It’s time to look at your small business marketing, and you don’t know where to start. All you know is that you don’t want to waste your money and need a positive ROI. Many SMB businesses are owner-operated, so you are sincerely interested in doing something that works.

Email marketing is not dead - It's more alive than ever.

Email Marketing

Collect emails and permission to send newsletters. Don’t be spammy, and your audience will grow. When you send emails, keep to the point and introduce precisely what you have to offer. Your audience will grow, or you will fine-tune your offering to match what your customers want.

Email newsletters are easy to create, very affordable, and in most cases, much more manageable than letter mail.

You can pay money to advertise on social media, getting your business in front of potential customers. But this may be costly, and it’s not the only option. You can participate in social media for free. All you need is a little time.

Social media matters in the local Edmonton scene

Here’s how you do it. Set up a business account or page and start talking to people you know about your work. Current customers and close friends are invaluable resources as they can become your advocates. Many social media sites let customers leave reviews on business pages; you’ll want to get lots of those. Ask everyone you can to leave an honest review. The positive reviews will reinforce your brand, and the not-so-positive ones will teach you how to improve. This is a win-win, and it doesn’t cost any money.

Basic Website (Micro site)

You can get a website on Squarespace or Wix to get your company online. If you watch what you are doing, you can do this effectively for a couple hundred bucks. The only thing it will cost you (really) is time. Lots of time. However, if you have it, spend some time putting together a website. It won’t hurt.

Every business with an online website can benefit from search visibility, which requires little expertise. You can improve your website's chances of showing up in search results.

Vehicle Decals and Car Wraps

Your vehicle is a moving billboard; if you wrap it with an ad, it will be seen. Check out your local Edmonton car wrap company and get your car or truck wrapped for around $3,000. You’ve seen these around, and you probably notice which companies are using them, indicating how well they work for small business marketing.

Keep The Customers You Already Have!

It takes work to get new customers. It's much easier to keep the ones you already have. Most of the time, if you’ve done good work for them in the past or if they appreciate the products you sold them, then they won’t mind if you offer them something new. This is hugely important for SMB businesses because of your interpersonal relationships with your customers. (Hint: this is something the more prominent firms can’t match).