Promoting your business is hard but promoting it when you’re a sole trader? That’s a whole new level of difficulty. No matter the industry you work in, the location you’re set up to serve or the product/service you offer, you have to make sure that your marketing strategy is on point. Once you have it locked down, you can execute it with precision. Before you can get to that point, however, you need to consider what marketing will look like for you.
As a sole trader, you may not think you need marketing help but you do! You need to be able to get your name and what you offer out there into the world otherwise, building a customer base is going to be nearly impossible. From utilising the help of Pixel Perfect website design to make sure that your website is visually appealing, to getting to know what your business customer persona is, you can market your business without an entire in-house team. Achieving organic growth may take some time but it’ll be worth every second of that time once you do it. So, let’s take a look at how you can market your business as a sole trader:
1. Sketch out that marketing plan. You have to start writing a plan that works for your specific business. Once you do that, you can follow it to the letter and stay on top of it to find success. You can produce your marketing materials yourself, but you should make a point of engaging with professionals for your website and more complex marketing needs.
2. Lean into your website. Your company website can be an absolute triumph if you allow it to be. Your website will likely be the very first point of access people have to you as a sole trader, so you need it to look good and you need it to show exactly what your business is capable of.
3. Get on social media. What does your current social media presence look like? As a sole trader, you need to do more than just hope your time is enough. You have to get to know where your customers are on socials and max out your social media presence. Focus on LinkedIn and Facebook or Instagram, but don’t discount things like TikTok depending on the age of your audience.
4. Spend time on SEO. You want to ensure that you can pick the right keywords so that you can increase your visibility and your location on the search engine results pages. Once you do that, you can improve upon your business website and be found by the locals. Local engagement is vital for the continued success of your business, and once you realise your SEO strategy is paramount to success, you’ll be able to pivot the right way.
As a sole trader, your marketing strategy may take time to get off the ground. That doesn’t mean you stop plugging away! This is going to be your business gamechanger!