Marketing is continuously evolving and if you’re a small business owner looking to grow in 2017, you need to stay on top of the latest small business marketing trends. Before getting into more specific strategies and tactics, let’s recognize that fundamentals should always remain a focus for any business. So, make sure you’ve defined clearly your target consumer and your unique value proposition.
1. Video
Video is on the rise, as more and more content on the Internet is consumed in video format. So, if you’re not already leveraging this medium, you should definitely take steps to integrate it in your marketing.
Here are a few ways to capitalize on the power of video:
- Use an explainer video to concisely communicate to your prospects your unique value proposition.
- Create short videos to creatively promote your company on social media, especially if you have a decent following on one or several social platforms.
- Take advantage of social proof via using one of its most potent forms: video testimonials, Just ask you users to shoot a quick video of themselves giving feedback on your product or service.
- Teach! Depending on your business, educating your market can be a powerful conversion strategy.
2. YouTube
We’ve just covered video at point one, so you might wonder why do we treat Youtube separately? Because it’s the second search engine on the planet, just behind Google. This is huge!
It’s true that video is the format of the content you need to publish in order to get access to this platform. But don’t just think about YouTube as a house in the cloud for the few videos you’ve made so far. YouTube has a huge internal traffic inside the platform itself. If you start building your channel consistently, you can find a large part of your consumers on YouTube. The size of the opportunity depends on your specific market, of course. However, in most cases, this is a golden opportunity.
Go to YouTube right now, enter the main keywords in your market and spy on your competitors channels!
3. Webinars
Webinars have rocked the marketing world in the past few years. These are scheduled video events covering a specific topic. You can teach for example your customers how to do something or how to use your product. The principle is that you offer value first and then at the end, you can pitch or not an offer.
Conversion rates are through the roof, as long as you don’t just sell. You genuinely help people for free and then just give them the option to get even more if they decide to go for the offer.
4. Personalization at Scale
What? Personalization at scale might sound strange at first. However, this is what it takes to succeed nowadays. Consumers demand more. Having a generic approach for everybody doesn’t cut it anymore. Your prospects expect to benefit from experiences and offers tailored to their specific needs and preferences.
So how do you do this? Well, through marketing automation!
There are a ton of tools out there that can tailor your marketing based on the specific actions your prospects take: what pages they click on your site, what emails they open, what products they purchase and so on.
5. Content Marketing
Content marketing is an awesome way to grow your business, especially if you’re on a budget. Creating top-notch content that adds value to your prospects positions you as an authority in your field. Consequently, this builds trust. And people buy from those they know, like and trust.
Check out tools like Buzz Sumo to see what is the most successful content type in your industry. Check out your most successful competitors to uncover the platforms where your target market congregates. Then create awesome content and place it in from of your prospects!