Hot on the heels of our blog post about the top five marketing mistakes we see, we wanted to share some good news! While there is no silver bullet to score overnight success, there are many relatively straightforward marketing tactics you can deploy to up your marketing game and get notable results for your business. We intentionally kept this low tech so as to maximize the effectiveness of this blog post for business owners.
If you’ve already tackled this low hanging fruit, check out our posts on 10 ways to optimize your blog posts for SEO, and our step-by-step guide to creating a Facebook strategy that will engage customers and grow your following.
Here are five easy ways to up your marketing game
1. Claim and optimize your Google listing.
Your Google listing is the box that appears on the right hand of your screen when you search for your company by name on Google (not by the web address). Google brings up a quick snippet full of useful info that users can scan without having to actually navigate to your website, such as business hours, phone number, location, and user photos and reviews. After you claim your Google listing, make sure that all of the details about your business are listed correctly. Not only does this tip give you business some legitimacy, but it makes it really easy for potential customers to find you and contact you. 
2. Ask happy customers for a review.
For better or for worse, public reviews are a major source that potential customers use to decide whether to give you their business. Getting some great testimonials out (on Google, Yelp, or social media, for example) is a crucial way of cementing a good reputation to precede you. Put a link to a review site on your website, send a postcard, or an email blast–just ask! This is one of the cheapest ways to up your marketing game. My dentist gets fantastic reviews by offering a small gift card for any review left on Google or Facebook (good or bad). Here’s a script to get you started.
Hi [Bob], We’re so glad you enjoyed our [widgety widgets]. If you have three minutes, we would deeply appreciate your giving a review on our [Google/Facebook/Yelp] page (linked to the exact place where you want the customer to leave a review). Reviews help other customers find us, and it is the greatest compliment we could receive! Thank you for considering it.
3. Blog once a month.
Our monthly blog posts for a client increased her organic traffic by 95%. Maintaining a company blog, with high-quality content of about 600-1,200 words per post, can do wonders for your SEO. Google and other search engines want to see that you are tending to your website, just as you tend to a garden. Publishing blog posts indicate you care and you’re still engaged, and they give other sites an opportunity to link back to your site, leading to an even bigger SEO boost.
4. Hire a proofreader for your website and marketing materials.
It doesn’t matter how smart, skilled, or professional you are. Three things are always true:
- Typos never, ever make someone want to hand over their money.
- No matter how great of a writer you are, you will miss some of your own mistakes.
- Hiring a second set of eyes to catch your blunders before they leave an indelible mark on your brand is money well spent.
5. Do one thing today to spread the word.
Spend $20 to boost a post or page on Facebook. Create an event on Facebook. Submit your event to free local listing sites. Write and publicize a blog post. Send an email blast to current customers. Call one new sales lead. Connect with a partner organization or discuss cross promotion. Go to a networking event. There are many effective ways to build buzz. Even if your business has been around a long time and you think everyone knows about you, you still need to win hearts and minds, stay current, and stay front and center.
