5 Key Steps to Put Your Business Ahead of the Competition

5 Key Steps to Put Your Small Business Ahead of the Competition

Small business marketing is not for the faint of heart, but if you have been in marketing for longer than two seconds, you know that. Marketing your business is dependent on doing some key factors well and these things can make or break a small business in this dog eat dog world we live in. Competition is intense and learning how to get the most out of your web pages is tricky.

Here are five necessary steps to get ahead of the game!

1. Create a Marketing Plan – Don’t leave anything to chance. Create a well-thought out, to the point plan that maps out each of your marketing elements and what you need to do to make it happen. Make it as detailed as you possibly can. At the very least fill in the broad strokes.
2. Social Media Marketing – 91 percent of experiences social marketers generate improved website traffic and 79 percent generate more quality leads according to MediaBistro.com. How do they do this? They do not waste time with their social media marketing. Map out a plan for social media an stick to it.
3. Build a Mailing List – MarketingProfs.com reported emails averages a ROI (return on investment) of $40 for every $1 spent. This far exceeds keyword ads ($17) and banner ads ($2). Don't be misled into thinking collecting and building an email list is dead. If you fail to build a list, you're failing to build your business! You simply cannot afford to leave such a large source of potential profits for your competition.
4. Video Marketing – Research shows a video is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google than any other text page! That is too good to pass up. Small businesses can engage in this by video marketing. The video market is still comparatively untapped and having a simple video advertising your wares can gain you loads of Google traffic along with authority.
5. Have a Mobile Presence – Ensure that your website is optimized for mobile, as more than half of all searches now are originating from some type of mobile device. Microsoft reports that mobile browsing is projected to overtake desktop browsing by 2014. Having your pages mobile optimized can help improve your reach, and also corral impulse buyers.

Don’t Make the Mistake of Going It Alone!

None of us can do it all, particularly when it comes to the constantly changing world of online marketing. Learn what’s working now, learn from the best you can afford, and hire the very best outsourcing you can find. It'll pay off handsomely in the long run!