Evergreen Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

Times change.

With it the way we do business also changes.

But there are some ideas that stand the test of time – and work as well today as they did many years back.

Today, I will share some of these ideas with you.

Personal Connection

The beauty of personal connection is that it never fades out or becomes obsolete, no matter how competitive or saturated the market is. The rapport you have with your clients or relationship you share with your audience makes a huge impact on your business.

There are thousands of stores selling same products, but people prefer to buy from the ones with which (with the owners or employees) they share a good relationship. Often this personal connection brings customers back to your business even when they have the option to try out another stores.

Building up a personal connection alone is not sufficient; you need to manage it to take it to the next level. Say hello, send emails, involve them in your product creation, send thank you notes. Use commonsense and do not intrude in their personal space.

If you run an online store – show your personal side by sharing a story on your blog. When you do this people will tend to like or at least with connect with you and your brands. People like to connect with real people. Better – even feature your customers who are happy with your business. When you do that people may even tell their friends about it and act as your evangelists.

Be authentic in the way you write and speak and tell about your brand.

If your community is large add some structure to your goal of personal connection. Schedule emails, use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools like Zoho CRM, SalesForce or a simpler one like Nimble.

Do in person monthly mixers. Give them a fancy name like – “Ambassadors Meetup”.

Help with Knowledge

Helping your customers with correct information will never go out of trend.

It is massively useful. This company made a multi-billion dollar business by pointing people to useful info. Huge brands and businesses like Answers, StackExchange and Quora are also built on this premise (that people want relevant info and seek knowledge).

When you guide your customers in finding the right product and help them in achieving their goals you win their trust. When the trust you for info – they will also likely – happily pay you and buy your products and services.

A good side-effect is that if you keep doing it – you will be seen as a thought leader and your perceived brand value will increase.

For example – if you are the owner of a mattress brand, you can assign your content team to write articles about how to choose a good mattress, tips for good sleep and also how to take care of your mattress.

This info can be published as a blog post and will help you be seen in search engine – and the links can be posted on your social channels and be included in your newsletter.

One important thing – be consistent with your connection and knowledge sharing effort.

When you share knowledge – also support it by research. So that it is easy for user to trust what you share. It is more important if you are a small brand.

Make these two – nurturing personal connections and helping your customers with information and knowledge – a core part of your marketing efforts. Be rest assured that you will enjoy running your business more and create loyal customers.

Are you using any of these in your business?

Any more ideas you like to add?