Small Business Online Marketing: Growing Despite a Low Budget

A lot of small businesses are looking for ways to stay afloat due to the effect of the pandemic. And with the pandemic far from over, online marketing for small businesses continues to provide immense value to businesses that are exploring online marketing to expand their reach and revenue.

Most small business owners are cost-conscious and are consistently looking for ways to trim their budgets while making a profit at the same time. The advancement in science and technology has made it possible to promote your business without requiring a significant monetary investment.

There are tools that have been developed to aid small businesses to thrive despite a low budget, and they work really well for this pandemic era.

All you need is to put together a couple of small business online marketing strategies which I will discuss in this blog post.

Start A Blog

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Blogging is an effective small business online marketing strategy. When used correctly, it can bring about potential benefits to a business.

According to WordPress, more than 400 million people read over 20 billion blog post on their platform.

Posting consistently on a blog is a way of increasing your SEO, generating traffic to your website and establishing authority

You can create a blog for your business with very little money and it’s relatively easy to set up. All you need is a name, a blog design, and the best platform to host your blog.

Create a Website using WordPress and design it using customizable themes. Sign up for a free account and use their platform to promote your products and services and write about how people would benefit from your services.

Note that your content must be valuable, relevant, and consistent to improve your SEO and rank more in the search engine result pages.

2. Use More Video Content

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Online marketing for small businesses can also be done using videos.

Video marketing is not new and marketers have used video successfully on their blogs, websites, and social media for several years to generate leads. However, the importance of video marketing lately has increased tremendously.

Viewers today consume more video content than any other form of online marketing.

Making video content doesn’t have to be a difficult task and you do not necessarily need high tech gadgets to make videos. With your regular smartphone, you can record and edit awesome videos that will deliver your message to your target audience effectively.

Some Apps will help you make these videos easily and quickly. Viva Video, Inshot, Filmorago, So Loop, are among hundreds of great apps you can use to create videos.

If you are a tech person you, could also use some more professional apps like Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effect, Final Cut Pro, Corel Video Studio, or use the regular Microsoft Video Editor that comes with your PC.

3. Engage More with Social Media

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Engaging your audience on social media and building a community online is a free way to establish your online presence while expressing your brand’s personality and building trust and loyalty with your audience.

It is estimated that over 4.2 billion people are active on social media, this means if you have a business that is not on social media then you are missing out on potential leads and customers.

Invest in the right platform, you don’t have to be in all social media platforms to have a successful online marketing presence. Find out the platform that makes the most sense to your small business online marketing efforts. For example, what works for a catering service might not work for an auto mechanic company.

Another thing is to find out which platform your audience is the most effective. You can determine this by conducting a research or survey.

4.Make Use of Hashtags

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Another cost-effective small business online marketing strategy is incorporating hashtags on your social media post.

Adding hashtags to your posts can help improve social media engagement by allowing more people, who are searching for a particular content under a particular hashtag, to see you.

Be careful not to overuse hashtags. Instagram allows up to 30 Hashtags per post, it is advisable to keep it between 9 to 11 to get the most engagement.

Adding one or two hashtags per tweet is ideal to help make your posts more searchable.

5.Post Great Content Consistently

Posting content that is relevant, engaging, and attractive is another way of growing your business.

Posting consistently leaves readers wanting more of your content.

Make sure you create content that is informative, entertaining, and beneficial to your audience.

Note that posting too much content can choke your readers and audience. It is best to post quality content once to twice daily.

Create a content calendar to create your content ahead of the stipulated time you want to post.

By creating a calendar you would have an idea of what you want to post, what time you want to post it, and on what platform to post it. This makes small business online marketing more efficient.

6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

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Google’s algorithm is designed to bring up the most accurate, high-quality, and relevant content for any given search query.

The advantage of SEO is that it levels the playing field and enables small businesses to compete with large competitors for page one real estate. This could be a real game-changer for your small business online marketing.

Although local SEO can take some time, it is absolutely free.

If you start now and keep working on it, the benefits over time can be huge.

Add location-based keywords like Ikoyi Bakery, Agbowo Shopping Mall to the titles, headings, and body of your main website pages.

Get your business listed in online directories, making sure your information is identical across platforms.

Publish pages or blog posts specific to the neighborhoods you are based.

Optimize your website for mobile-friendliness and easy navigation and  publish relevant and high-quality content

7. Plan an Email Marketing Strategy.

Email lists are often overlooked by startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. Interestingly, research has shown that the majority of marketers report that email marketing serves as a top channel for lead generation.

For every $1 spent on an email marketing campaign, companies achieve an average of $44 in ROI.

It’s consistently found to be more effective than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social channels.

Emails are more likely to be read than social media posts, and the clickthrough rates are amazing!

An email automation platform like MailChimp or Constant Contact is worth the expense if you can afford it for your small business online marketing.

8. Create a Free Google My Business account

Google Business Profile has become one of the most effective free online marketing strategies available.

If you have a local business you can Google my business to fill in your business profile for free.

This free listing allows your business to show up on Google Maps, the local section of Google Search, and the right-side Knowledge Panel for branded searches.

But in order for your Business Profile to show up higher on Google Maps or local results, you have to optimize your Business Profile.

To optimize your business profile, you need to have verified ownership through your Google My Business account.

The strategy will be one of the core topics you’ll research and include in your plan.

If you already have an established business but struggling to grow it, this is your chance to put your business back on a strong path to success.

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