Are you using every trick in the book to grow your small business? Probably not. There is no such book, and even if there were, you don’t have the time to read it. In order to separate from the pack and truly thrive, it is crucial to know which mistakes to avoid, to identify the most relevant strategies, and to utilize technology that can help you to maximize your time. We’ve worked with enough small businesses to know what these are, so we’ve compiled a short list of growth hacks to help you stay efficient, your business to stay relevant, and your customers to keep coming back.
1. Optimize for Mobile
As you probably already know, consumers are relying on their mobile devices for everything, purchases included. According to Smart Insights, 80% of internet users own a smartphone and 48% of consumers start mobile research with a search engine.
If your website isn’t mobile-ready, it’s going to severely hurt the amount of mobile traffic you get. According to Google, 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead.
Ensure that your website and your marketing emails are compatible across all mobile platforms in order to take full advantage of the increasing mobile traffic. This will greatly increase your chances of generating more leads and ultimately, more money.
To implement this growth hack, be sure to:
• Optimize your marketing emails for mobile
• Employ mobile marketing tactics
2. Add Video
Text and picture ads will always be around, but they’re becoming quickly overshadowed by video marketing strategies. Outbrain revealed that 87% of online marketers use video content while another study found that social media videos generate as much as 1200% more shares than text and images combined.
Of course, it doesn’t stop at advertisements. Visually found that videos used on a landing page can increase conversions by 80% or more. With powerful statistics like this, you can clearly see how integrating video usage into your marketing strategies can create huge upsides.
To learn more about video as a growth hack, check out these posts:
• Online Video Growth and What it means for Marketing
• How to Post Videos to Instagram
• How to Get More Instagram Video Views
3. Develop an App
One of the best ways to get an upper hand on your competition is by building a mobile application. With the increasing popularity, it’s easy to find an app building service that can make your dreams come true without breaking the bank. Believe it or not, apps account for a staggering 89% of mobile media time. It’s also a great way to gain a captive audience. Within your app, they won’t be distracted by competitor sites, and you can create exclusive offers that capture more sales. A study by eMarketer revealed that mobile offers are redeemed ten times more frequently than print offers.
4. Be Selective with Social Media
Too many businesses are focusing on establishing their name through every social media channel available. This is a great way to spread yourself too thin. Really get to know your target audience and the platforms that are most relevant to them. With this strategy, you’re able to create campaigns that have the greatest chance of generating a positive ROI. If you’re one of those businesses that doesn’t quite see the potential in social media yet, perhaps knowing that 34% of the world’s population uses some form of social media. There’s a good chance that your target market makes up some portion of that. For more inspiration on this small business growth hack, head here:
• Social Media Pocket Guide (free eBook)
• Comparing Social Media Platforms for Marketing
• How to Generate Leads with Social Media
5. Go Organic
In the fast-paced world of online marketing, it’s easy to leave organic SEO strategies (creating genuinely useful content for readers) in the dust. To give you an idea of how important SEO still is: 70-80% of users ignore paid ads altogether, focusing on organic results instead.
People still like to do their own searching and not feel like they’re being led to a landing page loaded with sales tactics. In fact, 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. For further justification, another study revealed that user searches are the number one driving factor of traffic for content sites. That beats social media by more than 300%!
Brush up on your SEO and organic traffic growth. Here’s where to start:
• SEO Pocket Guide (free eBook)
• 6 Helpful Tidbits for Understanding SEO
• 5 Ways to SEO Your Business Website
Chances are, you’ve already dabbled into a few of these growth hacks. Knowing that they’re worth your while, it’s time to return to them with more confidence. You can’t afford to waste time on ineffective marketing.
