23 Feb 2022
Even if you are short of time and have a next-to-nothing marketing budget, you can at least do these things:
Check your online visibility: do a Google search for the service you provide. Do not use the name of your company as the search term, as your customers will not know to search for it, but they will be searching for your service.
If your website does not appear in the first three pages of search results, you should invest in SEO, or the search engine optimization of content and Google Marketing. Once you get more traffic to your website, it will start to appear higher in the Google search results.
Even a simple website can be enough as long as it fulfils the key criteria: the customer can easily find all the information they need, the site loads quickly and it can be found using the most common search terms used to search for your service.
Open a Google My Business account to promote your services and campaigns. This is particularly important for businesses with a physical shop, because Google Maps will allow others besides local customers to find you.
Think about your target group and choose your marketing channel accordingly. If you sell B2B, your best choices are Google, direct marketing (e-mail marketing) and LinkedIn.
If your customers are consumers, you should head to social media. The COVID-19 pandemic has lent wings to the digital leap, and in 2020, no less than 69 percent of Finns aged 16–89 used social media services*.
In terms of social media platforms, your best choices are Facebook (now Meta), Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and TikTok, depending on what you are selling and to which age group.
Facebook is a safe bet in that it is still the most popular social media platform in the world. It also reaches a wide age group in Finland: people aged 16–75.
The second most popular social media platform – if you do not count WhatsApp – is Instagram, which reaches 80 percent of the 16–34 age group and quite a large number of the 35–54 age group as well (50/40%).
If your target group is young people (aged 16–24), you should invest in Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter, in that order.
YouTube videos are also popular, so if you have the time and skill to make videos, you should definitely do so. The most successful YouTubers are the ones who actively post entertaining or helpful content to their followers. In other words: if you already have your hands full, YouTube is not the way to go, unless you outsource your video production.
Hold on to your old customers, because retaining customers who have already been reached – and who are happy with your service – is more practical and inexpensive in terms of the input-output ratio than new customer acquisition.
So do not forget your old customers, but contact them by e-mail or phone at least once a year. When you contact an old customer, take off your selling shoes and approach them with a sincere service approach: How are you doing? Can I help you in some way?
You are not trying to sell something over the phone, but maintaining the customer relationship and showing interest and care.
*Source: Statistics Finland
Do not hesitate to contact us and book a free appointment! You can also contact us using the contact form below.
Keski-Uudenmaan Kehittämiskeskus Oy
Business Development Centre Ltd. Helsinki Region North
Puuvalonaukio 2D, 2. krs, 04200 Kerava
050 341 3210
keuke@keuke.fi