More than 50% of small enterprises fail in the very first year, and more than 95% of small startups fail within the first five years.
The primary reasons for this failure has been attributed to a lack of market demand, as well as lack of resources.
What this means is that, if you can find a sustainable market for your business armed with the resources to upscale your efforts, you have a 50% likelihood of succeeding.
What other factors makes up the other 50%? Below, we’ll take a look at the other ingredients businesses needs in order to thrive:
1. Customer review
Customer reviews and testimonials have almost morphed into word of mouth marketing. In fact, it’s almost difficult to separate between these two marketing strategy.
While word of mouth marketing can be seen as an offline activation, customer reviews and testimonials make up online recommendations.
92% of consumers trust their friends and family over any other type of advertising. Yet, when consumers need information about a business, they end up turning to the internet to read reviews and testimonials from other buyers.
Feedback from customers is one good way to gain more customers. As a small business owner, you’ll be doing your brand a lot of good if you can ask your customers for feedback.
Create videos and images out of these feedbacks and use as social proof on your social media pages and website or blogs.
Read also: Eliminating the Gate Agent Problem: tactics to win clients’ trust
2. Know your buyer persona
Before putting your product out in the market, it’s pertinent to conduct proper market research.
Buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer based on extensive market research and available information.
This persona will be given a name, interest, demographic details and behaviour you think will be an ideal representation of your target audience.
This will enable you to craft content and marketing communications tailored towards these sets of people. Your buyer persona will guide everything from product development to your choice of social networks.
Identifying your target audience and their needs will help you remain focused in your business journey.
3. Mobile-friendly website
55% of people will search online for reviews and recommendations before making a purchase, with 47% visiting the company website.
There’s a growing number of mobile phone users around the world.
Firstly, your business needs to have a website. Your website is always available and easy to access even when you’re not. 70-80% of potential customers could be lost to businesses without a website.
Secondly, your website needs to be mobile-friendly. A mobile-friendly website is one that shrinks down enough to display on a mobile device.
One of the common reasons why no one is visiting your website is because it’s not mobile optimized
A lot of people browse the internet with their mobile device, and if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, fast and secure, you may be missing out on traffic and ultimately conversion.
Your website should complement your social media channels and vice versa.
Read also: 3 ways to position your brand for success on Instagram
4. Strong brand strategy
Your brand is not your product, your logo, your name or website.
A brand is a promise or an experience customers get when they come in contact with your business. Share on XTo make it easier to remember, we give brands certain looks and feel (logo, packaging etc.) and sometimes names.
Brand strategy therefore is a plan tailored towards achieving your marketing. To have a strong brand strategy, you also need to have a solid marketing strategy.
Ask yourself:
- Who are your target audience?
- What kind of product or services do you offer?
- Who are your competitors?
- What does your business offer that others don’t?
In order to build a strong brand strategy, you need to identify your customers and the benefits they seek from your products or services.
5. Email marketing
Email marketing produces $44 for every $1 spent. That’s 4400% return on investment.
Email marketing is a cost-effective business strategy for small businesses who have a small budget.
There are 3 times more email accounts than there are facebook and twitter accounts combined. In order to succeed with email marketing, you need to optimize your email marketing strategy for conversion
There are tons of free email marketing services for businesses out there, with some offering paid packages alongside.
You can still accomplish a lot with the free packages. You can check the following email marketing services to know which one suits your business needs:
Read also: 7 persuasive words in marketing every copywriter should use
6. Consistency
Consistency is key!
You need to maintain some level of consistency if you’re going to achieve your business goals. Your marketing communications should resonate
You can maintain consistency by doing the following:
- Keep to your brand promise to customers
- Use your logo and brand identity consistently
- Your social media pages should have the same look and feel
- Keep your brand tone and personality consistent across channels
- Streamline every marketing communication
Conclusion
Every business needs a combination of resources, the right market, adherence to brand strategy and other factors mentioned above in order to thrive.
All these factors put together won’t amount to anything if you’re not consistent with your approach, methods and execution.
In the world of marketing, the consistent business makes the most profits. The biggest brands today that we all love have one thing in common – they’ve been consistent over the years.
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