Firstly, welcome to the first thoughtbubble by little fish digital. I hope these marketing for small business tips help you grow your customer-base without you having to invest money (or at least keep your overheads as low as possible!).
If you’ve got any specific marketing questions, or want some free advice, please drop me an email at chris@littlefish.digital. I’d be more than happy to help.
There are hundreds of articles, videos and blogs pointing out marketing hacks for small businesses. But what's most important when it comes to marketing for SMEs or local companies?
Trust, convenience and knowledge are vital factors that drive sales success for small businesses. You’ve already solved one key problem, offering a solution to the potential customer.
Your product could be an indestructible umbrella - perfect for so many people living in the United Kingdom! They want to stay dry on their way to work, and are always breaking umbrellas. So your product has ticked the problem-solving box, and that’s the hardest part. Now you need to work on the relationship, either to get that conversion or to keep a customer coming back for more (you may need a different product if you’re in the indestructible industry).
Based on my experience in marketing, we’re going to explore one of these factors today with 3 ways to build trust with your customers.
We’ve all seen it where a politician says one thing and does another, it can quickly either frustrate us or make us lose attention. With a small and local customer base, you can’t afford to take that approach. If you’re not honest with your customers, it can erode your reputation - and local customers tend to talk to each other.
It may be a challenge to accept when you’ve made a mistake which has impacted on your customer. For example, you’ve accidentally sold that last indestructible umbrella in stock when it was reserved by another customer! It’s all okay, we all make mistakes - it’s only human.
The best thing you can do is to get in touch with the customer right away - be honest, apologise to the customer and offer an incentive for the trouble caused (such as a discount, or a different product such as those automatic-drying raincoats).
Most people will be appreciative of the apology and transparency. Some may be frustrated, but that’s less likely to be the case compared to if they feel like you’re not being open with them.
Word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective way to bring business in. It also relies on the factors in this small business marketing guide, as the best and most honest services get recommended by friends and family.
Thanks to digitalisation, we can enhance the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Through the use of online review platforms such as TrustPilot and Google My Business you can capture your customer’s reviews online for thousands to see.
There are many benefits of using a review platform:
With a product like the indestructible umbrella, it may sound too good to be true. Your current customers can spread the word that they do work - you can throw one under a steamroller and it will come out unscathed. By providing a great customer service and problem-solving product you make it easy for people to recommend you.
Have you ever had a date that you felt went very well for both parties involved, but you never hear back? In the majority of cases, it’s good to open up a conversation with the customer about their experience. Some customers may want to be left alone, but you can ask during the transaction if they would be happy to have a follow up call arranged. Would you prefer to know if someone was still interested in you or go on never knowing if it was meant to be?
By doing this, you show the customer you are genuinely interested that your product or service has solved their problem. It’s good to leave a few days to give them time to come to an opinion before contacting them. And if you can find a way to show you are being thoughtful, you’ll be able to open up new conversations with your customer.
If you find after-sales conversations can be forced, try tying the timing of your call to an event. For example, Indestructible Umbrellas Ltd could phone their customers just after a heavy rain storm in the area, “Hey, I hope you managed to stay dry in the storm the other day!).
If your customers can’t trust you, they won’t be able to trust that your product offering can solve their problem. Building strong relationships with your customers shows that you are reliable, and so are your products. Being transparent, appreciative of feedback and investing time after you’ve made money are key to relationship building.
In my next article, I’ll talk about how important knowledge is to customers and how knowing as much as possible about your products can set you apart from competitors.
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