Small Business Marketing Essentials

The best small business marketing strategies are easy to implement, and, most importantly, they attract many customers. We found the top three marketing strategies that fit these criteria.

Top three marketing strategies for small business:

• Press Releases
• Google My Business Listings
• About Us Facebook Links

There are three small business marketing strategies you should implement right now into your marketing mix. These strategies are not only the most effective but also the easiest marketing strategies for small businesses to implement. It shouldn’t take you much time at all to implement these powerful strategies.

Follow these steps to create a press release, create a Google My Business listing, and add a Facebook link to your “About Us” page on your website. As we go, you’ll learn how to optimize these tools and improve your marketing skills. Let’s get started.

How to Create a Press Release

Creating a press release is the most important small business marketing strategy on this list, so we’ll begin here. A press release is a notice given to the press in order to educate the general public about a new company, product, or service being offered. Press releases are a great marketing tool for building brand awareness and amplifying your message to a larger audience.

You have a couple of options when it comes to writing and distributing press releases. Your first option is to hire a professional press release distribution service to write the press release and then distribute it for you. This is an ideal option since the press release writer will have years of experience when it comes to writing press releases, plus you’ll need a distribution service to get the word out anyway.

If this option best suits you, check out our review of the Best Press Release Distribution Services.

Your second option is to write a press release yourself. Follow these steps to write a press release:

1. Write a compelling headline.
2. Write a “For Immediate Release” date of publish.
3. Add press contact information: name, email, phone.
4. Add bullet points to summarize the message’s key points.
5. Write an introductory paragraph to state the purpose of the press release.
6. Include relevant quotes from prominent figures and experts that adds importance and value to the press release, making it a “must-read” news article.
7. Write a detailed second paragraph with a relevant quote by a team member.
8. Write the third paragraph with other relevant information that the reader and press need to know about.
9. Add a company boilerplate section detailing the organization.

How to Create a “Google My Business” Listing

In order to get your business listed at the top of Google, you will need to fill out a Google My Business listing. If you’re a local business and people are searching within your industry, you definitely want to show up on those search engine results pages (SERPs).

These days, people search for a business long before deciding to call. This is why it is so important to have a Google My Business listing setup. Let’s learn how to set one up.

How to Set up a “Google My Business” Listing:

1. Create a Google account at www.google.com/account
2. Visit www.google.com/business
3. Enter your business name
4. Enter your business street address
5. Click on the tick box if you have a location people visit
6. Define the business category
7. Add your business phone number
8. Add your website address
9. Click the Finish button
10. Fill in the contact name
11. Click mail
12. Wait for Google to send you a postcard with a verification code
13. Once received, enter the verification code to finalize getting your business listed.

Link Your Website’s “About Us” Page to Your Facebook Business Page

Facebook is where many people go to learn more about your business. Having an easily accessible Facebook business page not only makes it easier for your customers to learn more about you, but it also helps improve both your website and Facebook page’s search engine optimization (SEO).

If you want more SEO tips, check out our complete guide on how to improve SEO.

The best place to link your Facebook business page is to add it to your “About Us” page since this is where people on your website go to learn more about your business.

How to Link to Your Facebook Business Page to Your “About Us” Page:

1. Open Google, click on “Images,” then type in “find us on Facebook.”
2. Right-click on a Facebook image and select “Save Image As” to save it to your computer.
3. Go to your website editor and find your “About Us” page.
4. Using the editor, upload the saved Facebook image and place it visibly on your “About Us” page.
5. Open a new tab on your browser and go to your Facebook business page.
6. Copy the URL of your Facebook business page into your clipboard
7. Go back to your About Us page in the editor and link the “find us on Facebook” image to your Facebook business page URL by pasting the URL into the URL link editor.
8. Click on “Save Changes.”
9. Go to your “About Us” page and click the “Find Us On Facebook” icon to verify that it links back to your Facebook business page.

Right now, your competition is probably reading up on how to improve their small business marketing. Fortunately, you already know what to do. Now, let’s put it into action.

How to Market Your Small Business:

1. Get your press release written first. We recommend having a professional help you with this part.
2. Set up your Google My Business listing. You can do this in five minutes, but you will have to wait a few days to receive your Google postcard containing your promo code.
3. Link your Facebook business page to your “About Us” page. If you don’t have a Facebook business page, you can easily set up a Facebook business page in five minutes.

What is a press release?

A press release is a short news story that is released to the press for a number of reasons, including:

1. To reveal a new product being launched by a company.
2. To reveal information about a company, usually for publicity purposes.
3. For managing public relations. For example, JetBlue Airlines released a press release explaining why it kept so many passengers on a grounded plane for an extended period of time.
4. To share forthcoming news about something happening with the company.

How to write a press release?

You write a press release similarly to how you write a newspaper article. The press release must contain certain information about the company using a boilerplate template. It must also include an immediate release date and an attention-grabbing headline. You want the press release to appeal to members of the press so that it gets published and amplified to the public.

How to write a press release for an event?

For events, press releases are written in much the same way they’re written for new product launches or to manage public relations. The only difference is you want to convey the importance of the event and how it serves the public. The objective of a press release for an event is to entice people to attend the event.

How to distribute a press release?

Distributing a press release requires a lot of work if you do it yourself. You’ll need to reach out to relevant news outlets that would likely publish your press release. This means understanding each news outlet and how they operate. You’ll also need to find the contact information of each news outlet to learn how to submit a press release to them for potential distribution.

Most businesses use a press release distribution service to distribute their press releases. In order to improve the likelihood that your press release is distributed, we recommend partnering with a press release distributor that also writes press releases. Have them write the press release and get it distributed so you can ensure your press release is up to current standards and gets distributed.

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free Google business listing that populates in the search engine results pages (SERPs) when someone is searching for a particular category of business in a particular locale. This free service is similar to having a listing on Yelp.

How to get my business on Google?

To get your business on Google, you’ll need to get a Google My Business listing. This will help ensure your business shows up in local search results.

For example, if someone searches “Pizza Restaurants In Jacksonville FL,” a list will populate. If you click on “View All,” the list will expand, and a map of the Jacksonville area will appear, showcasing the pizza restaurants and where they’re located.

How to set up a Facebook business page?

Six in ten business owners claim that the future of their business depends on having an online presence. The largest social media website is Facebook.

Having a Facebook business page is important because it helps your business reach customers you otherwise would not. To set up a Facebook business page, visit the Facebook website and create a business page.