After the recently concluded Philippine Startup Week 2019, the country has been highlighting the entrepreneurial potential of Filipinos or their capacities to be business-minded.
I bet that even you, dear reader, have a business idea in mind!
The growth of the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) sector challenged financial institutions to become more inclusive of their presence, more than just developing fintech (financial technology) that meets their needs.
Signing the implementing rules and regulations for the Innovative Startup Act (Republic Act 11337) provides possibilities for more small businesses to become established, thanks to the tax breaks and removal of registration barriers.
What are you waiting for? Are you already registered and official?
Marketing Small Businesses
These hurdles may have been removed to assist MSMEs and their growing establishments, but larger corporations still have the advantage of marketing because of their recognized presence in the world.
According to DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology), the key to accelerate the growth of Philippine Startups would be to undergo digital transformation.
They state that incorporating technology into the company infrastructure and operations will foster new business practices and improve existing policies.
It’s a no-brainer, but we’ve dedicated our entire blog archive to promote digital marketing.
With that said, here are 5 marketing tips for your small business that integrates and encompasses everything we preach:
1. Collaborate and Connect
Before the market can get to know you, why don’t you take the opportunity to expand your network?
Don’t look at other companies as competitors but rather as potential partners.
Make some friends and help each other out.
Have them guest on your platform and you on theirs. It can be through blog mentions, video guesting, and even taking group photos.
Collaboration allows you to connect with your partner’s target market and grants exposure on both of your respective platforms. The benefit is mutual for both of you.
2. Start Marketing Small, Grow Big Results
As a startup business, you should make feasible goals.
I know you want to be able to make your first million as soon as possible, but it’s better to take small, gradual steps than to take sudden leaps and hope for the best.
After you gain some momentum from partnering up with others and getting your content out there, traction is built by engaging and interacting with your audience.
At this point, you could still be working on your target market but every lead counts in a growing business, so do your best to convert them into clients.
There are a few ways to connect or follow-up such as email or phone call, but did you know?
According to Small Business Trends, 54% of consumers want marketing text messages but only 11% of businesses send them. Imagine that 54% of people have a response rate of 85%, compared to phone calls and email marketing.
We’ve shared the do’s and don’ts of effective SMS blasts, so why don’t you try it out and see the results for yourself?
3. Websites and Landing Pages
Previously, we’ve compared how having your own website is better than using host websites to market and sell; and for good reasons.
In summary, owning a website is better because:
- You can create an exclusive branding, fully customized.
- It’s all about you, zero competition in your very own marketplace.
- Getting your money’s worth because you can access across any devices.
- Allow yourself for direct marketing and lead generation.
- Having full control and freedom of content, without any restrictions.
- Use your social media channels to link back to your website. No paid advertisement needed.
Make no mistake, we have nothing against using host websites. In fact, you should make use of these to redirect leads to visiting your website.
You can do this by linking a landing page, for them to fill out a contact form or perform a certain CTA (call-to-action) like visiting your website to read a blog or watch a video.
This emphasizes how much we highly recommend the value of owning a website for your small business.
4. Don’t Forget Social Media
So you’ve done the collaboration, the marketing campaigns and even built your own website.
How do you plan on gaining traction? With social media, of course.
It’s actually easy, simple and FREE. We can’t stress enough how relevant social media marketing is for any business.
People from all walks of life are using social media to connect with others, and if you want to reach 3.5 billion online users, then know your way in.
Share your content across all your channels, generate leads by interacting with your audience through direct messages, groups and the good ol’ comment section.
5. Back to (Online) Basics
You might completely new to all of these so perhaps you’re wondering why bother with digital marketing when you can just go old-fashioned with print ads and flyering because they proved to be effective back in the day.
This is where and how most businesses today fail!
The sole foundation of today’s marketing revolves around C-O-N-T-E-N-T.
You don’t have to waste resources like traveling to places and spending large sums of money, when you can sit in front of a computer, connect to the internet and get your word out there.
Effective content marketing is about getting your objectives for the world to see. So creating and curating a well-researched article, image, video or any other format to circulate across your channels would be the first step to lead generation; and eventually, sales conversion.
Further reading:
- Attract Customers to Your Online Store
- Benefits of Social Media Marketing
- Content Marketing Tools & Resources for Small Business Owners
- Things to Consider When Hiring Influencers for Online Business
- Top 8 Ways to Improve Email Deliverability
Conclusions
In our list of marketing tips for your small business, Prosperna aims to help you fulfill your long-term goals through the integration of modern technology and online presence. It all starts by assessing the current market trends and researching about the current state of your respective industry to give you ideas on which aspects to place your focus on. This method will provide the perfect balance of advantage for both you and your market.
Create your free-forever Prosperna account today and start leveraging technology in your online business to be successful in the Philippine market.
