Marketing can be confusing, expensive, and seem like a luxury to a lot of business owners. It shouldn't be though. However, there's more folks like the business owner that I spoke with yesterday that told me he didn't need any marketing than I think most marketing agency folks care to realize. According to this guy, all he needed was just to have people tell their friends about the good work he did for them. What he didn't know is that what he was looking for is actually a form of marketing called Word of Mouth Marketing!
While he understood the impact and the need to have more of it, this wasn't something he directly associated with having a marketing campaign, nor was he eager to look for other ways that he could let more people know about his services. I find that happens a lot with smaller family businesses, so let's take a look at some different types of marketing and how you can use it to make your business grow!
Digital Marketing:
In today's world, digital marketing is essential for any business. Small family businesses can benefit by creating a website, optimizing it for search engines, and engaging with customers on social media platforms. Businesses can improve their search engine rankings and attract more website traffic by creating valuable content for their website, such as blog posts, videos, or infographics. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can be used to engage with customers, share news, and promote products or services.
Word Of Mouth Marketing:
Word-of-mouth marketing is based on the idea that satisfied customers will tell others about their positive experiences. Building personal relationships with customers can help generate positive word-of-mouth for small family businesses. Encouraging customers to leave reviews on online business directories or social media platforms can also help attract new customers.
Experiential Marketing:
Experiential marketing involves creating a memorable experience for customers that they will associate with the brand. For small family businesses, experiential marketing can involve hosting in-store events or workshops, creating unique product packaging, or providing customers samples or coupons. Small family businesses can also participate in local festivals or events, showcasing their products and services.
An experiential marketing agency can help by developing ideas and leveraging different types of tactics that might be too expensive or complicated for the business itself to execute on their own. For small businesses, an agency like that might also be able to put together a group of similar businesses that can then work together to create an experience that draws people in at a more scalable rate than if you simply tried to go it alone.
Outdoor Advertising:
Billboards, posters, and banners are all examples of outdoor advertising. For small family businesses, outdoor advertising can be effective in attracting customers who live or work nearby. Placing a billboard or banner in a high-traffic area can help increase brand recognition and attract new customers.
Direct Mail:
Direct mail involves sending promotional materials to a targeted list of customers. For small family businesses, direct mail can be used to build relationships with existing customers or attract new ones. A small family business can send flyers, postcards, or brochures to a targeted list of customers, highlighting new products or services, promotions or discounts.
As you can see, not all marketing is the same and it is like any other tool. You gotta use the right tool for the right job. When you use these different marketing forms together, a business will begin to benefit from synergies that make them more powerful than simply doing one tactic or another in isolation.
Web Marketing:
Online marketing covers a wide range of topics and they all require some expertise. From logo design to branding, there is a lot to cover. Just building a website that reflects your online personality can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are expert services available. Professional designer such as Cullen Fischel of Cleveland, Ohio can help establish your business as an online powerhouse, utilizing modern design methods for increasing and accelerating sales.
Content Marketing:
Content marketing is a marketing strategy that involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. This can be part of digital marketing or it might be part of offline marketing ... depending on what kind of content you are using to attract leads or influence consideration with.
Content marketing aims to build trust and strengthen relationships with potential and existing customers by providing interesting, informative, and engaging content. Content can take many forms such as blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, e-books and more.
The content usually aligns with supporting a strategy related the business's products, services, or industry. For example, a company that sells organic beauty products might create a blog post on the benefits of natural ingredients in skincare. The aim is to educate customers and raise awareness of the benefits of using natural products. By creating valuable content that helps people solve their problems or learn something new, businesses can attract potential customers and retain existing ones.
While traditional advertising methods like print or TV ads interrupt people's attention with an obvious sales pitch, content marketing is more subtle. By providing valuable and informative content, businesses can position themselves as authorities in their industry, which can help build trust and brand loyalty over time.
Overall, content marketing provides a cost-effective and long-term approach to building brand awareness, engaging customers, and driving sales for businesses.
For instance, if you use direct mail to promote an experiential marketing event where you then collect emails in exchange for access to a piece of content ... wow! That's the sort of stuff that will take your family business to the next level.
