When it comes to running a successful business, you need to make sure that you’re focusing on long-term growth strategies.
However, as an entrepreneur, it is natural that you may not be focusing on this in the initial stages of business. In the early days, you might just be focused on the idea of getting up and running. After all, it is the most exciting stage. You’re bringing your ideas together and getting everything off the ground.
But when things are going well and everything is running smoothly, you need to start thinking about the next steps. Just because you’re a small business right now, it doesn’t mean that you will be forever. You might not want to be the next Microsoft or Apple, but you probably have goals. So, now, it’s time to go and get them.
Yet, it’s not always that easy for small businesses to know what to do to make that happen. In fact, the idea of growing your business can be quite overwhelming.
So, in this blog post, we’re going to take a look at ten of the things you can do to make that happen. Let’s get into it.
1. Social Media Marketing
When you think about growth strategies, you know that you need to be using social media marketing.
But are you using it to the best of your abilities? It’s important for you to focus on tactics that will gain you traction and help you to now just receive superficial metrics, like followers, but actually increase brand awareness and make sales.
2. Content Marketing
If there’s one thing you really need to drive your energy into, it’s content marketing. Your content is going to be so useful across every area of the business.
Not only is it going to help you to rank in searches (more on that below), but you can use it to share on social media and drive traffic back to your site, link to it in your direct marketing, and use it to build trust with your audience.
3. SEO
As part of your content marketing strategy, and as its own strategy in its own right, you will want to be working on your SEO. When it comes to ranking on Google, you need to bring in an SEO strategy early on.
And the good news is, it can be pretty easy for you to pick up. You may even want to start ranking with this proven SEO method straight away. You will then be able to optimize your site correctly and start showing in Google searches.
4. Influencer Marketing
Another huge part of the marketing puzzle that you might want to jump on early is influencer marketing. Influencers have proved to be worth their weight in gold. Consumers trust their favorite influencers.
Whether you want to work with an influencer to promote your restaurant or hotel, you will be able to find hard-working influencers who have just the audience that you want to tap into.
5. PR
Then we have PR. PR has been around for decades, and it’s insanely valuable for every business. Yet, we don’t always treat it as such. In fact, when you’re posting online, you’re influencing your PR.
But in order to take that to the next level, having a smart publicity campaign in place can help. Getting editorial features in place can help to showcase your credibility and boost trust among your audience. This is going to support you hugely as you start to grow.
6. Direct Marketing
Ask any marketer, and they will always say that the one form of marketing you should never overlook when it comes to growing your business is direct marketing.
Sure, social media, SEO, and creative marketing techniques get all the attention these days, but direct marketing still gets incredible results. Email marketing, in particular, can drive very strong conversion rates. Depending on your industry, you may find that you’re able to get the strongest sales volume from this channel alone.
So, it’s safe to say that building your email list early on will be a very powerful option for you.
7. Loyalty Programs
We then have loyalty programs as one of the popular growth strategies. Consumers love loyalty programs, so you absolutely need to make sure that you’re bringing the bones of something in early. Plus, the earlier you start, the easier it is for you to test things out and see what works best for you and your customer.
It’s a great way to keep them loyal, boost sales, and reward them for bringing business to you.
8. Sales Funnels
As you’re building out your content marketing strategies, you absolutely need to make sure that you’re bringing in sales funnels too. When it comes to boosting sales and promoting your products and services, your sales funnels should never be overlooked. They’re invaluable.
They allow you to sow a seed, showcase the benefits of what you have, and expose your audience to what you do. You will also find that your conversion rates are higher because of them, too.
9. Smart Marketing Software
Alongside the growth strategies mentioned above, there are also a range of other marketing automations and software packages that you should definitely look into. From cart abandonment software to all-in-one sales and marketing solutions, you may find that you’re able to really go hard on your marketing and sales strategies, boosting your sales and seeing the level of growth you’re looking for
10. Events
Finally, we also have events as one of our reliable growth strategies. Events can be a lot of fun for you and your customers. They can either be in person or even online, and have a range of different goals too. Sometimes, you just want to throw a party!
But not only can this promote brand awareness and engage your audience, but it can also give you content to use for social media, too. Sometimes, it will be a sales event, a product launch, or even a specific event where you want to generate leads.
Either way, it gives you a great opportunity to engage with your customers and clients, as well as build relationships.
