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YES YOU CAN! But remember to expect the least impact from it. Investing in a diverse marketing plan will expedite the growth you're looking for. It is understandable that during this period with Coronavirus around the globe, you wanted to minimize your expenditure. Regardless of where you choose to invest, your business will need marketing in order to grow and thrive, both during current events and beyond.
What to Expect Without a Marketing Plan
Without a marketing plan, your company’s growth will slow, and could even stall. There will be very few new customers, and existing customers may not know about new products or upcoming sales, reducing their chances of becoming repeat customers.
Because of this, we recommend that every business has at the minimum a basic marketing plan to help reach new customers and stay connected with existing ones.
Even with the unpredictability of a global and local disruption like the Coronavirus, you can use your marketing strategy as the foundation for all content you need to grow your company.
Know Your Goals
Every marketing plan needs to begin with a goal. From that goal, you can backtrack to discover where to begin. These are the most common goals for businesses:
- Increase top-line revenue.
- Launch a new product.
- Increase lead generation.
You’ll notice that growing social media followers isn’t included. While this is a result of a strong marketing plan, followers don’t necessarily translate into sales, which means we need to focus on revenue-driving areas like the three listed above.
Once you know your goal, it’s time to determine the best type of marketing to help you reach it.
Ways To Do Free Marketing
1. Post (and engage) on social media
Increasing social media engagement and building a community online is a free way to grow your small business while expressing your brand’s personality and building trust with your audience. Create business accounts and participate in the big social media sites—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and more. This is something you can do whenever you have a few minutes to spare.
You can:
- Promote your blog posts, which drive traffic to your website.
- Directly dialogue with followers to express your brand voice and garner more engagement.
- Run polls and request feedback.
- Take excerpts from longer forms of content and create quick and informational posts that are easier to digest.
- Whatever your motivation, make sure you are regularly active and proactive on the social media accounts you create. Think consistency, community, collaboration, and commitment.
2. Do some local SEO
The best part about Google’s algorithm is that it is designed to serve up the most accurate, high-quality, and relevant content for any given search query. It does not pay to play, so this levels the playing field and enables small businesses to compete with large competitors for page one real estate.
Local SEO is free, but it can take some time, so start now and keep working; the benefits over time can be huge. Here are some local SEO must-dos:
- Add location-based keywords (think: "Portland bakery") to the titles, headings, and body content of your main website pages.
- Get listed in online directories, making sure your information is identical across platforms.
- Publish pages or blog posts specific to the neighborhoods you serve.
3. Develop an email marketing plan
Email marketing is a great way to get new visitors engaged with your business, as well as maintain relationships with your existing customers. And though email marketing isn't new, it's still one of—if not the—most reliable ways to achieve a strong return on your marketing investment. Here’s how to ensure that:
- Put thought and creativity into your subject lines.
- Make sure every email has an offer that encourages your readers to take the next step.
- Track your performance and run A/B tests to see what copy and offers resonate with your list.
Some more easy email marketing ideas:
- Get new website visitors to sign up for your newsletter by offering a bonus content piece or coupon/discount for subscribing.
- Slowly nurture your subscribers via email until they are ready to become paying customers.
- Start your promotional email campaigns with a free email marketing service like MailChimp.
How Long It Takes to See Results from Marketing
Most marketing, especially blogging and social media will take time to grow. Expect to work on these platforms for at least three to six months before seeing strong sales-based results. With email marketing and paid advertising, results can typically be seen within two to three months in normal times.
While both business and consumers are recovering from the Coronavirus, you may see a longer period from implementing your new marketing plan and sustained growth.
Like with most things in business, though, anything worth it takes time. Remember that you’re building the foundation now for a strong, thriving company in the future. Continue to monitor your company’s marketing over time, and see what is and isn’t working during this time.
Are you ready to boost your business? PM Eryn now!
