Top 5 Small Business Web Marketing Mistakes

Pass out some cards to friends and family; asking people to spread the word. That should be enough marketing for my small business right? It’s commonly thought that small businesses don’t need to market like the big guys, what with all their fancy billboards and TV ads. In the 21st century, failing to market your small business is like leaving money on the table. Here are the top five mistakes business owners today most commonly make when marketing online.

1. Bothering Your Email Subscribers

The marketing goals of small businesses are often quite different than those of big companies. Most of the target audience knows the big brands through their reputation in the field. Small business owners have to introduce their businesses every time they introduce themselves. The importance of getting email addresses from people in your target market cannot be overstated. It allows you to reaffirm your brand and your solutions to their problems through email – still one of the most commonly used communication media. Whether you’re using a form on your website, or manage to get the email addresses of customers who walk in such as with a contest drawing of business cards; it pays to appreciate them for giving you their information. The first email they should receive has got to be laying on the thanks as well as offering them something of value: a coupon, advice, an article – not a sales pitch.

After a day or two, emails to your subscribers should be designed to show them how you’ve identified their problem. At no point will talking more about you and your business become convincing. They don’t care about you. They don’t even care about what you plan to do for them. Stats, figures, specs, and details – don’t even bother. They want to know if you can address the problem they care about. Empathy must be the bedrock of your emails; you’re building a relationship that will ideally become long-term. Show them you understand the problem first; they will come to you with questions.

2. Taking Loyal Customers for Granted

Having loyal customers is awesome, but it’s no excuse to rest on your laurels. The after-sale period is more crucial than before, since you’ve already invested in the relationship. Once you’ve built enough trust with prospects to make them customers, you have to show them how dear their relationship is to you and your business. Put simply: talk to them. Ask them how they are liking your product or service; if all’s well, ask them to post reviews on Google or Yelp or even request a referral. Asking for a testimonial for your website will make them feel like part of the in-group. Be sure to use the powerful tools of social media to stay in touch through regular posts.

3. Ignoring Strengths and Weaknesses

According to a SEO expert from Oklahoma City, what may constitute as one of the major mistakes committed in the field of digital marketing for small businesses is ignoring the niche sectors of your business. Have you ever conducted a survey upon the strengths and weaknesses of your business? Have you made separate lists of your customers based on the criteria of ‘Most Loyal’, ‘Least Loyal’ and ‘Mid Level Loyal’?

Take for example a local home remodeling company in Oklahoma City. If you want to zero in on the most promising base of customers, it might be those with old bathrooms or kitchens or both. These two areas of homes are most essential parts and because of their long-term association with water, they are prone to damage. Having dilapidated kitchen or bathroom call for immediate steps to remodel them. Promoting a specialty in bathroom or kitchen remodeling will likely go a lot further than general remodeling.

One may go into further sub-niches, like tile replacement, cabinetry and so on to filter out the areas that offer biggest pool of customers for the home remodeling company. Instead of broad marketing campaign that may include broad sale calls or broad blog posts, targeted ad campaigns may offer more profits or at least help you measure it better.

4. Letting Leads Go

Retargeting is a marketing technique made possible by the web. It uses a piece of code to display ads for your business to precisely those viewers who have already shown interest by visiting your website. It is difficult to bring the target audience to your site for the first time, but much easier to bring them back when they are more likely to make a purchase decision. A typical conversion rate – how many of your visitors sign up or buy – for first-time visitors was a dismal 0.48%. For second-time visitors, it rose to 8.2%. If you are not using retargeted ads, you are probably losing several times more business than you’re getting.

5. Using Distracting Language

A branding building company in Oklahoma suggested that website content should be to-the-point, informative, interesting and the choice of words should be professional but simple, avoiding jargon that may alienate an important audience.

More Posts:

  Easy Lead Generation For Start-Ups

Improve Customer Experience with Organized Digital Marketing

5 Ways Digital Marketing Boosts Startup Businesses

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