The movement to recognize and support women-owned small businesses and local shops has gained more traction. After all, small business growth is good for the economy. However, small companies typically do not have the marketing budgets to compete with the big guys.
Small marketing budget. Challenge accepted.
After all, we’re women. We’re resourceful and resilient. We’ll get creative with our outreach and marketing efforts to make an even better and more impactful connection with our dream customers.
5 Strategies for Scaling Your Business Without Hiring a Big Agency
Optimize Your Online Presence to Attract Customers
That’s right. Online marketing is the most affordable avenue to advertise your business. My #1 go-to advice is to optimize your website and social media channels for SEO continuously—the keywords your target market is searching for.
How to rank on Google? Start with your keyword research. One free tool to utilize is Google Keyword Planner. The Google Ads account is where you’ll find the keyword planner. However, you do not need to run an ad to grab this valuable keyword data relevant to your industry.
After you log in, go to Tools < Keyword Planner. Then select Discover New Keywords. Type in your products or services, then enter the website link. Click, Get Results. Now, you will have a list of keywords and how much traffic they generate to create an SEO list for your business.
Google Search Console and Ask the Public are great tools for generating keyword ideas.
I also recommend taking your research one step further. Enter a few of the top keywords you’re selecting into Google search. As you scroll down, you will see a section titled People also ask and People also search for. These sections will give you ideas about related keywords and phrases.
If you were my client, I’d create a Google sheet with these keywords and incorporate them into my website and blog copy.
Make Your Website a Powerful Customer Generation Tool
SEO Content
Even if you have the best website design for a small business, if you don’t utilize keywords effectively, you won’t attract attention to your products or services. The first thing we’re going to do is use the keyword research you conducted in step one. You will sprinkle those keywords into your website content.
Additionally, make sure you rename the images you upload to your website with keywords. An image titled IMG2541645 will not rank on Google, but an image titled marketing-tools-for-women-owned-businesses will.
Mobile-Friendly & Fast
You will likely lose that user if your website won’t load quickly or is hard to read on a cell phone. These website mistakes are hurting your sales. Plus, it just sucks because you did everything right to get them there. Your website is an essential part of the customer journey that oftentimes gets overlooked.
Use a tool to compress your JPEG file size. You can do a Google search for a compression app or tool. There are many available for free or a nominal fee. Yes, JPEGs are already compressed files, but they can be even smaller without jeopardizing the quality using these compression tools. We want smaller file sizes because they help improve your site speed.
Clear Copy & CTA
Be clear about what you do, how to work with or buy from you, and anything relevant for your customers to know.
How to get more leads online: Include CTA (Call to Action) links or buttons throughout the pages on your website. Examples of CTAs could be: Let’s Chat, Sign Up for Our Email List, Book Now, or Get Your Exclusive Offer.
Do you feel too overwhelmed and don’t know where to start? Grab the Brand Audit for your website to gather straightforward information and a fresh perspective.
Attract with Social Media Strategies
How to get customers from social media? First, you need to show up on a schedule you can keep. If that’s posting 2x a week, great. If that’s posting 5x a week, that would be even better. The consistency for your posts needs to be a schedule you can keep. Be realistic with your time and expectations.
Keep in mind that your posts need to
- attract,
- be catchy enough to hook or pull someone in and
- create the desire for more — from you!
One thing you need to understand about using Instagram marketing for your business is that each post option has a different lever it can pull. Think of the various options in a funnel format. The top of the funnel is new people. You get those people to notice you through reels. In the middle are carousels and posts where you will nurture your audience, build trust, and show your authority on what you’re offering. And, finally, at the bottom are your stories. These people value what you say and share—bringing them the closest to a sale.
Don’t believe the hype that hashtags are dead. They are good for one thing—connecting you with people who search those terms. If you don’t use top search terms in your copy, adding them as hashtags is a good idea.
Lastly, engage before, during, and after you post. When people take the time to comment or DM you, respond. Instagram is a social platform. The goal is to engage and be social. This also gives you the opportunity to build a connection, which is wildly important for us small business owners.
Happy Customers Are Your Best Marketers
Customer acquisition is one of the most expensive stages of your customer journey. Providing exceptional customer service is key to your growth. In addition, happy customers are your most valuable tool for word-of-mouth marketing.
Reviews & Testimonials
People rely on and are encouraged to purchase when they are validated with positive and helpful reviews and testimonials. This is also why it’s so important to create a connection with your customers. It is 10 times easier to ask for reviews if you have already built and nurtured that relationship.
Repeat Business
Enhancing customer satisfaction to boost repeat business will benefit your bottom line. You could offer a customer referral program with a bonus or discount. You could ask for their email address or mobile phone number (a must with or without a referral program) to send up-and-coming launch information or VIP offers and discounts. Overall, make it worthwhile for them to stay connected with you.
Share on Social
Finally, don’t forget to encourage them to tag you on social media when they share their purchase from you, whether it’s unboxing the product or working on training they purchased from you. When they do this, take it a step further and say thank you! These little touchpoints go a long way. To be honest, we don’t see this much these days, so it has such a positive impact.
Get Their Digits
Well, actually, get their email. Email marketing is still one of the most underutilized and highly effective tools for small business growth. Bonus, it’s actually a rather inexpensive digital marketing tool.
- Add an email sign-up form or pop-up on your website and connect it to your email service provider. We want to automate whatever we can to save you time and stress.
- I put mine above the fold on my homepage, as well as on my contact page.
- To collect their email address, make it enticing with a limited-time offer, a special discount, or a free download.
- My best email marketing tool has been a free download for my social media marketing planner. It helps solve a pain point: planning content, making sure the content is well-rounded — hitting different content pillars throughout the week, and 100 ideas to help generate new content.
- This free download is not cheesy. I made it worth sharing your email. In fact, I could charge for it and have seen many people selling a very similar product. Plus, it shows my years of social media management and content creation expertise. It’s a win for me and a worthwhile download for a potential future customer.
Now that you’re getting emails don’t just let them sit there. Ensure you utilize an email funnel (hello automation) and email tips, industry news, special offers, or newsletters—always keeping your business front of mind.
That’s a Wrap
The most significant difference for small businesses in attracting customers is that they cater to people and connect to their emotions. These marketing tips to grow your business and sales work in tandem. You’re heading in the right direction as long as you continually show up where your customers are.
Look at these five tips this way: You’re bringing them in with social media reels and nurturing them with posts, carousels, stories, and website content. Then, you’re making sure you’re unforgettable by offering incentives, creating a lasting connection, and getting access to their email.
Which strategy will you try first? DM me on Instagram (@kelly.collide.studio), and let’s chat!
Do you want the social media content planning download, too? Here it is, bestie! Enjoy!
