Marketing for any business must include:

-      Determining your marketing goals

-      Identifying your key demographic

-      Developing a plan to reach this demographic

-      Implementing this plan

When it comes to marketing for small businesses versus large businesses, the principles are the same. The difference lies in selectivity. Large businesses can afford to spread their marketing initiatives over a variety of mediums, small businesses have to choose the avenues that will be the most beneficial.

Dreamscape has a lot of experience improving the marketing efforts of small businesses. Here are some important aspects for you to consider:

Power of the Internet

It’s very important that all businesses have an online presence. This should start with a well written, attractive, and easily navigable website.  But to further your outreach, consider creating a Facebook page and a Twitter account for your business. Both services are free, and if you use them well, you will see a positive return on your time investment.

Some quick rules of thumb: enter at least one Tweet a day, post somewhere between 1-4 items on your Facebook page a week, and always respond to people that reach out to you on both mediums. Your customers want to be valued, starting and continuing a dialogue online is an easy (and, once again, free) way to show them they are appreciated.

Budget Marketing

Beyond free social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, most other marketing initiatives will cost you money. However, there are some actions you can take to reduce marketing expenses.

Budget-Conscious Marketing Ideas:

-      Piggy-Back

• Have a booth set up at an event, such as a charity walk or run, or partner with another business to send out mutual mailings and increase your customer base.

-      Barter

• Offer some of your products or services for advertising space.

-       Always be “On”

• Take every opportunity to promote your business. When you send out mail, toss in a brochure. At the end of your emails, list your web address and a very brief pitch.

It’s important to remember that any marketing effort, no matter how expensive or cheap, will do you no good if you’re reaching out to the wrong demographic. Always take the time to determine your demographic.

If you do this, chances are your “small business” won’t stay small for very long.

Traditional business dictates that sales leads be generated through sales people. The most common roadblock we face at Dreamscape Marketing when explaining the power of a website to potential clients is the “traditional sales” argument. A popular belief amongst brick and mortar businesses is that a website is simply a sign post for customers to navigate to when they need an email address, phone number or office location. These businesses believe their sales will only come from where they have always originated, a sales force. What these businesses do not realize, and what may end up hurting them in the long run, is that the market for sales properly utilizing the internet is enormous for ANY business model.

A strategically designed website, developed utilizing a combination of search engine optimization and content building techniques, could not only improve your sales, it could begin generating sales for you in your sleep! Businesses must realize that internet marketing is the future of traditional marketing. Within the next decade, as millennial’s enter the workforce, lead generation will fully integrate into the digital arena.

If you need a recent reminder of this trend, look no further than your own business. Four years ago, “green” business was restricted to paperless credit card statements and cell phone bills. However, today, I guarantee your business has taken some steps to become more environmentally friendly. Website development has assisted this movement with huge steps, integrating websites with operating systems and moving data from print to PDF just to name a few examples. Green marketing is now the future of marketing. In order to stay competitive in business, companies must be ready to utilize eco-friendly marketing techniques to stay on par with competitors.

In much the same way, lead generation through a properly optimized website is the future of sales. With a dynamic website that ranks your business for relevant keyword searches, your sales area will expand from regional to global. Another advantage is that your website, unlike your company’s salespeople, does not have a salary, health benefits, vacation, sick days, sales metric bonuses, or suffer from bouts of procrastination. It will work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Additionally, website development and optimization services can be performed to a level that fits within your business’s operating budget. Your return on investment from the proper development of a website can often be measured in multiples of spend. Using products like Google Analytics, marketing consultants can track this data for you and present it in a concise and clear manner.

We recently had the opportunity to work with Rhino Group Media,  a Philadelphia website development client. Rhino Group launched a site with an interactive flash sample portfolio that creates an unique experience for their site visitors, while simultaneously providing compelling sales messaging.

Instead of restricting yourself to your traditionally customers, think outside the box ahead of the curve. Using your website to generate sales leads today can lead to significant business growth tomorrow.