Small Business Marketing: 3 Strategies to Boost Your Online Presence

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for small businesses. Whether you're a local coffee shop, a boutique clothing store, or a professional service provider, your customers are online – and you need to be there too.

But with so many big players to compete with, ever-changing technologies and endless marketing jargon, where do you start?

Don't worry, we've got you covered. Here are three strategies to help boost your business's online presence, even if you're not a marketing guru or tech wizard.

1. Understanding the Customer

Before diving into the online marketing world, it's crucial to know who you're trying to reach. Understanding your customer is the foundation of any successful marketing strategy.

You have an advantage here! One of your superpowers as a small business is getting to know your customers. You likely already spend a lot of time interacting with them and considering their needs.

Create customer personas

Think about your typical customer. What do they want? What are their common complaints? How much disposable income do they have? How often do they buy?

Write down two or three examples of typical customers and write down as much information as you can about their spending habits and motivations.

Having these personas in mind will help you make decisions, like whether:

• To run a promotion. Will my customers jump at a chance for a discount?
• To write a post on social media. Are my customers online and likely to see it?
• To introduce a loyalty scheme. Do my customers make repeat purchases?

Catering to your audience will give you an edge and save you precious time.

An estate agent will have little luck selling houses to teenagers. Equally, a garden centre will struggle to shift garden furniture to people living in apartments!

How do I get this information?

Maybe you already have a good sense of who your customers are, but if not, here are some simple strategies:

• Ask them! You likely interact with your customers every day. Identify some customers you know, and next time you see them, ask what they’d like to see more of, and why they come to you over your competitors. Perhaps get some feedback on whether they’d be interested in a promotion or new product you have in mind.
• Conduct surveys. This doesn’t need to be anything fancy. If you run a brick-and-mortar shop, consider some feedback forms. Or, if you have an email, send out an online survey. There’s lots of free services you can use, like Survey Monkey or Google Forms.
  • Tip: This is a great opportunity for promotions to drive even more engagement! Why not offer a discount for those who provide feedback, or an opportunity to win a prize?
• Analyze your website data. If you have a website or social media site, you may have analytics tools at your disposal. Which can provide valuable insights into who's visiting your website and what they're interested in. These tools are built into many social media sites, like Facebook and Instagram, and popular website hosting services, like WordPress and Wix.

Remember, the better you understand your customers, the more effectively you can reach them online.

Online marketing platforms, like Pillion, Ahrefs or Semrush can help with this. Pillion’s AI-powered platform is a great choice for small businesses. It’s affordable and simple to use, and can analyse your page content, and those of competitors in your space, to understand what content will resonate with your audience.

2. Optimize for Local SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps your business show up in search results. Making sure your SEO is optimised for your local area can help drive visits to your site.

The local bit is really important! If you’re competing against big local companies, you can stand out by making sure those looking for products and services in your community find you first.

Here are some tips to improve your local SEO:

• Claim your Google My Business listing: This free tool from Google allows you to manage how your business appears on Google Search and Maps. You can provide a website link, contact details, and opening hours to make sure customers can reach you. Plus, encouraging customers to leave a positive review will give a big boost to how you show up in the rankings.
• Use local keywords: Include your town, city or region in your website and social media pages. Search engines will pick these up, and boost your ranking for searches in your area.
  • Tip: Are you an online business selling nationwide or internationally? Try to include references to your niche, or other features that make you stand out. For example: “Great deals on bikes” will face a lot of competition. “Great deals on mountain bikes for beginners” is more specific, and will target that audience better.
• Create local content: Write blog posts or create pages about local events or news related to your business. Include references to your brand and product to drive traffic to your site.

Speaking of which… Many SEO optimisation and tracking tools exist, like Pillion, Google Analytics and Semrush. Pillion takes the complexity out of SEO, with simple breakdowns and human-readable insights and suggestions for you to act on.

3. Leverage AI for Content Creation

Creating fresh, engaging content can be time-consuming, and a bit daunting if you’ve not done this before. This is where AI can be a game-changer:

• Generate content ideas: AI tools can analyze trending topics in your industry and suggest content ideas that resonate with your audience.
• Write drafts: AI can help create initial drafts for blog posts, social media updates, or product descriptions, saving you time and effort.
• Optimize your content: AI can suggest keywords to include in your content to improve its visibility in search results.
• Personalize your messaging: AI can help tailor your content to different customer segments, increasing its relevance and effectiveness.

Remember, while AI is a powerful tool, it's important to review and add your personal touch to ensure the content aligns with your brand voice.

We hope this provides a bit of inspiration for where you can start to grow your online presence.

Need help getting started? Pillion, our AI-powered service can assist you with content creation, local SEO optimization, and social media strategy. Let technology do the heavy lifting while you focus on what you do best – running your business!