Three Tips for Small Business Growth in 2023

When it comes to challenges, confusion and inconsistency, few years can rival what we all experienced a few years ago in 2020. As we continue to move forward in 2023, many of us are finding that a few of these unrivaled challenges remain. So what can we do to take a more positive, proactive approach — and embrace all the opportunities that lie within these challenges?

Thankfully, there are many tips, tactics and strategies that can lead to small business growth when applied correctly. Join us as we take a closer look.

Focus on Your Customer — Closely

The old adage holds that “the customer is always right” (or, more regally, “the customer is always King”). When you’re running a small business, this wise guidance rings even more true. And when you’re aiming for small business growth during an always-on, high-demand, low-tolerance era of empowered online (and off) consumers, it may be even triply true. The bottom line: you must always keep an eagle-eyed focus on your consumers. At all times. At each and every touchpoint. Online and in the real world (or IRL, as the cool kids like to say now).

Establish a Connection

When it comes to wooing new consumers, it’s OK to get a little emotional now and then (I’m not crying…you’re crying). In fact, to achieve real small business growth, you’ll need to at least establish a strong level of trust and connection with your consumers. Doing so means doing more than merely talking about what you can provide them with. Let them know (and even better, feel) why they need your products and/or services. Better yet, establish and maintain open channels of communication — both in person and online. The more you can stay in their hearts and minds, the more success and growth you’ll achieve.

Digital Marketing — Why It Matters

Building and maintaining a strong digital presence will help you better connect with your loyal consumers — and win new ones. And it all starts with your website, which needs to not only look great, but work great, too. To truly achieve online success, you need more than just a sharp appearance. You need exceptional performance. Providing essential information via your site is important, of course. But it’s best to envision your site as much more. See it as a powerful marketing tool. And an even more site powerful new customer prospecting tool. It’s best to design and build your website accordingly, meaning a SEO- and keyword-optimized site that loads fast, answers questions easily, speaks conversationally and convincingly to potential customers and establishes you and your business as an experienced, trusted and innovative leader in your field. After all, 61% of consumers research a product online before making a purchase — and a whopping 88% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Expand Your Digital Toolkit…

The more new customers you can reach, the more you can enhance your revenue and reputation — and the quicker you’ll be able to build and grow your business. Your site should be your first, foremost and most fearsome digital marketing tool here. But by no means should it be your only one. Social media, especially popular channels such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, can also serve as an invaluable resource in satisfying existing customers and attracting new ones, and there’s always great value in investing at least some of your marketing budget in online advertising initiatives such as paid search. Of course, it’s always best to hire a professional – or even better, a group of professionals – to help you and your small business find success online.

Website UX/UI — What to Look For

Just as you should never take a concentrated focus off your customer, you should never forget to maximize UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) at every step of their online interactions with your business and brand. You’ll want to build out your website with superior UI and UX always top-of-mind. This means minimizing potential problems and complications while maximizing ease-of-use and emotional, visceral connections to your consumers. You want their online interactions with you to be as positive, insightful and rewarding as possible.

Make it Smooth

At the end of the day, we’re all too busy. Too distracted. Too fragmented. The easier and more seamless you can make your customers’ online experience with you and your business, the better. Bonus points for finding a way to make it FUN, too. Smart, creative UX/UI is vital to achieving these goals. It’s also just a great investment in your small business growth. Data shows that, on average, each $1 invested in UX brings $100 in return (or a massive 9,900% ROI). Well-designed UI can boost your site’s conversion rate up to 200% — while better UX design can create conversion rates up to 400%. It’s hard to argue with numbers like these.

Need a Partner?

All of this can sound daunting; maybe even utterly overwhelming. But rest assured, there is available help on the horizon. The driven, dedicated and experienced digital marketers at Woo Strategy can help you amplify and maximize your digital presence — and achieve real, measurable small business growth in 2023. Drop us a line now to get an individual consultation!