Content marketing is a powerful and cost-effective way of growing your small business, but many people forget a crucial step: starting conversations.
Yes, it’s important to publish valuable content that positions you as an authority within your chosen field, but in order to drive sales you need to be leveraging your content to start conversations with prospective customers and clients. Let’s take a look at the four best marketing channels that you can use as a small business owner to spark meaningful conversations with your customers.
1. Blogs
Your blog should be a valuable resource that both entertains your customers and offers them helpful advice. When done right, blogging can drive a lot of traffic to your website and help new customers from far and wide discover your business through search engines. However, it’s important to make sure that you are using your blog to start conversations by:
- Ending each post with a call to action (CTA) – where do you want your customers to go next? To a new blog post, a sales page or straight to your inbox?
- Sharing each article on as many social media outlets as possible. Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn!
- Encouraging readers to subscribe to your mailing list. You can also use freebies to do this, such as eBooks.
2. Social Media Updates
Social media is not a one-way street. Your LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram pages aren’t just for you to post content to your audience; they also provide a valuable opportunity for you to actively engage with your ideal customer.
Create polls and ask questions to get your audience talking and sharing their opinions with you. Asking for recommendations will often lead to a flood of responses, too.
Hot debate happening on Twitter? Weigh in, and see what your customers have to say about it, too – just avoid anything too controversial. Make use of trending hashtags to make sure that your voice is heard.
Social media channels allow you to start meaningful conversations with your customers that not only drive sales, but provide you with a valuable learning opportunity to improve your small business.
3. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing isn’t just for fashion brands and fancy hotels. All businesses can use influencer marketing to start customer conversations and gain traction online. Of course, any old influencer won’t do. It’s important to work with someone who shares your audience and brand values.
If you’re on a tight budget, remember that influencer marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, startup companies often work with micro and nano influencers with relatively small followings to increase brand awareness and gain audience trust.
The scale is as follows:
- Mega – 1 million + followers
- Macro – 100,000 – 1 million followers
- Micro – 1,000 – 100,000 followers
- Nano – fewer than 1,000 followers
As well as the number of followers, you should carefully measure an influencer’s engagement rate before you decide to work with them. These days, anyone can buy fake followers.
4. Your Website
Your website is a valuable piece of real estate, so if it only contains your basic business information and a handful of photos then you’re wasting a major opportunity.
Your site should serve as the main point of contact for your digital customers. Make sure that you have an FAQ section and contact form to answer your customers’ questions. To take things to the next level, introduce chatbots who can provide real-time assistance to your customers and clients.
Summary
Of course, the above list is not exhaustive but when used correctly these four online marketing channels will prove effective for any small business owner looking to start more conversations. Engaging customers in conversation helps to create a meaningful relationship and even cultivate an emotional connection to your brand. By listening to your customers and answering their questions, you demonstrate that you are there to help them and become their go-to provider for your particular product or service. Customer conversations lead to ample sales opportunities, so take action to leverage these four powerful online marketing channels today.