Imagine squeezing a handful of seeds into the soil. Then carefully, day by day, you water them, offering plenty of sunlight. Does it feel like much? Not really. But with time, those little seeds sprout into a vibrant garden. Similarly, sowing the seeds of powerful business tools and strategies — though they might seem basic or insignificant — can yield a thriving business growth. These are not just mere tools, rather the essential building blocks that shape the foundation of a concrete marketing strategy for small businesses.

“Little strokes fell great oaks.” - Benjamin Franklin

So, are you ready to plant these seeds of success? Let's take a look at a few of my favorite (and simplest) strategies to implement:

Step 1: Google My Business

First off, ensure your business has a Google My Business (GMB) page. This free tool by Google enhances your online presence across the platform's services like Search and Maps. As local searches intensify, a GMB page becomes a vital tool to help your business stand out, boost its search visibility and engage better with customers. So, if you haven't set up a GMB page yet, make it a priority.

Step 2: Website

Next, establishing an online presence through a website is crucial when running a small business today. Why? A website serves as your digital storefront, open 24/7, that allows potential clients to explore what you offer anytime, anywhere. It is the home base of your brand’s identity on the internet and outlines your products or services to anyone who stumbles upon it. Furthermore, having a website enhances your credibility as a legitimate business and can significantly boost customer trust. So if you don't have a website, you're making it nearly impossible for new customers to find you and purchase your products and services.

Step 3: Social Media

Moving forward, embracing social media platforms can be a game-changer for small businesses. Social media serves as an extension of your brand's voice and personality, providing a direct line of communication with your customer base. Apart from expanding your reach and exposure, it boosts customer engagement and fosters relationships through interactive content, discussions, and feedback. To maximize its benefits, you should carefully choose which platforms to use. This can be determined based on your target market's online habits and presence, as different age groups or demographics favor different platforms. Whether it's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, ensure you're where your desired customers hang out online. In a nutshell - if you aren't using social media, you're missing out on valuable opportunities to grow your customer base and deepen loyalty with your current customers.

Step 4: Marketing CRM System

Investing in a marketing CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform is equally crucial. It's more than just a business tool - it's your ace to thoroughly understanding your audience and tailoring your marketing efforts.

A good CRM system allows you to segment your audience, making sure that you're targeting the right people with the right messages. It's all about delivering personalized experiences that resonate with each of your customer segments. Think of it like the back office of your business. From storing customer information, tracking interactions, managing emails and text services, to documenting behavioral patterns, a CRM is the heart of your organized communications.

Moreover, a CRM with multi-channel messaging capabilities takes customer engagement to another level by bringing your business to their favorite platforms- be it emails, texts, or even social media. So, with a CRM, you aren't just throwing out content and hoping it sticks. You're strategically launching it to not only meet but exceed your customers' expectations.

Step 5: Payment System

A seamless and effective payment system is an absolute must-have for amplifying your business operations. It's crucial for you to be able to facilitate and document transactions with ease and efficiency. And for this, I recommend platforms like Stripe. Beyond its primary function of processing payments, Stripe can effortlessly integrate with your Marketing CRM system, creating a unified ecosystem for your business. This integration enables automatic transaction collection from your website's order forms, while simultaneously feeding client information into your CRM.

The elegance of integrating a payment system with your marketing CRM is the automation potential it unlocks. For example, you can efficiently set up systems to dispatch confirmation emails post-purchase, saving you time and ensuring your clients are kept well-informed. This may seem like a small detail but believe me, it enhances the overall customer experience dramatically and can save you tons of time.

Step 6: Calendar System

A robust calendar scheduling system forms an essential backbone for any business managing regular appointments. The convenience it offers is immense - imagine not needing to bounce between calls or email threads, trying to agree on a suitable time slot with your clients. With an online booking system integrated directly into your website, your clients can directly schedule appointments based on your real-time availability.

Paired with a good marketing CRM software, you can build a process that leads customers from initial payment to a calendar page, then automatically adds them to your CRM and sends them a confirmation email. Then it can even send out appointment reminders to reduce the chance of a no-show. If you take the time to set up an effective system like this now, imagine how much time you can save over the course of months and years of running your business.

Step 7: Google Reviews

Now that you have an online presence and an effective way of managing leads once they come in, you need to start asking satisfied customers to give you reviews. Google reviews can profoundly impact your business's reputation and influence potential customers. An abundance of positive Google reviews boosts your business's credibility, signaling to potential customers that you offer high-quality products or services. They act as social proof, meaning if they see many individuals had positive experiences, they'll trust in your offering. Additionally, Google reviews aid in enhancing your business's online visibility. Google's algorithm views these reviews as fresh, relevant content and having more positive reviews may improve your ranking in local search results.

You can increase your review count by directly asking customers for their feedback and opinions. Remember, there's no harm in asking! Furthermore, providing a small incentive, like a coupon or a discount on their next purchase, is a surefire way to incentivize customers to leave a review. Automation can also play a crucial role. Consider setting up an automated email that goes out after every purchase, politely asking customers for a review. Ultimately, investing just a few minutes a day asking customers for Google reviews can give your business the competitive edge it needs to thrive.

Additional Tips for Marketing Success

While the 7 steps we've talked about should be the biggest priorities for your business, there are other incremental steps you can implement that could play a significant role in elevating your marketing strategy:

• Missed Call Text Back - this simple tool can be enabled in some marketing CRMs. It's a simple automation that will immediately send a text to your customers if they call you and you aren't able to answer. If you aren't answering all of your phone calls, this small automation can be a huge lifesaver to keep you from losing valuable customers.
• Purchase Your Own Website Domain - Some website builders like Wix let you run a website on their subdomain (e.g. Yourbusiness.wixsite.com). While customers can still visit a site like this, we highly recommend purchasing your own domain on a domain registrar like GoDaddy or Squarespace Domains and then connecting it to your website. Using your own domain (like yourbusiness.com) not only looks more professional, but will perform better on search engine rankings and is easier for your customers to remember.
• Create a Privacy Policy for your Website - A privacy policy (a legal document that discloses some or all the ways a business gathers, uses, discloses, and manages a customer's data) is an essential tool for upholding your customer's trust and transparency. You have to have a privacy policy if you are collecting user information through forms on your website. Depending on the information you're collecting, you can consult a legal professional to help you build one, or you can use a privacy policy generator online like Termsfeed. Once you have one, simply create a page for it on your website and link the page in the footer section at the bottom of your site.
• Web Chat Widget - This is another helpful tool that we suggest adding to your website. A web chat widget is a small button in the bottom corner of your website that allows customers to create a message thread with you if they have a question about your products or services. This is one of the best ways to make your business more accessible to customers.
• Drip Campaigns - Once you have an effective marketing system in place, don't stop there. You can use drip campaigns (like an email newsletter) to keep your business at the forefront of your customers' minds; they're important because they allow you to stay in touch with customers, even those who haven't interacted with the brand for a while. They can serve you well for customer retention; simple, timed emails or messages can reawaken interest, encourage a revisit or additional purchase. Amazingly, they also enable businesses to provide relevant information at the right time, fostering a sense of personal connection and making the customer feel valued.