Marketing Ideas for Small Business | SnapGiant

Marketing a small business can be challenging. To start with, marketing in a small business is not your only focus. You?re busy running a business ? making sales, producing a product or service, and handling the books. Additionally, there are so many ways to market a small business ? traditional advertising, digital advertising, social media ? that the simple idea of marketing your small business can quickly become overwhelming.

But don?t worry!? Here are 5 quick tips you can start today to begin marketing your small business:

1. Start a blog

Blogging helps you market your small business in two ways: 1) It provides new content for search engine optimization, and 2) it positions you as an expert in your field.

Your content should be a mix of what you?re working on, issues that surround your industry (and how you solve those problems), and what?s new and exciting for your business or industry.

Give out tips, but don?t give away the farm. By giving your potential customers a taste of what you can do, they will want to work with you rather than trying to do it themselves.

2. Join or start a Meetup group

Meetup.com is an online forum for meeting people with shared interests who want to get together in the offline world for activities and networking. Look for 3 types of groups:

1. People with interests similar to yours (fellow small business owners, for example)
2. People you would likely sell to (perhaps larger business owners or consumers)
3. People you just want to have fun with (it?s like a way cooler book club)

It?s important to network with like-minded people as well as people who you could potentially do business with. People tend to buy from those they know, like, and trust, so get out there and start knowing some new people.

3. Say ?Thank You?

One of the most important tips for marketing a small business is to be grateful for the customers you do have, and to share your appreciation by saving them a little money.

A coupon or discount code can do wonders for keeping current customers, and you?ll be surprised how many people pass on the tip to their friends. ?To do so, you can announce the coupon or discount code on facebook, twitter, your blog, through your email newsletter, or through text ads to loyal subscribers of your mobile text messaging campaign.

Another way of marketing your small business could be to offer a discount to customers who send you referrals and say ?thank you? to the referrals with the same offer!

4. Leverage LinkedIn

Nearly 150 million people use LinkedIn, and you should definitely be one of them. It gives you unlimited opportunities to stay connected with the people you already know as well as connect with new prospects (helping you market your small business).

You can also join groups that can keep you connected with your industry and your customers? interests. Since LinkedIn is a searchable database, be sure to completely fill out your profile and use keywords relevant to your industry. ?Who knows who might be looking for your services?

5. Always Be Marketing

This may go without saying, but the best marketing for a small business is to always be doing it. Make every effort to ensure that your audience knows who you are and what you do. Give yourself a catchy title or phrase that will make it easy for people to remember you. At the end of the day, the small business with the biggest name wins!

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