4 Essential Ways to Market Your Small Business During the Pandemic

Starting a small business is an exciting, terrifying, and exhilarating adventure! It can take years of planning and recalculating before a business even opens to the public. A critical part of those “back of house” efforts include business marketing materials. These marketing essentials are universal as they ground themselves in the core ways small businesses connect with their target audiences. Today, we’re going to break down five marketing material ideas for every small business starting out, so they can prosper in the marketplace.

Website

No matter the industry, a small business must have a website. Gone are the days when websites were nice to have; they have become a necessity for any business that wants to thrive. Much like your business card, a website provides a level of professionalism and credibility to your company. More and more, people are searching online in order to verify a business as trustworthy before they even step foot in a store.

A small business website provides everything a potential client needs to validate your business as legitimate. In order to establish trust with your prospective customers, include the following information on your website:

• Business name
• Brief “About Us” section
• Contact Information, such as phone number, email address, and physical or mailing address
• Hours of operation
• Social media widgets
• Basic product offering information

This initial effort will help your business in the long run. Being listed in local directories and having strong SEO will all benefit your marketing efforts. They put your website in the right search results and get your business in front of the people who want your business. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thought of crafting a professional website, don’t fret! There are resources available to build the perfect website that are simple to use and design. For some useful tips, take a look at our article breaking down the things you need to start a website for your business.

Postcards and Flyers

Small businesses can do wonders with postcards or flyers as they are wonderful promotional marketing materials. Think about it: you probably encounter at least ten business postcards or flyers on any given day. Why is that? Because they are cost effective marketing tools that can be repurposed in a variety of ways.

It immediately puts your business in your audience's face. And this all the more reason to focus on a specific group (aka the Target Audience) because you do not need to be in everyone's hands, only those that are most likely to use your products and services.

But more than ever are flyers and postcards effective because of...what for it...QUARANTINE. Although there have been so many negative outcomes due to the pandemic, the truth is there are ways to use this time as an opportunity to achieve and succeed both personally and professionally. Think about it, right now, your target audience has increased working from home by at least 25%. So no gatekeepers, no administrative assistants to get through, send mailings to your ideal customer.

Even when everything is in-person, postcards and flyers are easy to leave behind at events, tack up on community boards or mail out to prospective clients, which can still be done. Their unique size and stock quality makes them stand out from regular mail, so people notice them more. They also have enough space to include promotions and more details about a business than a business card, but in an economical size. Order them in bulk and use them for various events and promotions. You’ll never regret having an ample supply when a last-minute opportunity pops up.

Brochures

A brochure is a great printed marketing material to hand out to prospective customers. This format is large enough to include a lot of information about your business and allows much more space for you to interact with your audience than a business card or leaflet.

Think of your brochure as a printed version of your website – it should highlight your background, your services and products, and contact information. Much like the importance of an “About Us” section on your website, your brochure is your opportunity to present your business story, which will help to engage customers.

It’s also a flexible marketing tool that you can adapt to your needs as your small business progresses over time. Introducing a new product or service? You can create a brochure to highlight all the details. Attending a trade show or event? It has enough space to act as a sales pitch for your business as a whole. They can also be included in package mail outs and at points of sale.

Also, if you have a storefront, and your customers can stop by for pick-up, brochures can be a great takeaway for customers to read later, or to get some further information about who you are and why they should purchase from you. Not sure where to start on how to write a stellar brochure; take a look at this guide to writing a brochure.

For small businesses, understanding the benefit of custom marketing materials and how they play into long-term business success is a top priority. Each component plays an important role in creating authority and notoriety in the market. Now that you have this marketing materials list, get to work and make a splash with your comprehensive small business marketing strategy.

I devote my professional life to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners reach their goals. So stay in touch by dropping a comment and connect on YouTube and Twitter!

I'm Ehren Muhammad, Founder of EMPro, Ltd

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Twitter: ChiBrother85

EMPro, Ltd - Branding & Digital Marketing

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Chicago, IL

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