It’s hard to start a business, but it’s harder to keep a business going.
It’s even harder to get more clients online.
But online marketing is becoming more and more critical, especially for small businesses.
There are plenty of online marketing ideas available, so we won’t get into that, but in this article, we’ll discuss the 3 often-neglected keys to getting more clients online.
Power marketing key #1: Understand your audience
Most small businesses make the mistake of targeting everyone, “just in case”, but when you target all, your marketing loses impact. Especially in the digital sphere.
Nothing else matters quite as much as understanding the people who may be interested in what you provide. If you get this foundational step right, the rest of your marketing efforts will succeed because you’ll know how to get the right people’s attention, as well as use the most effective channels.
Understanding your audience on an intimate level is what makes all the difference.
If you’ve been in business for a while, you may already have generated data about your ideal customer. You’ll need to study the data to get a clear picture of what your ideal client looks like.
Data about your current clients can be accessed through any mechanisms you’ve used online to get more clients. For example, Facebook Insights, Google Analytics, and so on.
Other ways to learn about your ideal client are by observing the Facebook Groups where your audience hangs out, reading through Amazon reviews for books about your product/service that your audience reads, and asking your clients questions to get to know them better.
Your goal is to understand their pain points and their words to describe them. What are they searching for, and why? What attracts them?
When you understand their greatest pain points and where they hang out, then you can create an effective online marketing strategy.
Power marketing key #2: Be authentic
Another mistake small businesses make is to think they must copy the competition. While it is important to keep an eye on competitors and to watch what they do and learn from them, you must stay true to your brand.
As a small business owner, your brand is you.
Allow your personality to shine through your brand to make it authentic.
So, when creating a brand, let it reflect your personal values and character. Authenticity is what will differentiate your business from the next, and your customers pick up on it without understanding it.
Be true to yourself and build authenticity naturally just by being yourself.
Power marketing key #3: Be consistent
This is where many small business owners trip up with online marketing: consistency.
That’s because it takes longer to build an organic following, so you have to stay consistent and keep going.
Don’t give up. It can take months of hard work before you start seeing results with online marketing.
The best advice is this: do what you can. And then keep doing it.
It is advisable to outsource to experts because online marketing can be complex, so if you can afford to outsource tasks, do that. But if you can only write a few lines and use a stock image as a Facebook post, for example, do that.
Ensure you stay consistent and keep doing it, even if you see no results for months.
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