Sales and marketing processes have evolved immensely over the past few years because of technological innovations. Tech tools have transformed the ways in which SMBs used to boost their sales in the past.

Think of an out-of-the-box marketing strategy with which you can leverage advanced technologies at minimum expenditure. But this can’t be done by implementing the usual practices.

Try our online invoicing software for free

Send professional-looking invoices
Accept online payments with ease
Keep track of who's paid you

Start sending invoices

Instead, you have to break the tradition and identify new novel ways to increase the sales of your small business.

We can help you with five unique ways that can be integrated into your marketing strategies in order to improve your bottom line.

And they are as follows:

1. Interact With Your Contemporary Customer Base & Customize Your Web Presence Accordingly

Digitization demands every small business to have a web presence which is impressive as well as authentic. As per Statista, almost 64% of all SMBs in the US have a business website as of September 2015. This shows that an online presence has become a cornerstone for enhancing the reach of a business.

But nowadays, it’s much more important to tailor and customize your web portal in accordance with customers’ specific requirements and concerns. Your brand can’t survive in the competitive landscape with just an average-looking website.

Rather, you have to make efforts in talking with your targeted audience and identifying their pain points so that to customize your portal in such a way that they get the solutions to their problems.

You can generate customer satisfaction with the help of informational and unique content, educational videos, e-books, etc.

But this needs you to focus on redesigning the overall visual appeal and functionality of your website. Let’s fix this by taking a look at the following elements which can streamline your web presence and help you boost the sales for your small organization:

1. Seamless digital forms and sign-ups for nurturing and converting quality leads.
2. Building an intuitive UX and leveraging social media platforms for grabbing more prospects.

III. Integrate CTAs properly and use relevant colors, themes, font, etc.

1. Offer products and services in flexible packages rather than selling them individually to create a cost-effective purchasing plan for your target users.
2. Provide prospects with superior quality content which is not stale as well as personalized in accordance with their specific interests. According to a study by Accenture, 75% of customers want to purchase from sellers who recognize them personally by their name and make recommendations based on their past purchasing history and preferences.

1. Come up with interesting referral programs and exciting contests to drive maximum traffic to your online portal. Also, you can provide limited time offers and deals for attracting potential customers.

VII. Make your website mobile-friendly and easy to navigate.

VIII. Allow customers to give their feedback easily and make sure to incorporate them for enhancing your site usability.

This list is endless so it’s better to do your homework and work with a web development agency who can customize your web presence and make it appropriate for your target audience.

But remembering these points can help you in conveying your needs to the developer properly and optimizing your website for maximum speed and better SEO.

2. Automate Complex Processes & Exploit The Potential Of Massive Customer Data

Advanced technologies such as AI, ML, and Big Data can be used for automating complicated marketing and sales tasks. Also, these tech tools can allow you to focus on matters that are much more important.

A recent research done by Clever Touch revealed how marketing automation has improved collaboration between sales and marketing pros. These tools help them in various ways. Let’s have a look at the major ones depicted in the image:

There are multiple benefits of automated marketing tools such as you can integrate an AI-powered chatbot in your web portal which can answer customers’ queries and guide them to the products which they are looking for.

These bots act as virtual assistants which can help your prospects even when you are taking a nap.

Moreover, Big Data can be a boon for small businesses as it can analyze massive customer data and forecast products that they actually want. Also, big data analytics can help you in influencing customers’ behavior which in turn will enhance your web identity.

In addition to AI and Big Data, you can also integrate many other tech tools which can help you in seamless project management, internal communication, marketing automation, social media integration, etc.

There are different accounting and invoicing tools with which you can automate mundane and repetitive tasks and increase the efficiency in your routine operations and streamline the workflow.

Apart from operational efficiency, it’s equally important to keep an eye on leads and prospects. Therefore, you should invest in incorporating one of the CRM tools for engineering growth in your digital store.

Moreover, a CRM solution will give you more control over managing relationships with your customers and retaining a diverse client base.

3. Optimize Your Content Marketing Strategy

In order to grab the attention of more and more prospects, it’s necessary to integrate a comprehensive content marketing strategy.

It’s not enough to create high-quality content and enriching those copies with eye-catchy taglines and titles. But it’s better to use other forms of presenting information such as videos, audio clips, infographics, charts, graphs, etc.

Make prospects realize that you have something unique to offer with impressive blogs and informational videos. Moreover, for quick results, you can come up with a video campaign idea through which you can develop out-of-the-box video clips and share them with your target audience. Also, enable commenting on those videos to welcome and respect viewers’ thoughts.

It will make them feel valued and they will give you more social proof in return.

Consider providing your target audience with gated content such as interesting e-books, whitepapers, videos, articles, etc. that require visitors to fill a simple form and provide their personal details such as name and email addresses. You can use this data to connect with quality leads and improve your email list.

Look at the impact of gated content with the help of a report by Marketingcharts, 44% of B2B marketers produce and distribute the content to acquire new leads and maximizing sales. You can have a look at the statistics:

4. Consider Your Website As A Sales Funnel & Use It To Encourage More Prospects To Enter The Pipeline

First-time visitors won’t generally buy from that particular brand’s website.

This is why you should think of your web portal as the top of your sales funnel and provide some elements which can trigger their interest and they will keep coming back. Offer some generic informational details but back up with facts and stats.

As soon as the first time prospect will become a frequent visitor it means that he has already entered the top part of your sales funnel. Make serious efforts into impressing those leads and let them move down through the funnel. It will help you build a sales pipeline which can be the key to unlocking a profitable venture. You can easily monitor prospects through the pipeline and convert leads into customers.

You can also integrate your sales funnel with the high-converting landing page of your web portal and keep a track of quality leads and where they are in the sales process. This will allow you to nurture them and take towards conversion.

As per Rootnut, an ideal optimized landing page comprise eye-catching headline, strong and bold CTA, appropriate font, text, images, etc.

Moreover, a blog on Getshogun found out the key elements on a landing page which are responsible for driving away prospects. Let’s explore these elements:

An optimized landing page can be the ultimate tool to grab quality leads and let them enter the sales funnel. You can use a comprehensive CRM platform to look after these prospects and convince them to move down with pipeline and make a purchase.

5. Focus On Implementing Marketing Strategies And Measuring The Results

Because of limited funds and time, your small business may not be capable of measuring the impact of each and every marketing effort.

Instead, pick the most relevant strategies where you have invested heavily. Keep a track of all the key performance indicators (KPIs) and verify whether your efforts are letting you reap rich rewards.

The popular digital advertising tech platform Kenshoo showcased a blog where it has specified the major marketing and measurement technologies according to US marketers as of March, 2018. Let’s have a look at it.

There are a few metrics which are considered as extremely important for business leaders as well as marketing pros.

Measuring these metrics help these professionals to figure out the effectiveness of their efforts. Evaluating lead metrics, traffic metrics, brand metrics, revenue metrics, engagement metrics, and conversion metrics are a few of the most important ones for marketing teams.

By measuring the actual impact of your efforts you will be able to identify areas where you are performing the best. But at the same time, this evaluation will give you an idea of your major weaknesses.

Try to overcome those vulnerabilities in your future strategies and increase the chances of acquiring quality leads and maximizing conversions.

Apart from following the common trends, it’s equally essential to discover fresh ways of increasing sales and enhancing the reach of your small venture.

Don’t be a copycat, instead, use your creativity and leave a mark in the industry.

Small Business Finance 101

Download our free guide to learn the fundamentals of finance that will help make your small business more efficient and successful.

DOWNLOAD FOR FREE