The 19 Best Online Marketing Strategies For Small Business
So you are ready to start expanding your small business with digital marketing. This is a great step because it can help you expand your customer base and generate leads for your small business. If your small business marketing plan doesn’t yet include an online marketing strategy it needs to. While there are many online marketing strategies that work, the good news is that you don’t need to use them all when you are just getting started. Start with one or two, master them, and then add more from there. You could also just hire a marketing agency like ours to implement them all at the same time. Regardless if you do it yourself or hire someone to do your marketing, in this post you’ll learn the 19 best online marketing strategies for small business.
Create a website
The first essential online marketing strategy for small business is to create a website. A website is going to be the foundation of most of the marketing you do for your business and will work as the hub for your business.
In today’s age if you don’t have a website set up for your small business it is a major red flag for potential customers. Most people who hear about your business for the first time will want to do some research on you before they buy from you.
When people are in research mode, the first place they go in most cases is going to be your website. Your website can also help you to build credibility for your business, pre-qualify leads, and help generate sales on autopilot.
Some key elements to include on your website are a headline that defines who you are and how you help people, the benefits of working with you, not just features, and content to educate potential customers.
We’ll dive deeper into what to include on your website to maximize your online presence for your small business later in this post. Just understand that if you don’t have a website set up yet for your small business, you need to as soon as you can.
Google My Business
Do you have a Google My Business page set up for your small business? Using and optimizing a Google My Business page is one of the best online marketing strategies for small business because it can get you a lot of local exposure.
Have you ever searched online using terms like “lawn care service near me” or “computer repair service near me” or anything similar? Most people have, and when they do Google likes to show people the top Google Maps results for those things.
Well, you’ve probably guessed it by now, but having an optimized Google My Business page is how you get your business to show up on search results like this for the service your small business offers.
Now there are several factors that go into optimizing a Google My Business page beyond just having one. You want to make sure you pick the right category for your business, list the services you offer, list the hours you are open, and more.
Another thing that Google really likes to see on your Google My Business page is photos. Post real photos of your business regularly. These can be your staff, performing your service, the processes you use, and more. Also, focus on getting as many positive reviews as you can as this can help improve your ranking on Google Maps.
If you don’t have a Google My Business page yet, click here to set one up.
Directory listings
Remember the Yellow Pages? If not, maybe I’m just old, but they are basically a directory listing of all the businesses in your area in the phone book. Technology has come a long way since then, but the same concept still remains.
The new version of these listings is citations and directory listings. One way to improve Google search ranking is by having more quality backlinks to your website.
By listing your business in various online directories and citations it can help build authority for your website and help to drive targeted traffic back to your website. There are some services that can set up many of these listings at the same time or you can also go into each directory and manually add yourself.
When you do list your small business in these directories make sure the business name, address, and phone number are consistent. Google and other search engines will look for that and if it’s not consistent it can be harder to rank well. Below is an image of some of the most popular directories that you can list your small business in.
On-site SEO
Onsite SEO is one of the best online marketing strategies for small business because it can get you targeted traffic to your website virtually forever. The major downside to using SEO is that it is not an overnight results marketing strategy.
This doesn’t mean it isn’t worth using, it certainly is, but you just need to have proper expectations for results from SEO. Onsite SEO is a marketing strategy that builds up relevant keywords and content on your website your ideal customers are searching for.
There are likely hundreds if not thousands of keywords your ideal customers are searching for every day that could potentially lead to a sale for your business. Are you utilizing those keywords to their full advantage? If you aren’t using onsite SEO as a marketing strategy for your small business the answer is probably no.
Most people think that SEO is crazy technical and complex. If you dive deep into the details aspects of it certainly can be, but many of the key aspects aren’t that difficult to implement for your small business.
Check out the video and infographic below on some foundation onsite SEO tips you can implement in your small business marketing.
Content marketing
Another online marketing strategy for small businesses you want to implement is content marketing. Content marketing works in conjunction with SEO in that the content you make needs to be optimized for specific keywords to be the most effective.
Content marketing is when you make content like videos, blog posts, social media posts, and other pages on your website that provide value and educate your ideal customers. In addition to that, when the content is combined with SEO strategies you can attract your ideal customers to your content and website.
When you create content that educates and that answers your ideal customer’s biggest questions and helps them with their problems, it positions you as an expert and builds a lot of trust and credibility. When a potential customer sees you as an expert that can help them, it is much easier to sell them your services as a small business owner.
Depending on the content you make it can also work as a method of advertising your small business on a passive 24/7 basis. We’ll cover more on each type of content marketing strategy below, but make sure this is included in your small business marketing plan.
YouTube
Video marketing is one of the most powerful online marketing strategies for small business because it can generate traffic, leads, and sales passively. We talked about the power of SEO and video marketing on YouTube works in a similar way.
When you create a video on YouTube and choose the right topic it can be considered evergreen content. This means that you spend time making the video once, but once it is published it can work for you virtually forever.
By combining SEO with your video content on YouTube a video you created years earlier can generate targeted traffic and leads for your business today. On top of that as you continue to build content over time you can eventually reach the point of having your channel monetized.
This means that YouTube will show advertisements on your videos and give you a small payment for each view of those videos. It may not be a lot when you are just getting started, but over time it adds up.
Plus, who wouldn’t like to get paid for making content that promotes their own business? On top of that, video marketing is one of the best ways to build trust, rapport, and credibility with viewers. Using videos in your online marketing strategy is something every small business should do.
Blogging
Depending on the type of small business you have, you likely will have several types of content you create on your site. As a foundation, you’ll likely have your home page, about page, contact page, service pages, location pages, and also blog posts.
Blog posts are great for educating your ideal customers on topics that they need to know that can help lead them closer to a sale. Blog posts are also a great way to target keywords that are not direct searches related to your services.
For example, CoachMikeMacDonald.com focuses on business coaching and providing done-for-you marketing services to business owners. So keywords like business coaching and marketing services are important to target but so are related terms. Some of these could be things like time management, sales tips, lead generation, and more.
Blogging can greatly expand the reach your small business has online and should be a marketing strategy you implement. If you need help with blogging check out this post on how to write the perfect blog post.
Develop a lead magnet
Another one of the essential online marketing strategies for small business you should implement is developing a lead magnet. Understand that most people who visit your website for the first time will not be ready to buy from you.
Many people who see your content or visit your website for the first time are going to be in research mode. They either aren’t sure if your product or service is right for them, or they haven’t decided you are the right company to work with.
Either way, you want a way to have a way to capture information on the people who visit your site without buying. You can do this with a lead magnet offer in exchange for a name and email and even a phone number.
There are a variety of options you can use as a lead magnet such as an ebook, PDF download, video series, and more. The key to having a high-converting lead magnet is to offer something that helps to solve your ideal customer’s biggest problem.
Also, you want your lead magnet to be congruent with your end product offer. For example, if you sold a weight loss product, your lead magnet might be an exercise program.
Once people download your free offer, your product or service should be the next logical step to get even better results. When your lead magnet is structured this way it avoids seeming pushy when you promote your small business.
Create and sell digital products
In addition to making a lead magnet, you might also consider creating a digital product you can sell to new leads. This marketing strategy is called a tripwire product and it is a low-cost offer that further benefits your new leads.
It isn’t as expensive as your full main offer, but it brings people further along in the sales process. Typically these products range in price from $7-$27 depending on how expensive your high ticket offer might be.
The reason for this is the barrier for people to buy is much lower when the cost of the product is very small. With this strategy, you can help offset the cost of your advertising and it can help you recoup your investment quickly.
Then when you sell your main offer on the back end you can be even more profitable. Following this marketing strategy, it can make scaling your small business with paid advertising more effective.
Similar to lead magnets a digital product could be things like an ebook, cheat sheet, video series, audio training, and more. For example, a low-cost digital product we have is our FORM Recruiting Machine Blueprint Audio Training.
This teaches business owners effective sales techniques, scripts, and conversation starters, to generate and close more leads and sales for their businesses. Check out the video below and this post to learn more about How to create and sell digital products.
Create a membership site
A step beyond just having digital products is to create a membership site. The concept is similar but instead of just one or two digital products you have many and even special content just for members.
Then instead of charging a one-time fee for individual digital products, you charge a monthly membership and members get access to all of your products. You might include things like group coaching, members-only webinars and calls, special pricing on products for members, and more.
This is a great online marketing strategy for small business because it can help you generate additional revenue each month, and help maintain a loyal customer base. Having a monthly membership fee that generates revenue each month can also help balance out your cash flow if you offer high ticket items.
If you don’t have a lot of big sales each month it could be hard to have a consistent revenue. However, if you have digital products and a membership site generating income it can help balance the ups and downs of your business.
Revenue from these membership site sales can also help you generate additional income you can re-invest back into the growth of your small business.
Email marketing
The Fortune Is In The Follow Up Click To TweetYou’ve probably heard the above quote if you’ve been in business for any length of time, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Certainly, personal follow-up is important but there are ways to automate some of the follow-up and sales process with email marketing.
Email marketing is one of the best online marketing strategies for small business because it uses automation to leverage your time. A tool you want to use to help automate your online marketing strategy is an email autoresponder.
This is a tool that you can use to leverage your time by having emails automatically sent when someone submits their information. If you don’t yet have an email autoresponder I’d recommend Aweber. It’s very cost effective and it’s an email auto responder I’ve been using for years. You can try Aweber for free here!
Plus as you create content you can send broadcasts to your entire list in a few minutes. This can send a ton of targeted traffic to your content and offers at a tiny cost compared to other advertising strategies. Check out the video below on an online marketing strategy to promote your offers through email marketing.
Twitter Marketing
One online marketing strategy for small business that a lot of businesses don’t fully utilize is Twitter marketing. Twitter is a great social media platform to market your small business because it isn’t as hindered by algorithms as some other social platforms are.
For example, having a Facebook business page and posting there regularly used to be a great marketing strategy that got a ton of exposure for your small business. While having a Facebook business page and posting there is still important, it has really become more of a pay-to-play platform.
This means that if you want lots of exposure on Facebook you need to run paid advertising. Running paid ads on Facebook works very well, but if you need an organic traffic option Twitter can work extremely well.
This is because when you post all of your followers have the opportunity to see the content and it isn’t suppressed. The larger the following you have, the bigger potential exposure you can get with each post about your small business. Check out this post and video below for more details on building an effective Twitter marketing strategy for your small business.
Instagram Marketing
Instagram marketing is another one of the best online marketing strategies for small business because you can build a following there quickly. Marketing your small business on Instagram allows you to reach new potential customers by posting photos and using hashtags.
As a small business, you can post photos that are related to your service with things like before and after photos, photos of your staff, and photos of your process. You can also use photos to drive traffic to your website and business.
For example, you can put a link in your bio to your contact page, lead magnet, or request a quote page. Then if you post a before and after photo you could have a call to action telling people if they are interested they can click the link in your bio for more info. Also, use the @ symbol with your username to make it a clickable link back to your bio!
Check out this free Instagram marketing training to learn more about building your small business with Instagram. Then if you really want to dive deep and learn to generate daily leads on Instagram, check out our Instagram Marketing Mastery course!
Building a Facebook group
Another great marketing strategy for small businesses is to build a Facebook group. Groups are powerful marketing tools because as the admin of a group you can promote content to a group filled with your current customers and ideal customers.
Similar to your Twitter account you can also pin a post to the top of a Facebook group. This can allow you to build social proof through likes and comments on the post easier as new people join your group.
The theme of the group should be related to your small business and the products or services you offer. For example, if you were a contractor and remodeled homes, you might make a group based around DIY and home improvement.
Now a great place to build this group is in other related groups on Facebook. These groups are typically already full of your ideal clients and you can simply post about your group there to drive people to your new group. Just first be sure to check with the rules in the group to see if that is allowed before you start posting.
Another way to grow your group is to offer it along with another lead magnet or as your lead magnet. For example, as a lead magnet, you could offer special training or extra exclusive content in your group and give people free access.
You could even charge to have access to your group depending on the content you post and what group members get access to. It could be another revenue stream for your small business similar to a digital product you might sell.
Networking on social media
In addition to building your own group on Facebook, you also should network in groups to help find quality prospects. A great strategy to use in these groups is to post about a problem you know you can help with and that many members will have.
For example, if you sell nutrition and weight loss products you could post something related to that. You could put a comment saying something like, “Just curious if you’ve tried diets like Keto, Atkins, Low-Carb, etc., and can’t seem to lose any weight? Let me know if you’ve struggled to see results.”
Now you’ll often get a flood of comments and engagement where you can simply reach out to each person individually. Don’t jump right in for the sale, but get to know them and ask more questions to further learn about their problems before trying to offer a solution.
Check out the video below for more details on using Facebook groups as a marketing strategy for your small business.
You can follow this same strategy of networking on other social media platforms as well. Find where your ideal customers hang out be it in groups, or by who they follow, and then connect with them.
Once people follow you back, become your friend, etc., then you can start the conversation which could lead to an eventual sale. Check out my FORM Recruiting Machine Blueprint Course to learn the exact scripts and systems to recruit and sell this way.
LinkedIn marketing
Depending on what industry your small business is in, LinkedIn marketing could be another great online marketing strategy to implement. LinkedIn marketing is usually better suited for business to business or to reach professionals.
While you can obviously find professionals on other social media platforms, LinkedIn is usually best suited for this by its very nature. For example, if you are trying to market your small business services to other business owners, CEOs, or upper management types, you can often sort your search results based on these terms.
If you know your ideal customer typically has a certain job type or career path, you can often find these ideal clients on LinkedIn. Once you search using these filters, the next step is to send these people a connection request. There are a couple of ways to do this, you can write a personal message, or use no message at all.
Personally, I’d recommend the no message approach, because so many people on LinkedIn get this part wrong, and the message comes out spammy. For this reason, if you write a connection message, most people may ignore your request immediately.
Instead, save your initial message until after someone has connected back with you. At this point, you can send a message thanking them for connecting with you. From there you can include a short intro about yourself and how you might be able to help them.
Use LinkedIn more as a networking tool, vs trying to sell right away and you’ll see better results. Only move into selling when there is a natural opening to.
Webinar marketing
Another great online marketing strategy for small businesses is webinar marketing because it can allow you to leverage your time. Webinar marketing is similar to the concept of email marketing where you can write one email and reach thousands.
Instead of an email you can use a webinar and can present your message to hundreds of attendees at once. Plus, webinars are usually live, and so it’s almost like being with you in person which can improve your closing rate.
Webinars are usually very effective because they can focus on educating potential customers first, and then lead into selling them on your small business services. This can help lower buying resistance because you aren’t going for the sale directly.
Instead, you are showing how buying your product or service is the next logical step for someone dealing with a problem your small business can solve. Check out this blog post to learn more about using webinar marketing to grow your small business.
Facebook advertising
If your organic traffic strategy is working well and converting and you are ready to scale your small business, you should consider Facebook advertising. Facebook advertising is a great online marketing strategy for small businesses to help them scale quickly.
Organic traffic from things like content marketing and SEO work extremely well, but they don’t get results overnight. Many small businesses, maybe don’t have time to wait for those strategies to kick in and see results.
Or if your small business is already converting customers organically you might want to start scaling those results with paid ads. Typically Facebook ads are a great place to start because you can reach your ideal customers with your content and offers in a cost-effective way.
You can run paid ads on Facebook for as little as a dollar a day. Obviously, you won’t see huge results from that, but you can get your foot in the door with a smaller investment compared to other paid advertising strategies. For example, if you wanted to run a T.V. advertisement it might cost you thousands of dollars with little to no targeting.
When you run Facebook ads you can target specific ages, demographics, interests, and even people who have already been to your website. To learn more about running profitable ads, check out this post on how to run Facebook ads for small businesses.
Google Ads and PPC advertising
If you have a larger advertising budget, running Google Ads or PPC advertising is another great way to market your small business. Google Ads work a bit differently than Facebook ads as they are search-based vs interest-based.
With Google Ads, you’ll be targeting your ads at people that are using specific keywords and search terms. This can be a great way to advertise because you are usually going to target search terms that have a high buying intent for your small business.
For example, if you had a roofing business you might target keywords like “roof repair” or “roofing estimate”. Likely people using terms like that are in dire need of your services, or at the very least are in the research stage of hiring a business like yours.
The downside to running Google Ads or PPC campaigns is that you usually need a larger advertising budget compared to Facebook advertising. Since there are only so many keywords that have a high buying intent for your niche, these keywords can be very competitive.
This means that the cost per click, depending on your industry, could be rather high. With that being the case, your ad spend budget can quickly deplete if you don’t know what you are doing, and may not be profitable if your offers on the back end aren’t converting. For this reason, it’s recommended that you either hire an agency that specialized in running paid advertising and make sure you are converting sales organically before running PPC ads.
Conclusion
As you can tell there are a lot of online marketing strategies for small business that you can use effectively. Unfortunately, many small business owners try and use all of them at once before seeing any results in one strategy.
Instead, master one marketing strategy and begin to see results before trying to add in new ones. You may also want to hire a marketing agency instead that has experience with all of these strategies instead of trying to figure them all out on your own.
Each strategy has its own unique advantages and disadvantages, but whatever you choose, you’ll likely want to combine an organic strategy with a paid advertising strategy. This way you can be building an organic foundation for traffic, leads, and sales, that come in passively, and can also generate results quickly with paid ads.
All of these online marketing strategies can work for your small business when you work them, and consistency is key. Expecting overnight results for any of these marketing strategies will result in disappointment.
Certainly, some of these marketing strategies can get results quickly, but it’s best to set proper expectations and to have proper goals for results from online marketing. When you implement these strategies it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be seeing more traffic, leads, and sales for your small business!
