If you’re like many of the small businesses we meet, you would probably admit that your marketing is sporadic at best, non-existent at worst. A bit like the waves at the beach, the time and energy you spend on your market ebbs and flows as you deal with busy periods then it’s all systems go when a lull appears.
The New Year typically gives small business owners a renewed enthusiasm for the marketing and promotion of their company. “It’ll be different this year…!” you promise yourself. To be fair, it’s often not a case of your intention waning, it’s just that the time needed to consistently promote your products and services disappears, as does the headspace to plan how you’re going to effectively ‘get yourself out there’.
Questions commonly asked:
“Should I write a blog?” As you’ll see on our website and across our social media platforms, we produce many different forms of content, to let our potential clients know what happens ‘behind the curtain’ at Novus - and a regular blog is just one of them. A blog is a wonderful way to reach people, but it has to be something you commit to on a regular basis. It’s not a place where one great post should go to die, unread and alone.
“Should I get some flyers printed?” A traditional method of getting people’s attention is the humble leaflet. However, leafleting equals a blanket approach; it’s not akin to a targeted, strategic marketing tool that makes the best use of your time. For example, consider: where will you put those leaflets? How will you ensure they get to your target market rather than ending up, unread, in the recycling bin?
“What about an advert in the local rag?” Again, an age-old tactic, but one that is much more expensive than it used to be. The people selling you advertising space won’t tell you that more than half the people who used to buy newspapers choose to get their news another way in 2020. And again, how can you be sure that your target customer will not only buy a copy, but have the time to read it, and that they will also be sufficiently motivated to act after reading a few lines of copy?
Our advice: take a shortcut.
Videos are instant. With the appropriate tools and tags, one video can reach people that are actively searching for what you offer in your area and beyond – and, with video, they won’t need to read through thousands of words to get to the thing they want to know.
Today, the vast majority of us have the attention span of a goldfish. We scan read, and then forget much of what we’ve just taken in (what if we were to quiz you on the contents of this post, would you be able to answer correctly?!).
Studies have shown that, after watching a video, consumers are 64% more likely to buy the product(s)/service(s) featured, compared to other methods of promotion. That’s a heck of a statistic (and it’s one that’s probably a little out of date, too – it will now be more than this).
Videos are perfect for our limited attention spans, they can get a message across instantly, and they can effortlessly tempt and tantalise your buyer into parting with their money.
And they’re no more expensive than an advert in the paper. For example, for just £40 a week with Novus’s unique small business package, you could have a brand-new video under the noses of potential clients every seven days – consistently new visual content, week in, week out.
You wouldn’t have to worry that you’re not getting around to any marketing either; video posts can be scheduled to go live automatically week after week. With video, you wouldn’t have to wait months to build up a faithful following through your blog articles. With video, you can appeal to people who are actively looking for what you offer.
Videos represent a small business’s shortcut to success.
