What are the Small business trends in 2019 and how do they affect your business going into the new year? Here we look at the things you must do to stay ahead.
What are the small business trends?
As a small business owner and internet marketer, I am constantly researching and reporting on those issues that will make a difference to your business.
Results for small businesses will vary from Country to City even to Town as well as products so it is a broad spread.
What is certain for this time is that Social media is rapidly changing and that you need to change with it or be left behind.
SEO is still at the forefront as your Webpage remains the specific selling point for all your media.
Email and newsletters are not dead and in fact, I am seeing great results with Small businesses pushing emails to their customers.
Keyword management is really taking top shelf in priorities because of the greater search traffic being generated in all classes of media.
YouTube has nearly as many searches as Google so this is taking an increased priority for all marketers.
You will see a change in Social media heading towards more selling media which will turn our market on its head. A few media are currently pursuing this way of the market.
Instagram is the darling of Facebook and gaining a following that needs to be looked at.
It is all about touch.
A big basket of changes for small businesses with new trends in 2019.
So let’s dig a bit deeper into some of these trends.
These are not in any real order of priority but they are all leading your business in one of two ways, that is Up or out so you need to be the judge.
Youtube is demanding an audience
In the days past many businesses avoided Youtube because of the cost and time of producing a reasonable video. Businesses considered Youtube an entertainment vehicle for Music and movies for the masses and had no place in their minds.
Some decided that it was really easy to do how-to videos that would teach and brand at the same time. Plus connect to a selling point.
Others used it for Selling products and branding and the growth in business users increased.
Smart Phones and Pads also had a big impact because they did not require a full production team to make a simple video.
Then we realized that Keywords were also important so that our great video would be found in a search on YouTube.
It is a fact that YouTube is searched nearly as many times as Google and growing so do you think this may be an opportunity?
We looked at a free keyword tool in another blog on this site
How important is SEO?
Google has 63,000 searches a second or a couple of trillions a month.
Interestingly the top three searches according to Moldova
- YouTube
- Google
So when I say these three outlets are important the figures back me up.
A question then is how do you get found in so many searches being a small or even a large business somewhere in the world?
The answer lies in Keywords and the use of Longtail ones that drag visitors to you. When someone wants to find you what will they type in as a search term?
then the other of course is products so they need to be a specific mention of a term that represents your product.
An Axe is a broad term an axe with a Cedar handle in Idaho is a long tail.
My Video Builder has a great free book on the use of Keywords and it is worth a read.
As well I recently wrote more on this at Online business messaging.
Furthermore, explore your business at a site like Ubersuggest and see what the traffic volume is like.
Must I use social media in my business?
Before I directly answer this I want to remind you that business is all about touch. The more people that see you in any media will increase your chance of a conversion. It is part of the Ancient rule of 7 that stated that buyers would not act until being touched seven times. A rule that still applies to this day. Social media training in business.
You must have a social presence.
Some media is essential and some to suit your market depending on all the demographics and targeting.
LinkedIn is the first one everyone should have. It is a social directory of people in business and is consulted frequently by a range of visitors. This provides some street Cred to you with a nice picture Bio and story. Plus it is easy to do and needs attending to from time to time.
Facebook is similar in that it is a directory of sorts that many lookers use as a guide to you and your business.
Facebook does, however, require constant attention to be relevant.
Now Facebook includes an easy schedule so you can post ahead without being penalized. This allows you to always be current but not spend a whole lot of time on it.
There is no doubt that it is still a great advertising venue to get paid customers pushed into a sales area.
Retargeting and or Remarketing ( the same thing) is there to deliver even more customers at a price per click
Instagram a great choice of media
You will see a lot of hot leads with Instagram particularly in the Women 20-50 age group for a whole lot of products, Clothes, hair, shoes, etc that bring in shoppers better than any other program.
If you are posting to Facebook link to Instagram and see what happens.
One important point with Instagram, owned by Facebook is they don’t like message scheduling and penalize you for using it even though there are ways to achieve this on the net.
It is a live story channel with great snaps and activity.
Instagram is also trying online shopping so you will have an advantage if you have established a position prior to the new Media arriving in your area.
Twitter and others
I wrote on Twitter recently and how it can be a real turn-on for some businesses.
Pinterest is great for mature ladies and can have a place in your business if the market is right
Is social media overrated?
It is unless you do it by the rules and then it will become your greatest friend.
You must be current and topical and drive viewers to a place where they can spend money.
Social media is currently a delivery channel to a website but with changes in the wind, this will change to a sales-based platform. keeping on top of this will support future business.
Google discovery is new
Discovery ads provide a whole new way of shopping.
Advertisers who leverage Discovery ads will have the ability to showcase a single image of their product or service or multiple images in a swipeable carousel format. Google is taking a page out of Facebook’s playbook here. Facebook has, for years, allowed advertisers to engage passive browsers with engaging image creative and attract qualified traffic at the top of the funnel. Advertisers can now do the same thing on Google—abstain from search intent for a combination of audience targeting, greater reach, and the ability to tell a brand story with compelling image creative and attract qualified new prospects.
Wordstream
This is coming later this year so be prepared
Now Google shopping is also coming
One of the most prominent developments in the e-commerce world is the emergence of shoppable content. Only a few months ago, Instagram unveiled Checkout on Instagram—a new (albeit limited) functionality that allows users to buy stuff directly within the app. Shortly thereafter, Google announced a pilot version of shoppable image search results. The common thread tying these two features together is the elimination of friction. In other words, advertising vendors want to make it less painful for your prospects to become your customers.
Webstream
This event changes social media a whole 180 degrees turn from Social to sales.
The rise of messenger
This is another product from FaceBook that is getting traction. It is an ideal contact medium for business to customers because it is free and very strong in image generation.
Furthermore, I found it annoying when I first found people using Messenger but notice a big growth in its use. We have email and SMS and messenger as well but messenger seems to be very good for pictures and attachments.
It is easy to build a base as you develop a product and even build a live chat service for one shop Customer contact.
Business Directories
As you search Google under this subject you will notice that many will miss this completely as old School stuff and no longer relevant to the market.
Search your business on Google and see just how many directories hold positions on the front page. If you are not in them, and they are free, you could well be missing out. I wrote about directories in this Blog.
Do newsletters work for small businesses?
furthermore, I am a great advocate for small businesses using a Newsletter format on a regular basis. I notice that the best-operating stores in my base all use this media on a regular basis. It is not about selling it is all about communicating and earning trust over time. It takes little time for long-term value.
Email marketing is about stories
We also do a lot of email marketing and in recent times tried several ways to get the clicks and links to a better place. Then an Automated sales series using an autoresponder and follow those that click and end up warm dialling.
The latest trend is for storytelling when you write a short story in your mail to increase readership and likes. I was recently reminded of this when I did of a story.
My story for the email
A few years ago I decided I needed to know about internet marketing.
Having grown up in the olden days with the Yellow Pages book that cost me about $27 grand a year and you never knew if it worked or not.Now it is a Webpage or Social Media and how things have changed.
Peter hanley
However, I Now know exactly what needs altering because I use Call statistics and watch the marketing of others to see what works for them.
My first web Page was a bomber, it looked good but SEO was a new thing then and I did not understand all this Internet stuff.
Then I had to go to school and teach myself as much as I could.
Boy, I made mistakes and spent a lot of money doing courses that weren’t all that good but gradually I built up a good knowledge of the things that mattered to my business.
Much of my training came from The Wealthy Affiliate and I adapted that to a business environment.
I deal with small businesses like yours every day and see the mistakes they are making and often their demise because they don’t use the new tools of the internet
This then went into a pitch for my product
The open rate was over 30% to an entirely new audience so that provided lots of people to contact. I will now resend to all those that did not open the first time to increase this further.
There was one bounce and three unsubscribes so a good result using Constant Contact
Marketing by text for small businesses in 2019
My recent rant on marketing by text gives you an idea that this is a great way for instant sales at a small cost. Results are generally pretty instant so it is easy to test with a small sample.
As an example we had one company send 150 text messages to old participants that had previously been with them to sign around 50 new contracts worth over $12500, a good day’s work in any money.
How to save a failing business is also a good read
Summary of Business trends
We have covered many of the new issues coming along and go back over a few old ones as well. The internet world is evolving and we must go with it or sink and go down. Then I see many businesses that refuse to modify their behaviour and get taken out by new and keener operators that use as many touches as they can. Plan your marketing and market your plan.
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