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Five marketing tools every SME should be using

Posted by Oliver Corrigan on Sep 29, 2014 8:30:00 AM
Oliver Corrigan
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Starting a business is hard work. According to serial businessman and former dragon in the Dragon’s Den Theo Paphitis, 50% of all small business fail in the first couple of years in the UK. They say if you are going to fail, you should fail fast. But could these high levels of failures be preventable?

While the nature of the business and the services and products it provides is the defining feature of an SME and its subsequent success or failure, efficient marketing strategies are crucial to creating a buoyant SME that begins to thrive instead of wither.

With a myriad of marketing tools, techniques and services available, knowing which marketing avenues to go down can be a worrisome headache for any business.

If you are a founder, director or marketing manager of an SME and you want to embark on the most effective forms of marketing to help get the SME off the ground, take a look at the following five marketing tools every small business should be using. 

 

1      Website design

Official statistics reveal that approximately 40% of the world’s population has an internet connection. In 2005 the number of internet users reached its first billion. In 2010, its second billion. The end of 2014 will see the internet reaching its third billion users worldwide. 

With such a vast number of people online a website is a crucial component of any modern business.

The quality, style, over all look and usability of a business website has a significant impact on how visitors will perceive your site and your business in general.

A website designer will have the technical and design skills required to build a professional website that reflects your business, its services, products and personality to global audience without geographical constraints.



2      Content marketing

Once you have a company website up and running, you can’t just sit back and forget about. We’ve all heard of the almost universal gripe, if a website isn’t on the first page of Google, it might as well not exist. For an SME, a website’s rankings on the search engines can mean the difference between survival and bust.

You will need to think about keeping the site optimised for search engine optimisation (SEO) purposes. One way to achieve good SEO – search engine rankings – is through content marketing. A well-written website scattered with a healthy amount of keywords is likely to be rewarded by the search engines by being ranked highly.

Regularly updating the blog on your site with quality, relevant and unique content will mean the search engines scan your site and boost your rankings.

With the internet becoming an increasingly integral part of society, it has become a priority for many SMEs to build a strong online presence and one way to do this is through content marketing.



3      Social Media

Another way for an SME to develop a strong online presence is through social media. As the Digital Donut writes, you don’t need to own a large corporation with a hefty marketing budget to make social media work. Research has revealed that small business are more likely to “strike the right tone” on social media than large companies.

Being active on the social platforms by making regularly posting and engaging in discussions can help an SME build customer relationships, ultimately nurturing and increasing leads.

With 87.3% of consumers in the UK reading online reviews before making a purchase interactions on social platforms can help an SME achieve positive reviews.



4      Brochures

Brochures can be a great way for an SME to deliver information about its company profile, services and products to potential clients and customers. It is important for an SME to know their clients and target audience well in order to judge what information they should share in their brochure.

The design of the brochure should be carefully considered as the presentation of this important marketing tool will make a significant impact on the impression you are trying to create about your company.


 

5      Exhibitions

Exhibitions can also be an effective marketing method for SMEs. The right exhibition and design stall will give an SME the opportunity to showcase its strengths to the right audiences and business prospects, ultimately helping generate leads and sales. 

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There are many other great marketing tools designed to help SMEs prosper and succeed. See our blog about apps that can help save businesses time is a great read for those considered using modern technology to help run their business more efficiently. 


 

Are you an SME who has first-hand experience of a marketing tool that has helped your company grow? We’d love to hear about our readers’ business experiences. 

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Topics: self-employed, SME, business

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