How to promote your small business

There's one all-too-common misconception that's widely held across the small-business community: Public relations (PR) and marketing are only for large corporations and globally recognized brands. However, you don't need millions of dollars or an international presence to start building your online brand. In fact, according to Fundera, almost 50% of local businesses depend on social media to drive revenue.

With a little bit of work and some strategy on your side, you can leverage the power of digital marketing to grow your small business and attract new customers.

Set your goals
The first step to creating your PR strategy is setting measurable goals that eventually help you reach an overarching business achievement — what that milestone looks like is entirely up to you.

The more specific your short-term objectives are, the better. As you work to build out your strategy, consider the following questions:

• What exactly do you want to achieve on social media? While your first instinct may simply be "more followers," it will take a little more consideration than that. Followers are the ultimate example of "quality over quantity" — having thousands of followers who are inactive is far less valuable than having 50 active ones. Try measuring your overall engagement over time; this will help you to better understand if you're PR strategy is hitting the mark or if it will need some additional tweaking.
• Which consumers benefit the most from your product or service? As your craft your messaging and execute your budding online campaigns, always keep your customers at the front of your mind. Everything you post should speak to the value they receive by using your product or service. 
• What's your target sales income? How long will it take you to reach that goal? Making "more" is every small-business owner's goal, but having a set amount in place — and a specified timeline for hitting that number — will help you and your team to better plan your PR strategy. 

Just remember that every goal you set should be actionable, measurable and realistic. 

Creating clear goals with help give you the guidance you need when it comes to executing your PR strategy.

Experiment with your strategy
No two customers are the same, which means the promotional content that appeals to one potential buyer may fall flat to another.

Instead of using a single social media platform, try posting across any channel that your customers may be interested in. While you generate sales through Facebook, you could be simultaneously building out your professional network on LinkedIn. The benefits of using several platforms to get your message across are clear: Small-business owners who use three or more digital channels in any campaign earn a 287% higher purchase rate than those using a single-channel campaign, according to Omnisend.

It's important to remember that even the most experienced marketer may feel overwhelmed when launching across multiple sites at once. Instead, try gradually building up to multiple, starting with one or two at a time.

Although small-business owners wear several hats when it comes to operating their company, you don't have to do everything on your own. If you have any further questions or need legal assistance, contact the Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, P.C.

Categorised in: Starting a Business in Arizona

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