As the number of new online businesses is growing, their owners need to understand how to use all those features to promote their business.
There are many different strategies and elements that can help new SMB owners grow their businesses.Their existence could confuse new entrepreneurs and lead to slow or no business development.
In this article, we’ll talk about various features and strategies that can help a business improve from day one.
1) Curb the expenditure
Launching a new business from scratch means working with limited assets. You don’t know what direction it will take or how much time you’ll need to build a prosperous venture.
Because of that, you need to strictly control your expenditure.
Here are some practical tips for keeping the costs low:
- Save on the rent. Don’t rent an office until it’s necessary. The overhead office costs could eat a lot of your earnings at the beginning. Work from home or go to a coworking space.
- Use cloud-based and SaaS features. Instead of wasting money on expensive software tools and storage devices, subscribe to cloud-based services for storage and SaaS features for the necessary software solutions. You can upgrade or downgrade to higher or lower tiers in line with your needs and keep the expenditure at an optimal level.
- Use second-hand equipment. Computers, monitors, printers, and other computer equipment can cost a lot. Unless you’re a software developer who needs top-notch devices, shop around for used equipment in good condition. The same goes for your home office furniture, company car, or any other machines and devices you might need.
- Control your personal expenditure. New business owners sometimes don’t know how to control their personal expenditure. Sole proprietors might mix their business and private money, which is strictly forbidden. Therefore, keep your personal costs low and separate the private assets from the business ones.
2) Find your place in social media
Social media are powerful business tools and SMB owners must use their power to promote their ventures.
For starters, launch a business page on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Use social media management tools for publishing and monitoring your posts on these networks. Analyze the audience to see what groups of customers might be interested in your products and services. If you realize that you get more engagement on Instagram than on Facebook, focus more on promotion on that network.
Connect with other similar businesses on LinkedIn and join social media groups relevant to your niche. You don’t have to be too active there, but you can use them to see what other fellow business owners are doing.
Look for new business opportunities on social media, as well. You can land profitable business collaborations via social networks. Also, many business owners today find workers on LinkedIn, Facebook, and other networks.
To top it all off, you can use all the social media features above without any charges. It’s possible to subscribe to premium services on social media, as well, in case you think you need them.
3) Provide excellent customer support
Excellent customer support is the line that divides distinguished businesses from mediocre ones.
But what elements make top-notch customer support and how to ensure them?
For starters, you need to calculate the costs of these services. Most new small businesses decide to outsource customer support services. It’s less expensive and less demanding in terms of organization to have someone else handle those activities. So, shop around to see how much customer support providers charge for their service to find a combination of affordability and reliability.
As your business keeps growing and you build new teams, you might be able to form an in-house customer support team.
Moreover, be aware that you’ll have to regularly brief the customer support team – either internal or outsourced – on the key points of your services. Prepare for these meetings to let the customer support crew in question know how to provide the most efficient assistance to your customers.
4) Build an email list
A long email list is a sign of customer trust and loyalty. Every new business owner should strive aim at collecting as many customer emails as possible. Their addresses are your marketing fuel which you can use to skyrocket your business.
Here are some features that will make customers leave their email addresses:
- Visible registration forms. You can add an email registration form to the homepage and other pages. The other option is to turn it into a pop-up window that appears at a certain moment in front of a user. Test both options to see which one brings more emails.
- Registration incentives. Freebies, e-books, tutorials, discounts, and special offers are only some incentives that you can offer to registered customers. As your business brows, think about introducing a freemium paywall. It will leave most of your content available for free, but users will either have to register or subscribe to your website for premium content. in the meantime, make sure to use popups and contact forms for better website engagement.
- Social media sharing via email. Add buttons for sharing your emails via social media. That way, your existing customers can share your newsletters or any other materials with their friends or followers. A certain share of those people will like what they see and register on your website.
5) Optimize content for the mobile audience
As the number of smartphone users in the world has been constantly rising in the last ten years, they’re becoming a vital part of the market.
So, mobile users are the future of digital marketing. That’s why you should optimize your content for the mobile audience from day one.
First and foremost, consider installing two different versions of your website, one for regular visitors, and the other one for mobile users. Another option is to go for a single responsive website. Its elements will adapt to the device that the visitor is using to access your website.
The web design specialists from a Houston web design company point out that information on mobile-friendly websites needs to be straightforward and visually simple. The faster such a business website loads, the better.
Some businesses, like eCommerce and accommodation ventures, should think about launching a mobile app. They’ll enable their customers to search and buy products and services much faster.
It’s not easy to grow a business from scratch, but it’s not impossible. If you keep your expenses under control and use digital marketing, you’ll quickly become a popular business. Don’t forget mobile users on your road to success and you’ll generate customers and assets in several different ways. All these steps will ensure seamless business development and steady revenue.
