Highly Efficient Marketing Tips to Grow a Small Business
It’s time to incorporate some highly efficient marketing tips into your firm’s marketing plan. Is your small business stalled or just not growing at a rate you think will get you where you want to be? I’m not just talking about only for this year, but over next year or five years from now.
Do you feel like you are moving forward, but in slow-grow mode? Or, have you stagnated and been in the same situation for too long? The good news: you are not alone. Far too often things happen that interfere with marketing efforts.
Perhaps you have been moving along smoothly for a long time. Then, a big – huge – order comes in. Or, a big client gives you their major project to handle. Those unexpected, larger than usual orders and projects are always welcomed. As a matter of fact, they are downright exciting! They are what we all dream of and work for. Other important tasks, unfortunately, get pushed aside and neglected. Sadly, it’s marketing that comes to a halt. Things get dropped so we can begin processing that new, big purchase order or project in our revenue stream. It becomes an “All Hands on Deck!” moment.
But, that’s good news, right? Of course it is – sort of. The part that is not good news is the extent to which the firm becomes overwhelmed. Then, all time and efforts are pulled only in the direction of that one project or sale. Suddenly, everyone starts focusing on that profitable new revenue stream item. Other important work on your business is pushed aside to do the best you can for those important clients and customers. Important work like marketing and attracting more customers goes to the back burner and just sits there. That is not good.
Drawbacks of Failure to Market Consistently
Failure to market on a consistent basis is never a good thing. Sure, those big orders and contracts absorb everyone’s attention and efforts. You have deadlines. There are tweaks and edits to make along the way. Orders must be made and expedited to assure timely arrival. Meetings and conference calls with clients occur; meetings fill schedules. There are plenty of product or projects specifications to develop and details to work out. All eyes and minds focus in that one direction and everything else drops lower on your priority list.
Once you fulfill that major order or complete the big client’s project, then what? Marketing has been ignored or set aside. No new customers are in line to become your next buyers. All attention and focus was only on that one big deal and making it a success. No thought went in to the ‘after’ that would coming along before you know it. As the project comes close to completion, you realize there are no prospects waiting in the wings. Once the revenue stream from that sweet project/sale stops, where will you pick up generating revenue from other sources? No marketing went on while the whole team was helping complete the current project/sale.
Marketing is not a part-time task. It needs to happen religiously, all the time, to be effective. Making new prospects aware of your firm and it’s solutions regularly is important. Bringing new prospects into your firm’s sales funnel lets you build relationships and that Know-Like-Trust factor. When they are ready to move forward, you want to be their top of mind resource. Share your knowledge and skill set with the over time. This helps position you as their go-to solution provider.
6 Highly Efficient Marketing Concept Tips
Identify Your Ideal Industry Market Sectors.
Efficient Small Business Marketing should never take the shotgun approach. What’s that mean? Well, think about the ammunition shotguns use: long, cylindrical casings filled with a lot of small pellets that spread over a wide area when they go off. The idea is to improve odds of hitting your target with one or more of the pellets. But, there is little control over where the pellets will hit the target. Far better control occurs when a single ‘bullet’ is pointed at a target. To hit the bulls eye, carefully aim and fire at the center of a target. Learn about and focus your efforts and marketing budget on members of your Ideal Market. Don’t waste time and money marketing to the masses if they aren’t all likely to buy from you.
Know the Challenges Your Ideal Customers Face.
What keeps members of your ideal market group(s) up at night? What do they worry about? Do they face challenges that you can help resolve? What internal and external trends and changes are occurring that can affect their ability to grow and succeed? If you don’t know, find out. Call up previous or potential clients, do a survey, but find out. If you don’t know what they need, how can you provide it?
Deliver Clear Marketing Messages of Outcomes and Solutions You Provide.
Package your products and services in ways that will be seen as solutions for specific challenges and pain points. Show you understand their issues and can offer solutions to get them back on a strategic path to successful growth and prosperity. Whether you are using a Social Media page, Social Media Advertisements or a Blog, send the same clear messages to your Ideal Market you have. Let them know you understand their challenges and can help fix them.
Make Marketing Messages Clear and Concise.
Show prospects you understand their industry challenges and have a way to remedy them. Speak to them in simple, easy to understand dialogue, not a blur of industry and small business marketing jargon they won’t understand. If their eyes glaze over when they see your efficient marketing messages, you’ve lost them.
Calls to Action.
Don’t assume prospects know what their next step is. You need to TELL them what their next step should be: “Call Me/Us at xxx-xxx-xxxx today!” “Schedule a consulting call now.” “Download this ‘freebie’ to help you [fill in the blank].” “Download these free tips on [fill in the blank].”
Create an Awesome ‘Prospect Magnet’
What is a Prospect Magnet and what does it do? Like any magnet, it’s function is to ‘attract’ and pull in traffic to your company website. Why? Once you attract potential new customers, you can market to them and convert them to qualified new customers.
Your ‘magnet’ can be a tip sheet or cheat sheet about something challenging their industry – ideas or how-to achieve something of value to them. White papers and case studies can also be useful in attracting qualified prospects. Then, in exchange for their contact information, offer one or more short videos to introduce them to a process you have developed. These magnets put prospects where you can tell them your story and how you are the best solution for their challenges and problems.
Time to Prepare for MORE Major Sales and Projects.
Avoid all of the overwhelm that a big sale can bring in. No one can do their best work, or make the best impression when they are under that kind of pressure. To avoid it, use some of these efficient marketing tips to plan an automated marketing process or system. Why? It will allow some or all of your marketing efforts to continue even when all of your team 
needs to focus in other directions. Briana Morgaine, content marketing specialist for Bplans, recommends automating whatever tasks you can. And establishing processes and using them whenever possible.
If necessary, find the resources to bring in someone to deal with marketing alone. Or, outsource some of the workload to someone who can give your marketing and sales the attention it needs and deserves. Or, figure out that one brilliant marketing idea and run with it.
Is it time grow your company into one that can handle more large scale, highly profitable projects or sales? I’m referring to bigger projects that won’t require you to pull staff from their important work to help. And, I am guessing ‘Yes!’ it is that time.
Big projects are great. We love them. We need them. But, they should not stop other work that needs to continue daily. If this scenario sounds familiar, it is probably beyond time when you should have brought in some help. Or, maybe outsourced some of the mundane tasks that make a business succeed. Time to put your ‘Strategy’ hat on and make some plans for your future in a small – yet profitable and well run – business. We should talk.
