We’re heading into the last quarter of the calendar year, and it’s a busy one. Holiday sales can add up to a huge chunk of your annual income as a small business owner! While you’re probably getting ready for the holidays right now, today I want to encourage you to think even further ahead. In the blink of an eye, 2022 will be over and 2023 will be upon us. If you want your 2023 small business marketing to take your business to new levels, you need to start thinking about it now. That’s why I’m going to explore 7 ways you can boost your marketing for the new year starting TODAY.
7 Ways to Kickstart Your Small Business Marketing 2023
If you keep doing the same thing, you will keep getting the same result. So today I want you to think differently about your small business marketing in 2023. Don’t rely on the same assumptions and expectations. Now is the time to re-evaluate your plan, select your marketing channels and try something different. Plus, these are all things you can start taking action on TODAY. Check out the list and get started!
1. Reevaluate your target market and customer
Chances are you’re operating on assumptions about these things. You have enough data from 2022 to evaluate these assumptions and determine if you are targeting the right market and customer. How big is your market? What are the opportunities in 2023? What are the demographics of your ideal customer? Has your ideal customer changed this year? These are all the kinds of questions you should be asking yourself right now.
If you follow my blog, you know that I’m a huge advocate for small business owners breaking into their niche. If you haven’t, it should be part of your small business marketing plan 2023. Need help identifying your target customer niche? This article will guide you
2. Create a content and SEO plan
Do you have a blog on your company website? And if you do, are you writing “whatever you want”? You can do better than this in 2023, so now is the time to start thinking about your content marketing and SEO plan.
If you followed the previous step, you have now defined your target customer niche. So what do they want to read? What questions do they have about your business or industry? What kind of topics will bring them to your website? As you brainstorm content ideas, do some SEO research to choose keywords that will get your articles found in the right searches. HubSpot has an excellent beginner’s guide on the complex subject of SEO. If you think ahead, you can plan your content calendar for 2023 so you know what you’re going to write about and what keywords to target.
3. Hone your social media marketing
Your 2023 small business marketing plan should also include social media. Regardless of your business or industry, you need to claim your presence on social media! The big question is where, so we’re sitting here in the fourth quarter of 2022, do you have time to evaluate the best social media sites for your business.
When trying to figure out where to be, ask yourself: Where are my target niche customers? Pick one or two of their favorite sites and develop a consistent posting plan in the new year.
However, remember that you should include social media in your 2023 small business marketing plan, NOT just to add more noise to the internet! No, you do it to build relationships and increase sales! So you’ll want to take the time NOW to educate yourself about social media selling. I have a two-part series to check out here i here. You also have time to take my 6 weeks Selling course in social networks.
4. Prepare your email marketing efforts
Email marketing should be a tool in every small business’s toolbox. “But I don’t have an email list.” Fair enough, but you can GROW one, starting today. It doesn’t take long to create a great lead magnet. All you have to do is figure out what you can offer so valuable that potential customers are willing to give up their email address to have it.
For lead magnet ideas you could make, how about making my own lead magnet: The 50 best lead magnet ideas? Since there’s more to email marketing than just creating the lead magnet, you’ll also want to check out my course, The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, where I’ll teach you how to master the basics of email marketing in just 6 weeks.
5. Consider paid advertising
I get it: paid advertising is complex. Creating a strategy and setting up an ad can be daunting for the small business owner who is already doing everything else. But there’s a reason online ads are still so popular. Maybe this is something you should add to your 2023 small business marketing plan?
Search ads will allow your site to appear in searches above organic results. Social media ads will allow your company’s posts to appear in feeds as potential customers scroll. With retargeting ads, you can target users who have previously visited your website but haven’t converted. My How to sell and market online The course has a week dedicated to advertising strategies, so if you need to educate yourself, this is a good place to start.
6. Consider working with influencers
Maybe you’re one of the small business owners I’ve talked to who thinks influencer marketing is only for big businesses. If so, I’d like to disagree with you on that. Micro-influencers are PERFECT for small businesses and can be a viable part of your small business marketing strategy in 2023.
A micro-influencer is someone with a following of between 1,000 and 100,000 people on a social media site. When you connect with an influencer who posts about a topic related to your business AND has a connection with your target customers, magic can happen.
You have time to think about it. This article is about using the few months left in 2022 to plan your small business marketing strategy for 2023. So check out my blog posts How to work with micro-influencers i 10 dos and don’ts of working with micro-influencers to decide if this is the right path for your small business.
7. Explore opportunities with Mobile Marketingg
One last thing to consider for your 2023 small business marketing strategy is to increase the amount of mobile marketing you do. research found that 77 percent of Americans own a smartphone and 79 percent have made a purchase using their mobile device. As a small business owner, these are numbers you can’t ignore! When your biggest competitors are already into mobile marketing, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.
Mobile marketing can take many forms. Maybe 2023 is the year you come out with your own app? Or maybe you’ll explore instant messaging or text marketing? Or maybe you’ll focus on customizing the mobile experience on your website? The possibilities are endless, so pick one and stick with it.
Your Small Business Marketing 2023
I’ve been coaching small business owners for over two decades, and one thing I stress is that you MUST plan ahead. If you want your 2023 small business marketing to be bigger and better, you need to think about it and work on it before the new year arrives. I’m not suggesting that you try every idea in this article. That would be counterproductive. But I I am pushing you to select one or two and start TODAY doing the work to get your business ready for the new year. Good luck on your journey. I look forward to hearing your success stories in 2023!