When you become a small business owner, there’s nothing more powerful than knowing you have the ability to scale your business to reach financial freedom. However, entrepreneurship comes with a host of its own challenges. One of the biggest challenges for many entrepreneurs involves finding ways to build a strong community of people who are ready to buy the products or services.
Thankfully, there are six key tips you can utilize in order to develop a strong community around your business.
1. Start a YouTube Channel
YouTube is an amazing platform for any small business to build a strong presence. As long as you present yourself as a knowledgeable, professional voice within your niche and provide quality content on a consistent basis, YouTube will reward you with an increased bump in the search engine results. Just make sure that your videos are produced well, titled correctly, and complete with the right keywords and SEO tactics. Building a presence on YouTube takes time. However, the right effort and intention, the viewers, and new community members will tune in.
2. Cultivate a Great Email Newsletter
An email newsletter allows you to have full control over what your community sees and knows. You can give your community first dibs on new merchandise or services before you release it to the public. You can also get the feedback from those on your email list by providing surveys and more. Once your community is invested enough to fill out a survey, their chances of buying a product are high.
3. Frequent Specific Online Forums
If you really pay attention to many large brands, there’s usually a private Facebook group attached. Join the private Facebook groups of brands that have audience members who can benefit from your content. Granted, you don’t want to pull from an identical niche. For example, if you’ve launched a hair products company that serves people with alopecia, look for a Facebook group for people with balding issues and alopecia. Don’t join the private Facebook group for another hair care company. If your start-up provides online entertainment experiences for people who enjoy roulette, find a private Facebook group that’s filled with people who enjoy Leovegas roulette in India and similar virtual experiences. Comment, like, and engage with people within the group on a consistent basis. That’s a great yet underrated way to gain a loyal following.
4. Invest in Digital Advertising
One of the simplest forms of digital advertising involves the use of Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads. Since the cost is so low to ease into social media advertising, you can set the rates for how much you’d like to spend in order to get your company’s name in front of new people. When it’s time to create your ads, you can get really clear on who your target audience is, where they live and what their interests are. Remember to keep track of where your new followers are coming from when they follow your brand online. If you find that many of them are coming from your digital advertising efforts, you’re well on your way.
5. Develop a Daily Networking Strategy
Granted, you’ll want to develop a daily marketing strategy for your business. However, it doesn’t necessarily always involve sending messages to inboxes. If you’re a member on LinkedIn, use this platform as a launchpad for your interactions with people who might be interested in the products and services your company has to offer.
If you’re a one-man show, you might not want to employ all of these tactics at once. After all, there are many other aspects of a thriving start-up. Instead, choose one or two strategies that you can focus your attention on. As you master those strategies and expand, you can hire an employee to delegate those tasks to.
