Not every marketing strategy is a good one. Otherwise, we would all be as successful as the brand giants. For small businesses, adopting the best marketing strategies for small businesses is even more important. No one in the world of small business has the time or money to spend on marketing efforts that don't work.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of marketing strategies for small businesses that simply don't make the cut. Read on to learn more about the marketing strategies for small businesses that you are better off walking away from.
Going Old School
Old school is great, unless you are talking about marketing strategies for small businesses. Then you want to focus on the most accepted and up to date practices.
What are examples of old school marketing strategies for small businesses? In short, anything that requires you to market yourself offline. For example, print advertising, radio advertising, definitely the Yellow Pages, and sometimes word of mouth are all outdated marketing strategies for small businesses.
Not all of these old school strategies are always a bad idea. The problem occurs when you become reliant on those forms of marketing to the exclusion of digital marketing. Even the Yellow Pages have moved online. Most other old school advertising mediums are rapidly shrinking. You need to adopt a modern, digital marketing approach.
Adopting banner ads and pop ups.
If you plan to use banner ads and pop ups as your marketing strategies for small businesses, then you might be better off going old school instead. These marketing strategies for small businesses do get you online, and they do get you in front of your target audience. They don't, however, necessarily get you seen.
Thanks to an overabundance of online ads, many users have developed what is called banner blindness. This term refers to people's tendency to overlook anything on the web page that resembles a banner. They could literally have your ad in front of them and never even see it.
There are ways to overcome banner blindness. Banner ads can be used effectively, if you employ a little bit of creativity. The reality, however, is that you probably need to use other marketing strategies in order to get seen.
Pop up ads can be even less effective than banner ads. By interrupting website visitors, they can lead to annoyance, not the feeling you want customers to associate with your brand.
Using all the marketing strategies
There are lots of marketing strategies for small businesses that you can adopt. Many of them are effective and useful. However, when your master plan is to use as many of these strategies as possible, you are more likely to struggle than you are to enjoy a flourishing campaign.
The main reason to avoid adopting all of the marketing strategies for small businesses is because they don't work equally well for everyone. For example, Facebook makes a better platform for some businesses, while LinkedIn is the way to go for others. Google AdWords is an effective tool for many businesses, but others might benefit from an SEO campaign instead.
In addition, small businesses are often strapped for cash. It can become very expensive and time consuming to keep up with many different marketing strategies. You might find yourself only doing a half decent job at any of them, thereby reducing their effectiveness.
Instead, consider limiting the number of strategies you adopt. Focus on your business' unique marketing needs and develop a marketing campaign that meets those needs. Don't be afraid to leave some ideas behind so you can laser focus on the goals and strategies that will most benefit your business.
When it comes to adopting the right marketing strategies for your small business, you need to avoid the ideas that just won't work. Saying goodbye to old school marketing techniques, finding alternatives to banner ads and pop up ads, and focusing on the strategies that best fit your unique business are the best ways to create a successful marketing campaign for your small business.
If you need help creating this kind of marketing campaign, do not hesitate to reach out to Distinct Web Design. We offer comprehensive digital marketing services that allow you to create a compelling online presence for your small business.
