Updated: Sep 03, 2024 By: Marios
New businesses need to reach out to their audiences to make sales. But how can they do that if they’re starting from zero?
That’s the question this blog answers. We look at the best tactics you can use to establish yourself in your industry and thrive financially.
Build A Community
Top of our list of recommendations is to build a community. The more people who follow you, the more likely search engines will notice you.
For this reason, many small business owners start on social media and build accounts to discuss what they do. Revealing their expertise generates followers which eventually snowballs into something bigger and better.
You can also engage in community-building in online forums and groups. Here, you can have discussions on everything to do with your chosen area and how your services can help people.
Facebook is a good place for this because the barriers to entry are low. You can set something up rapidly – often in a few minutes.
Gather Reviews
The next step is to capitalise on any sales you make to the maximum extent possible. Leveraging existing clients is a powerful strategy for acquiring new ones.
If nothing else, ensure you get a review out of each customer who uses you. Gaining social proof is one of the first building blocks of success. If customers can see positive reviews online, they are more likely to want to use you.
At the same time, it also helps to put testimonial videos into your marketing content. Showing prospects you are already delivering builds trust and confidence in your services.
Optimise Your Conversion Rates
When your business is just starting, you won’t have many leads. Therefore, it’s crucial to get the most out of the ones you have.
The best way to do this is by optimising your conversion rates. The more you can hone your sales funnels, the more successful you will be.
Start by listing your customer touchpoints:
- Website pages
- Social channels
- Etc.
Then, play with the design and format of each and see which yields the highest conversion rates. What’s strange about this process is your guesses are never what customers want. Most users respond best to strange designs and approaches you would never think of.
Because of this, A/B testing is the best way to determine whether a particular setup works. It also lets you keep tinkering until you discover a format that works.
Host Webinars
Some leading commentators say webinars don’t work anymore. But if you’re in a niche that people really care about and can offer real value, nothing is stopping you from trying.
Webinars work when you want to build a team of brand ambassadors who are going to go out and promote you online. People can get to know you better, building trust and putting a face to your brand.
There are several ways you can use webinars depending on your business objectives. Most brands wind up doing Q&A sessions, but you can also use them for product demos and feedback sessions.
During webinars, give your audience something valuable they can take away with them.
Nail Your SEO
SEO also matters a lot to new businesses. Without it, they’re in PPC hell, paying for every click onto their site.
The first step for SEO is keyword research: what are prospects typing into Google when searching for companies like yours?
This step can take a long time if you do it yourself. But these days, countless agencies will do it for you.
The second step is to get your on-page SEO right – that’s everything to do with your site. Here, you need to focus on things like whether images load rapidly or your content has the appropriate meta tags and titles.
Following that, you’ll want to build links from other sites. The more of these that point to your domain, the higher your site will rank.
Whether you use managed backlink packages or do it yourself, it’s up to you. Just ensure any links you do receive are legitimate. If they’re not, Google might punish you.
Leverage Social Media
Small businesses’ main marketing channel is social media. It’s accessible and shows you in all your glory.
However, many startups are prone to making mistakes.
One error is the use of the wrong platform. Brands often assume they are all the same, but the differences can be striking.
X for instance, is best for knowledge-based firms, while Instagram works for businesses involved in food, travel, and lifestyle. LinkedIn is for B2B and Facebook is excellent for companies that serve local people.
Once you have an account running, the next step is to engage your followers and keep them hungry. Things like commenting, polls, questions, or even inviting them to host events using your product or service can keep the conversation going.
You could also get them to produce user-generated content (UGC) showing them using your products and services. Like reviews, this doubles as a form of social proof, encouraging more people to learn about you and what you do.
Use Public Relations Strategies
PR strategies can also help you win. If you’re doing something new, consider working with media agencies on a press release. These insert your brand into the news, grabbing attention and encouraging people to find out more about you.
You can also work longer term with bloggers and journalists. Being someone they turn to when they need a quote can be rewarding because of the brand mentions you get. (Some journalists might even link to your site).
Online Events
Lastly, it can help to host online events to get your business going. Many entrepreneurs do these for free as a service to the community (and a way to build goodwill).
When arranging online events, offer value to your audience. Promise to give them something they want.
Don’t turn the whole thing into a sales pitch or a tool to escalate them to your paid products. Instead, focus on what you do well and use that to build authenticity and credibility. If they want to go deeper or learn more of your secrets, they can pay for your time privately afterwards.
