With Christmas behind us, we’re looking forward to a new year of growing and improving our business. This week, we’re likely to see a lot of “Best of 2013” lists as well as trends and predictions for the 2014 calendar year. At Alexander’s we’re making resolutions to really buckle down and improve some of our best business practices.
As you and your business enter into 2014, think about incorporating some of these marketing strategies to help you accomplish your business objectives.
1. Expand your network
Many small business owners will tell you that much of their clientele comes from referrals. If this still rings true, then building your network will only help you receive more referrals. If you’re looking to make more connections, or strengthen existing ones, be sure you might try joining a few business networking groups. Also, be sure you have an up to date LinkedIn account. This will help your contact find you, as well as provide you a platform to reach out to new connections.
2. Build your company’s social media platforms
While word of mouth may help you gain a few new customers, we live in a digital world where prospective customers want to see who you are online before they commit to a business relationship. You should be updating your social sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, etc.,) with regular and relevant content. Not only will this increase your credibility, it’s another piece of the puzzle for effective online lead generation.
3. Blog
We stress this a lot at Alexander’s. A company blog can do wonders for your online marketing. With Google’s consistent algorithm updates, websites are rewarded for fresh, relevant and conversational content. A blog, integrated with your main website or using a keyword phrase for its URL, is the perfect platform to publish this content. You can also use this content to fuel your social media publishing.
4. Go mobile
An ever-increasing amount of Internet users are accessing social media and other sites through their smartphones, which means you better be sure your website looks good on a phone screen. Just take a look at your website analytics to see how many of your site visitors are coming in through smartphones. Mobile optimization may be as simple as making sure your website has a responsive theme, or downloading a plugin on your site.
5. Improve your customer service
Nothing turns me away from a company or business faster than poor customer service. While digital technology may make information more accessible, there’s really nothing like speaking to a real person who can give me better service than a computer can. At Alexander’s we send out customer surveys to receive feedback on how we can better serve our customers. At one point, our survey revealed a weakness in the way we respond to online print bid requests. We immediately worked to fix the issue and implement a better process. You may want to consider sending out surveys or responding to online reviews when you’re looking for ways to improve your customer service.
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