It is estimated that United States consumers will spend $327 billion online by next year. This means that every business venture should be finding ways to get their slice of the pie.
In addition to offering great products and services, and exceptional customer services, there are simple changes a small business can make to stand out and boost revenue.
Here are ways to stand out among larger competitors.
Modern Website Design
Smartphone and tablet web browsing increase each year so having a mobile friendly website is essential. Implementing a responsive website design will keep your business from having to maintain multiple versions of your website because the design automatically adapts to the user’s devise and screen size.
Keeping up with mobile technology can put smaller businesses on the same playing field as larger competitors. Going mobile is key for small business growth because it provides the opportunity to reach more consumers where they spend most of their time browsing the Internet – on mobile devices.
Creating a mobile app can put a company ahead of the game and help it stand out among competitors.
Social Media and Email Marketing
Reaching consumers has never been easier with social media. Your social assets should include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+. Consider this:
- Facebook has more than 1 billion monthly active users
- Twitter has 255 million monthly active users
- Instagram has 200 million active users
- Google+ has 540 million active users and is essential to ranking with Google search
Social media has become the go-to inbound marketing strategy to attract visitors to your website and stay in touch with prospects and customers.
Email marketing is still the best way to connect with new customers and keep your existing customers coming back. Even more effective than social media, email marketing should include offers and content that is valuable to your prospects and customers.
There are several options for email marketing service providers, and in some cases the service is free depending on the number of contacts you have in your database.
News Media Coverage
Just imagine if your company gained coverage on your local news or even better, on a national channel like CNN. Press coverage is something that every company should strive for so here are a few tips to get noticed:
- Write a news releases about your business and send it out to local new media and newswires
- Make contact with a news outlet and reporters to invite them to cover news about your business
- Offer your expertise for interviews and quotes about industry-related matters
Customer Loyalty
A customer loyalty program can increase your customer’s lifetime value and ultimately revenue. Customer loyalty programs are proven to work. Entrepreneur reports that Starbucks increased revenue by 11 percent and profits by 26 percent by implementing their loyalty program.
Loyalty programs can be integrated into your point of sale system. You can reach your customers quickly and affordably without punch cards, plastic or paper coupons. Plus, with online reporting, you get all the information you need to track your success.
Blog Posting
Writing and publishing blog posts on your website is an effective form of content marketing. It allows your company to be a thought leader and authority on topics related to product or service offerings. Search engines place importance on new content and inbound links a website. Creating useful content for your target audience can accomplish both these.
Competition is fierce and small businesses have to pull out all the stops to encourage consumers to try their brand. A small business can't only depend upon the fact that they offer a superior product or service – they have to find ways to stand out among larger competition.
