Understand Inbound Marketing for Your Small Business

All the marketing and advertising you do can (and should) result in Inbound Marketing. Find out why this matters and how you can leverage this information to your benefit. Simple stuff, yet overlooked and widely misunderstood.

What is Inbound Marketing and Why Should it Matter for Your Small Business?

Inbound Marketing is described on Wikipedia mostly as in the form of online content, such as email, search engine optimization, and social media. It’s function is to generate interest with the intention to get people to seek more information by visiting a website or a physical location. Inbound marketing is more subtle than an offer, just as an informational brochure is more subtle than a telemarketing call.

I see Inbound Marketing a little differently for a traditional small business like the ones who advertise with coupons or Groupon. 

Making Your Advertising More Effective by Understanding Inbound Marketing and the Role of Your Website

When you understand inbound marketing, you’ll have a new understanding of the role your website plays in the success of your ads.

Watch this video to see what can happen when you’re not paying attention to your website.

The main goal of your Groupon deal or your coupon ad is to get new people to give you a try. A regular customer begins with the first transaction and repeat business is the ultimate goal. It’s what makes a business more profitable and revenues more consistent and predictable.

What happens when your ad hits the consumer’s kitchen table or they see your Groupon ad in their email? (Hint: It’s INBOUND MARKETING.)

If they’re interested in what they see but have never been to your place before, they’re going to your website to take a closer look. I truly believe most business owners don’t realize how many potential customers will look you up online, especially after receiving your ad. If you did, you would probably want to make some changes…RADICAL changes.

Surely you’re familiar with the term: You never get a 2nd chance to make a good 1st impression. Ask yourself, what do YOU think people want to know when they visit your website?

Ideas for Improving Your Website for a Better Customer Experience

Focusing on the customer experience on your website is imperative. SO many people will visit your website but only a small percentage will do business with you. Small improvements can make a huge difference. If 10 out of 100 end up doing business with you, 2 more is a 20% increase. A 20% increase in new customer growth could be the difference between just getting by and wealth.

If they’re in the restaurant business, they want to see your menu, that’s a no-brainer. But if they would like to see some images of your food, or people eating your food, that would be better. Think about a Red Lobster commercial, visit the Home page of their website: photos of food and photos of people. You don’t have to be a mega chain to have a website that engages and compels people to come in, your one-location restaurant can do it too. Here’s a great example: Litchfield Salt Water Grille has a great-looking yet simple website and a fantastic About Us page (which I always recommend). Click the About Us link the the previous sentence to see a great job and poke around the site.

If you’re in the service business, they want to see YOU (or at least images of how you’re staff looks). For service businesses who come to the home, people want to feel safe and confident. Horizon Services does a great job with their website. Uniformed technicians- one greeting a customer, several showing them working on a repair job. If you’re a hair dresser, a massage therapist, people want to see what the outside and the inside of your place looks like. They want to see, you, your staff, and some satisfied customers’s testimonials (picture testimonials are better, video testimonials are the best).

Start Planning for Better Results Ahead of Your Next AD

I hope you’re inspired to take time out to plan your next ad or promotion, and to make your website a more important part.

If you’ve ever done a Groupon campaign or if you plan to do another one, OR of you’re advertising with coupons, you’ll want to get a copy of my short book, THE GROUPON SOLUTION™.

Download it free at https://www.smallbusinessu.org/grouponsolution In it, you’ll discover new ways to make your marketing produce a larger return on investment, gain more repeat customers, and make your business more profitable now and worth more in the future.

About the Author Andrew Mazer

Andrew Mazer, Founder of Mazer Wholesale, Inc. established since 1986. In 1996, I began marketing my wholesale business online. In 2009, I began helping other business owners market THEIR business online. I am the author of The Business Owner's Guide to Marketing Online, The Groupon Solution, and The One Good Idea Newsletter. Contact me at Andrew@smallbusinessu.org

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