Let’s face it, these last two years have been extremely tough. Businesses have had to be highly focused on business continuation and business survival due to COVID-19. But as it has eased, companies, especially small businesses have started focussing on more strategies to scale their organizations.
We thought we would take a look at what small businesses are doing globally to ensure growth in 2022. With smaller budgets, less options for marketing and fewer hands on deck, these companies are faced with bigger challenges than larger corporations with big budgets. So, let’s get stuck in and have a look at how businesses can grow in 2022.
Automate Your Processes
When it comes to running a business, the trick is to make everything as easy as possible. So, get one process right, automate it and move on to the next one. Interestingly, you are able to automate a significant amount of processes in the organization, so just look out for the relevant tools.
Look at your payroll, for example. This is something that is highly resource-intensive and can actually be automated. Keep your eye open for payroll software for small business needs, as there are some great options out there. You are able to have seamless time tracking and attendance, automatically file and send your payroll tax payments and handle direct deposit and paper checks.
You are also able to automate things like your social media, your supply chain, email, HR processes, and most aspects of digital marketing. Social media is a great element to automate as it can be highly resource-intensive. Once you have created the right content, there are some great tools on the market that allow you to schedule and post across multiple platforms in one go.
Hire Professionals for Complex Operations
When you can, and have the right budget, look at hiring people to assist you with detailed functions of the business. When it comes to something like conversion rate optimization services, for example, getting an expert on board is well worth the ROI. With these kinds of services, you are able to convert more visitors into customers and earn more revenue for each dollar that you spend on marketing.
In most cases, companies do not make use of data-driven facts to make adjustments to their sales funnels. Experts, on the other hand, track and measure user behavior and re-align their strategies according to this. They use data to find out which channels are delivering high-converting traffic and start pushing more and more content to those channels.
Digital marketing, in its entirety, is a great function to outsource. It is a highly complex and multifaceted element of your business. It takes someone who knows how SEO, content generation, and social media marketing work together to be able to make the whole aspect function.
Take a Closer Look at Your Website
Your website is your sales pitch, your calling card, marketing platform, and product display all in one. If your website is not up to scratch, you are guaranteed that you will be losing out on sales. Start with your content and look at your SEO standings. Where are you ranking on search engines and how effective is your content?
Keyword research is something that you will need to do regularly. Granted, your company will have basic keywords that will not be changed over time. For example, if you are an insurance company, keywords like insurance, car insurance, home insurance, etc. will be standard. But you will need to do keyword research into trending keywords to ensure that your website pops up with popular searches at the time.
It is also important to go through your sales funnel in detail and see where and how you can streamline it. Are there too many forms for your customers to fill out? Is there a break in the funnel? Go through it regularly to check this.
Keep an Eye on The Metrics
We mentioned this earlier, but the fact is you will need to know what is happening on your site at all times to be able to plan for the future. Google Analytics is a great tool to keep track of what your traffic looks like – how much traffic is coming to your site, where is it coming from, how is it behaving, and is it converting or dropping off?
You can combine this with other data and metrics to have a bird’s-eye view of what is working for your marketing channels and what isn’t. So, if there is a particularly successful campaign, for example, you will be able to duplicate this in the future and run similar campaigns, expecting similar results.
Remember that organic traffic is one of your most powerful forms of traffic. Your site should mostly be bringing in organic traffic as that increases your conversion rates. Think about it, if someone is actually searching for your products and services, chances are, when they find them, they will buy them. So, work hand-in-hand with your marketing department for this to happen.
Conclusion
In wrapping up, keep your mind on measuring and monitoring everything. Automate as much as you can and use online tools and platforms to make your job easier. SEO is an absolute essential in your business, as is digital marketing, so get a professional in to handle it if you can’t.
