Find more customers with these 5 marketing strategies

Brave, motivated and ambitious — that’s you. You’ve just started your own business!. But maybe you feel a little overwhelmed with the whole “website” thing or you’re stressed trying to figure out social media. Here at GoDaddy, we get it. We’ve pulled together this list of marketing strategies to make it easy for you.

Get noticed with these marketing strategies

Want more customers? It’s time to say hello to a few marketing strategies for your small business.

Get online.
Start networking.
Automate interactions.
Socialize.
All the other stuff.

Get your name out there with these five simple, yet effective, steps.

1. Get online

Every small business needs to be found. Where will people look for you? That’s right, online, so a website is a must.

GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress enables just about anyone to build a WordPress website — without the technical upkeep. For something slightly simpler, try Website Builder; just answer two questions about your business and we provide a pre-built template for you to customize. Both come with fast hosting, a blog option and a large library of Getty images (for an eCommerce site, check out the advanced plans).

Learn more about what’s involved in building your own website in this step-by-step post.

Marketing Strategies Managed WordPress Template — Just choose a template, swap out photos, and add your own text to build a WordPress website.

Not just any website will do the job; it needs to be device-friendly, easy-to-navigate, look fabulous and most importantly, it needs to appear in a search.

If you sell toys, your website needs to be on the list when people type “toys” into Google.

Say hello to SEO, aka search engine optimisation. It’s your new best friend because with it, you’re going to appear in an online search. And yes, you can do SEO yourself. Here’s how to get started:

Software

For those with WordPress websites, Yoast is an easy-to-use and even easier-to-install plugin that simplifies all things SEO.

There’s a free version with video tutorials that take the guesswork out of content marketing, title tags, keywords, meta descriptions, crawlability, slugs and more. And to see how you’re tracking, you can do a quick (and free) SEO health check with SEOptimer.

Directory listings

It’s time to sprinkle. That’s right, sprinkle a little of yo’self everywhere to make it even easier for people to find you. Start with Google My Business, then add your business to the directory listings on Bing, Yellow Pages and Yelp.

If you serve primarily local customers, find more tips on bringing them in here.

Customer reviews

Testimonials, reviews and ratings — make them part of every transaction. People respond to what other people say. Positive Google reviews and ratings will give you more credibility. It doesn’t have to be hard to ask your customers to leave a review. Just make it part of your “thanks for your business, I look forward to working with you again soon” email.

2. Start networking

Networking is next on our list of top marketing strategies. Business is all about relationships, no matter what industry you’re in. Now that your website is up and running and you’ve got somewhere to direct people, it’s time to network, network, network.

Word of mouth, better known as WOM, is critical for your success. You know someone who knows someone who needs your product or service, and they know someone who knows someone who needs it, too.

Marketing Strategies Networking — The more people you tell about your business, the better word of mouth works.
Photo: rawpixel on Unsplash

If the whole networking shindig is not your thing, well ... take a deep breath because it’s time to step out of your comfort zone and into the buzz of building relationships. There are literally hundreds of business breakfasts, brunches, lunches, seminars and conferences out there. You just have to find them.

To start, you could check out:

Eventbrite to find local events near you.
The small business festivals in your area.
Your local council website, as well as your nearest business network.
Read “It's Who You Know: How a Network of 12 Key People Can Fast-track Your Success” by Janine Garner.

Join like-minded groups on social media, like and follow industry leaders, check out memberships and start having new conversations with new people. Word of mouth works.

3. Automate interactions

Say it with me — automation — you need it, and you need it now. Managing customer relationships is a whole lot easier nowadays and it’s thanks to products like Intercom, Instant Customer and GoDaddy Email Marketing.

It’s not easy to gain insights into buyer behaviour, in fact it can be outright difficult. Guiding your customers through a sales funnel can take time — a lot of time — and energy! Why wouldn’t you want to make it easier for yourself?

More than email marketing and surveys, these tools will help you nurture customers all the way from awareness to consideration and conversion. And the best bit — it’s all automated, meaning you can carry on doing what you do best, and that’s running your business.

4. Socialize

Direct traffic, generate leads and convert customers, all whilst getting social! Honestly, where would your business be without social media?

64 percent of all social media users are more likely to trust a brand if it interacts positively on social media.

Did you know that eight out of 10 Aussies are on social media? Well they are, according to the 2017 Sensis Social Media Report. That’s 79 percent of the population, and a third of them check their socials more than five times a day.

“So, who’s on what?” I hear you ask. Well, a whopping 94 percent of them are on Facebook, followed by Instagram (46 percent), Snapchat (40 percent), Twitter (32 percent) and LinkedIn (18 percent). So get moving with:

Beautiful images from Unsplash, Kaboom Pics, StockSnap and Startup Stock (be sure to credit the source of any photos you use).
Post-scheduling software like Buffer and Hootsuite that allows you to pre-schedule posts.
Tools like Canva for easy (but amazing) graphics.

Pick one social platform to start and post regularly, making sure that four out of every five posts offers something entertaining or useful to readers.

5. All the other stuff!

Marketing Strategies T-shirt — Clients who wear T-shirts with your business name on it are like walking billboards.
Photo: Neal Fagan on Unsplash

The last of our marketing strategies is actually a collection of ideas. It starts with merch — yup, those giveaways with your business name, number and web address printed on them:

T-shirts
Keyrings
Mugs
Caps

If you happen to find yourself hosting a trade stall or you’re sponsoring an event, you’ll want to be prepared. Check out PromoShop, Brandconnect and LogoPro for customizable merchandise.

A few other things to look into:

Business cards — you can’t network properly without them. These babies can be popped out in 24 to 48 hours via Snap, Moo or Ecoprint.
Signage. From cars to your business shop front, getting your sign right is essential. Take a look at Signorama.
Print media, which can be as easy as getting in touch with your local rag and having a chat about advertising. You never know where it could lead.

And let’s not forget radio — Holla at me! The stats speak for themselves. According to research conducted by Radio Alive, 12.9 million Aussies tuned into radio across five metropolitan cities in 2017.

You’ve got this!

Yes, getting into small business can be scary, but here at GoDaddy we want you to succeed, and we hope these marketing strategies will help you along the way. If you haven’t already done so, write a checklist, and start knocking a few things off: