How Small Businesses Are Finding New Customers
We all know that finding new customers is the life line to small businesses. Many are turning away from traditional marketing customer acquisition methods such as newspaper, direct mail, yellow pages as these mediums have been dying over the past couple years. Online marketing methods such as a small business website, search engine optimization, Google Places, social media and text message marketing have shown huge increases from 2010 to 2011. Certain methods such as mobile marketing and social media also stand to show the highest increases as we move towards 2012.
a February 2011 survey by Bredin Business Information showed 85.8% of all small businesses use their website as a lead generation tool for new business. Also marketing to a list of existing customers through email and text messages show high penetration at 74.3% and 49.3% respectively. Search marketing showed a big increase from 2010 rising 36%. While you don’t need to engage in all 15 online marketing tactics listed in the study to grow your business, it does pay to have an integrated effort in the methods you do choose to implement.
On your website have links to your social media profiles. On your social media posts, drive traffic back to your website to consumers may find more information about your business and covert to a paying customers. On social media and your website, implement lead capture forms for email and mobile marketing to convert these leads onto high redemption rate lists. Whatever methods you choose to engage in, make sure you have the time to actively keep up your presence on the sites and engage your customer base.
Read the full report here.
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About the author
Shane has been in the restaurant business his entire life. Working as a cook in fine dinning, owning multiple pizza parlors around Boston and as a one time owner of the oldest bar in Boston, The Red Hat. Now he uses his experience to write marketing guides and articles and act as customer support liason, all in the name of helping his fellow small business owners succeed.
