The UK was once famously described as a ‘nation of shopkeepers’, by Napoleon in the early 19th century. It was meant as an insult at the time but, like many historical quips, was taken as a badge of pride both then and now.
The UK is still a nation of shopkeepers in a very real sense – with over 3 million limited companies and many more partnerships and sole traders, the majority falling firmly into the SME bracket, with fewer than five employees.
Whatever industry you are in, therefore, it is likely that there will be dozens of small businesses, start-ups, and independent consultants competing for the attention of your customers.
What is the best way to help your SME stand out in an economy in which every business has a website – and when sales budgets are tight?
The straightforward answers are inbound marketing and marketing automation. Together, these strategies give you the best chance of securing strong online visibility for your business, getting the attention of your customers, and helping you hit beyond your weight class in terms of market penetration and sales potential.
Inbound Marketing First, Marketing Automation Second
The first step in combining these two strategies is to create an effective inbound marketing plan, with a personalised marketing content mix, and practical digital publishing strategy that aligns with the browsing habits of your target buyers. This starts with developing buyer personas and mapping out their typical sales journey, creating compelling content that speaks to these buyers, and optimising your website with the latest SEO best practices.
Once you've done that, you can start thinking about how you can use marketing automation to streamline the process, save your team time and money, and inject greater productivity into your marketing strategy.
How To Implement Automation In Your Business
Marketing automation will involve investing in a marketing automation platform. These software applications are used by businesses to oversee, monitor, and implement a wide variety of marketing tasks, from landing page creation to email marketing and PPC advertising.
Using a software platform like HubSpot, you can automate and streamline various aspects of your inbound marketing strategy, helping coordinate the efforts of your different teams. For example, you could use automation to nurture leads and segment them on your database according to their interests or behaviours. This allows you to send tailored emails and other content at the right time and to the right people. Automation also makes it easier to track lead engagement, measure return on investment, and test different marketing approaches to determine the best strategies for your business.
What Else Can You Automate?
As well as automating most aspects of your inbound marketing process, you can also use automation for other aspects of your SME's promotional efforts. For instance, many businesses use automation to schedule social media postings or set up automated keyword searches on Google Alerts to keep an eye out for topics related to your business. Automation can also be used to manage customer relationships with existing clients, track website analytics, and generate custom reports.
Tailored Inbound Marketing Services For SMEs
By investing in inbound marketing and marketing automation, you can spend less per sale, reach more of your target customers, and get a better conversion rate for your money.
To find out more, please get in touch with one of our inbound specialists today by calling 01332 343281.
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