Five Common Sense Marketing Ideas To Help Small Business Increase Sales..
From www.push.com.ng
Many small business owners are looking for simple ideas and tactics to help increase sales.
Below are five practical small business marketing tips to help you increase sales.
These tips, combined with our free simplified small business marketing plan worksheet, will help any small business owner find new customers, increase sales and get more business from the inquiries you get every day.
1. ADDING POWERFUL CONTENT TO YOUR WEBSITE
If this is the only thing you do, this exercise will pay you back greatly over and over again.
Have a note pad and pen handy.
Overview:
Various studies reveal that as many as 70% of today’s consumers make their purchase after researching their needs online. In other words, your future customers are doing their homework. It’s no longer whether they will use the internet to help them make their purchasing decision but where on the internet they’ll find answers. When folks can’t get answers on your site, they get frustrated.
And ‘Frustration’ is the ‘F-Word’ of today’s online economy.
You can be that resource they turn to for the industry you’re in. You already have the tools – it’s the experience you have from talking to and working with the customers you serve. Use that experience to provide value on your website and you’ll find the conversations you have with potential customers will become more valuable to your business. Providing value helps to build trust that your business is experienced in the areas customers care about. Providing information helps to build you as a thought leader in your industry and the place to turn to for help.
Here’s how you get started:
First – Start by focusing on the one service or product your business does well and you want to sell more of. You can repeat this for other products and services later but for now just focus on your one key money maker. This should be the one thing you know most about, the one thing you do over and over and the one thing you can speak to with no hesitation.
Second – Without filtering yourself, start writing down every question you’ve received from customers you sell this product or service to. Think of everything – nothing is too simple. Think of the objections you overcome, the things that cause the most anxiety to your customers and the questions you answer over and over again. Aim for at least 50 questions.
Third – No matter how big that list is, break it up into three areas: Top priority, Important, and Fringe questions. Top Priority are the ones that happen most frequently and help you provide the most value to your customers. Important are the things that serious buyers ask you and you want to have answers for. Fringe will be the questions that happen once in a while.
This categorized list will give you a fantastic base for developing powerful copy for your website. It will help you better inform potential customers and help you present consistent answers to the questions you receive most. Most importantly, it will help position you as a voice of authority and experience in your field – because the truth is: your competition most likely doesn’t have this done either.
In the age of the informed digital consumer, having your website be a resource of information and not just an advertising platform will provide your business the greatest return on investment of all items listed here. Ranking high in search engines is good, yes. But it’s value you provide once you’re found that is the key to making the most of the website traffic you earn.
2. DEVELOP YOUR WELCOME KIT
This doesn’t have to be fancy but it should cover the basics. It can be printed and put into a folder or reside as a PDF but it should be readily accessible to folks with or without a computer. Think of the type of customers you’re looking to attract, the kinds of questions they ask and the answers they are most often looking for. Frame your welcome kit with those things in mind so you can proactively being to make a positive, meaningful impression from the first interaction. Be sure to include:
• A list of your services
Simple, clear language that can easily be digested by someone not familiar with your industry. It’s best to think in terms of how customers receive benefit from what you do.
• A few case studies on how you’ve provided value to previous customers
It’s good to get a cross section of case studies that represent the various types of customers you serve and solutions you provide. A case study doesn’t have to be more than a few paragraphs outlining what the problem was, what solution you provided, and the outcome of the engagement.
• Answers to questions most commonly asked
Don’t forget the questions that don’t get asked but should be! Remember, customers turn to you for advice and direction because you’ve been there and done this far more than they have. Deliver answers to meaningful answers they haven’t yet thought to ask and you’re on your way to building a relationship. (note – this makes for fantastic content on your website as well).
Customers like to know who they are dealing with and the more personal, human, and real you can make the information, the more likely you are to build a connection.

3. BUILD AN EMAIL LIST
Outbound communication in the form of consistent emails is a low cost, highly effective way to stay connected with your customers and provide value on a regular basis. One of the easiest ways to start a plan is to have a list of email specials that you send out once a month. Beyond that, creating multiple lists based on interest categories is an excellent way to be specific with the type of information you send to your customers.
Integrating a form into your website to gather emails is an easy and effective way to grow your email list.
4. ASK FOR CUSTOMER REVIEWS
seeing comments from folks who have actually engaged in your services is extremely powerful. Having testimonials on hand accomplishes two key things:
• It provides objective proof that you do what you say
• It lowers the anxiety of the unknown
Anytime you can lower the anxiety and provide proof you’ll be able to strengthen the sales opportunity. And while testimonials you share are powerful, so too are online reviews.
Getting an online review program is a great way to build credibility and sales power for your social media accounts. Getting accounts set up for Google+, Yelp, Bing Local, and Yahoo Online will enable you to request reviews from a variety of areas. Depending on your business, sites like TripAdvisor, UrbanSpoon, or Zagat may be of tremendous value in getting your information and reviews online.
When it comes to getting your reviews posted, don’t be afraid to make a courteous and sincere ask of your customers to post their experiences on the various sites. Experience shows us that businesses that take the time to make a thoughtful ask will see reviews grow.

5. CREATE A LOCAL MEDIA / INDUSTRY MEDIA LIST
you don’t have to be a public relations pro to communicate and provide information to the local media. Local media outlets are always interested in knowing what types of things businesses are doing.
To build your list, consider the various types of media in your local area (tv, radio, online, print, social media) and find out who the contacts would be for your business.
A great way to find this information is to visit their respective websites and go to the “contact us” sections. For instance, if you are in Maine, here are some media resources that can help you connect to the appropriate person serving your industry: