz about the products/services you offer. One of the best ways to do this is with the power of online content. Most business owners create content on both social media and their own blogs to drive traffic to their website. Once a person arrives on your business website, you need to make sure they know the next step in your sales funnel.
If the existing content on your website is not optimized for maximum lead generation, it is time to make some changes. Ideally, you want every page on your website to have your unique selling proposition and effective calls to action. A call to action will provide the reader with information about what they need to do next. If this part of your content is informative and engaging, you should have no problem getting more sales leads over time.
2. Edging Out the Competition is Difficult
Dealing with competitors is something all business owners have to do. When developing a website or a marketing strategy for social media, you need to take a look at what your competitors are doing. As you look at the online tools your competitor has in place, you need to think about how to beat them at their own game.
If your main goal is to make your business appear trustworthy and legitimate to online consumers, then using the power of social proof is imperative. This social proof is usually provided in the form of positive online reviews. Showcasing the positive reviews your company has received is crucial when trying to beat the competition. These reviews show potential customers that your company is willing to go the extra mile. Making a positive impression on a consumer can help you grow your bottom line and your online reputation.
3. Dealing with the Restraints of Your Marketing Budget
Small business owners do not have an unlimited pool of financial resources to devote to their online marketing efforts. This is why entrepreneurs develop a marketing budget either every quarter or every year. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when developing your budget is failing to use data to see where your money needs to be invested.
Tracking the success or failure of your existing marketing campaigns is important if you want to avoid budget issues. For instance, if you are getting a number of leads from social media, you need to devote more time and money to explore these platforms. Making these informed budget decisions can help you maximize the impacts your marketing campaigns have without wasting money in the process.
It’s Time to Plot Out Your Marketing Journey
By using the information in this article, you can avoid common marketing problems. Working with a marketing professional is usually the best option for inexperienced business owners who want to increase the number of online leads they receive.
