Small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) need to engage in effective B2C marketing to be successful and grow their business.  However, marketing to customers is more difficult than it sounds, especially for SMBs that have competition in their industry and limited in-house marketing resources.  SMBs who do implement effective B2C marketing strategies can get an edge over their competition and build their customer base which will help their business grow.

In this guide, we will discuss the most effective B2C marketing strategies for SMBs to generate more leads and grow your business.  You can also add to your marketing efforts by working with a professional that provides lead generation to get you more calls and potential customers.

What is B2C Marketing?

Business to customer (B2C) marketing is a type of marketing in which a product or service is promoted to individual consumers.  All B2C marketing strategies target customers directly to raise brand awareness and trust and keep them well informed about what you offer.  Effective B2C marketing can also establish your business as an authority within your industry.

Before engaging in B2C marketing, it helps to understand your target audience.  Spend some time thinking about the age and demographics of your potential customers as well as their goals and desires as they relate to your products or services.  Having an understanding of the type of customers you want to attract will help make your B2C marketing more effective.

B2C Marketing Strategies for SMBs

The following are B2C marketing strategies that are proven effective in helping SMBs generate more leads and grow their customer base.

Develop Brand Voice

After you have identified your target audience, you must develop a voice for your brand that best appeals to your audience.  This is why understanding your target audience is important as you must use relatable language and discuss what you offer in a way that entices them.  Your brand voice must be consistent across every marketing platform, including your website and social media channels.

Establishing a brand voice that resonates with your audience will give your brand some personality and help your audience feel more of a connection with your brand.  You will also be engaging with your audience on social media and other platforms using your brand voice.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is very important because 60 percent of consumers say that content created by a business helps them make their decision.  Producing quality content across platforms, including your website, blogs, social media posts, and other marketing materials, will help increase trust as well as generate and convert more leads.

The content you create should resonate with your target audience and appeal to them at different stages of the buyer’s journey.  The content about your products and services should also be useful to your audience, not every bit of content needs to be a direct sales pitch.

The following are the types of content you should consider creating:

• Blogs: Adding a blog to your website is a great way to provide your audience with fresh content about your products and services, information related to your industry or business, and helpful things they can use in their daily lives. You can also share your blog posts to your social media channels to increase their reach.
• Infographics: Infographics are a great way to visually explain a concept and they are very shareable content.
• Podcasting: Starting a podcast or appearing on a podcast related to your industry can help you increase brand awareness and establish your brand as an authority. Podcasting is a great way to build trust in your brand without a direct sales pitch.
• Videos: Video content is the most consumed content on the internet and is also very shareable. There are many things you can do for video content including tutorials and product or service demonstrations.

Social Media Engagement

Social media gives your business the opportunity to increase your reach and connect directly to your audience.  It is important to make regular posts and to respond to comments and questions from your audience.

Your social media posts should appeal to the interests of your audience.  You can use your social media channels to share information about your business, special promotions, informational blogs posts, and other media like pictures and videos.  Responding to comments, questions, and direct messages from your followers will help them feel a stronger connection with your brand.

SEO Strategy

Effective SEO (search engine optimization) is important to ensure that your website is found by those searching for your products or services.  The first step is to determine how your target audience searches for the products or services they offer and incorporate these search terms into your content.

You should not only consider the relevance of the search terms used by your audience, but also their intent.  Their exact search query is indicative of where they are on the buyer’s journey.  You should create content based on the keywords and phrases used by potential customers to appeal to them at different stages of the buyer’s journey.

Working with an SEO professional will help you form and implement an effective, multi-faceted SEO strategy to improve your online visibility and drive more traffic to your website.

Personalized Approach

The importance of the personal connection that potential customers feel with your brand cannot be emphasized enough.  Personalizing your approach can help you better connect with your customers.  In fact, more than 78 percent of internet users say that they are more likely to buy from businesses that take a personalized approach.

One way to be more personal with your audience is to create customized email newsletters for your subscribers.  There are email marketing tools available that can help you determine the interests of your audience.  You can also send special offers to previous customers to show that you value their business.  Addressing customers by their first names in every email is a good personal touch.

Mobile Marketing

It is important to remember that most searches for local businesses are done on mobile phones.  This means that you need to focus on mobile-first marketing.

Slightly more than half of all internet traffic is from a mobile device and 61 percent of consumers say they are more likely to trust businesses with mobile friendly websites.  Reaching mobile users at different stages of the buyer’s journey effectively will give your business an edge.

Doing the following will help you improve your mobile marketing:

• Create mobile friendly landing pages on your website with responsive designs
• Make sure your email newsletters are mobile friendly
• Optimize your social media posts and ads for mobile devices
• Engage in SMS message marketing
• Use QR codes

Remarketing

Remarketing is a type of marketing strategy in which consumers who have previously engaged with your brand are reminded about the products and services you offer.  Implementing remarketing strategies can lead to an increase in conversion rates of up to 161 percent.

The following are effective ways to remarket your brand to your audience:

• Display ads: Running display ads on third-party websites will show these ads to people who have previously visited your website. This will remind them of your brand and what you offer after they have left your site.
• Email marketing: Reach out to customers that have viewed a product page or have left a product in their online cart as a reminder.
• Social media ads: You can set ads on social media to appear to audiences based on various demographic information. You can use these ads to target your followers at different stages of the buyer’s journey.

Lead Generation from RestorationMaster

For many SMBs, successful B2C marketing is a difference maker when it comes to increasing their customer base and growing their business.  Implementing the strategies discussed above will help SMBs improve their brand awareness and make a stronger connection with their target audience.  The more connected consumers feel with your brand, the more likely they are to do business with you.

An effective way to supplement your B2C marketing efforts is to work with a professional that provides lead generation services.  At RestorationMaster, we provide exclusive leads for businesses in the restoration industry to help connect them with customers in their service areas and improve their conversion rates.  We offer high quality leads including water damage leads, fire damage leads, and mold leads.

You can call our professionals at RestorationMaster at (888) 846-1992 for more about our lead generation services.