Closing more sales

Tips for successful SME marketing

The goal of every SME is to sell the business’ products and services. Thus, the use of a good marketing strategy is key which positions the business in front of the target audience and offers them something they can’t refuse or find elsewhere. Effectively implementing your marketing strategy means you will reach your ideal customers and generate sales quickly. With the right mix of activities, you can identify and focus on the most effective marketing tactics for your small business:

• Marketing on a small or non-existent budget: It’s important to remember that without marketing your business it’s difficult to get sales. There are a number of ways to market that don’t break the bank, for example: online marketing, digital flyers or brochures, word of mouth via customer testimonials, social media and more.
• Always have printed and electronic flyers readily available: While online marketing works well, don’t be over reliant on it. It’s wise to also take the time to design and print brochures and flyers which support your online marketing strategy.
• Try not to build your brand around one person: Your company name, business card and website should relay that the business is professional and established. It’s better to grow into a brand that looks bigger than it is than to be confined by a brand built around you as the founder that keeps you small.
• Never use a Gmail address for business: One of the worst marketing mistakes made by start-ups is using a Gmail address for a business email. The very first thing you need to do once you have decided on the name of your company is to register the domain and start using that domain for your business emails.
• Don’t ignore social media marketing because you don’t use social media personally: Social media is an extremely important tool for small businesses. It’s become the norm for all types of business to have some sort of social media presence. The time to embrace social media is now. It’s where your customers are.
• Don’t overcomplicate your website: Sometimes the simplest ideas and wording are the most effective. Use clear concise language, simple fonts, limit your colour scheme, and ensure your most important content is above the fold/scroll line. The best rule of thumb is less writing and more images.
• Optimise your website to be easily found: Ensure your website is accessible to as many people (and systems) as possible. The best way to do this is to ensure that your website is prominently listed in search engine results pages for keywords related to your business.

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IDZ launched at OR Tambo

Innovation hub in Cape Town

A multi-use innovation hub, designed to showcase solutions to South African and African problems, was launched in Cape Town at the V&A Waterfront. The innovation hub has a strong technology and entrepreneurial focus, adding to Cape Town’s strategy to be Africa’s digital capital. Its location at the V&A Waterfront’s Workshop17 platform will provide small entities with the best opportunities.

Cape Town’s Waterfront (Photo: Shutterstock)

Workshop17 was a seed of an idea six years ago when it was recognised that resources could be used to foster small business through an innovation hub. Today, the result is a working space with a clear vision that has a very different kind of potential that extends far beyond the walls of Workshop17 which would like to see cutting-edge ideas, plans, developments and solutions that we ill come out of this revitalised space.

Workshop17 has been designed to facilitate a community of talented, passionate and diverse people learning and working together to create new solutions to big and small problems, and will allow interaction between the public, entrepreneurs, innovators and designers as well as between disciplines, sectors and cultures in its endeavours.

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