The most effective marketing strategy for a small budget

Any strategy can work if you have social proof a.k.a testimonials/reviews

The most effective marketing strategy for businesses with a small budget revolves around the phenomenon of social proof, which is more commonly known as testimonials.

Testimonials work much like word of mouth advertising, which is still one of the most effective ways to inspire trust and boost your business reputation.

Social proof can be defined as viewing behaviour to be more correct in a given situation when we see others performing it.

When you build a good reputation you don’t need to compete on price, because your prospects already understand your value and they trust you. So it’s smarter to compete on reputation than price.

How does this translate into a marketing strategy for small businesses?

The answer is simple. If potential customers see social proof that you offer a good product or service, they will see spending money on it as being a logical choice.

This is why it is important to get as many testimonials as you can to use in your marketing campaigns. The most obvious use of testimonials is on your company web page, but you can also use them in email and newsletter campaigns.

Social proof on multiple platforms

You should also remember that online reviews on platforms such as Google Local Pack, Facebook, Instagram and other forms of social media also serve as testimonials. Reviews must be evenly spread across the different platforms and be as recent as possible. Don’t just ask for testimonials in a wave, make them part of your day to day systems.

Testimonials also help your SEO. Google takes in consideration the amount of reviews, and looks at how recent and how well spread they are on the various platforms - it uses this information to place a company on the top of the results

How to get testimonials

The simplest way to get a testimonial from a client is to send them an email a few days after their purchase, thanking them for their trust in you.

In that same email, you can ask them to leave a review for you. FairTech’s software can automate this process for you and send a branded message to your clients, asking them to leave a review on the platform of their choice. It also saves you from negative reviews because they get smart routed to you to handle it and don’t go online, this protects your reputation.

It is smart and will immediately process positive reviews and upload them to the internet.
It will also flag any negative reviews and notify you, so you can get on the front foot and rectify the situation with your client, which often leads to customers changing their review into a positive one.

Case studies as social proof

Another great form of social proof marketing is the use of case studies. These vary according to the industry a business operates in, but the formula is more or less standard.

Find a client and outline their pain points. Explain how your business has helped them remove that pain point by turning it into a positive experience by helping them save money, for example.

Case studies are a great way to showcase your reputation on your website. You can also use case studies in mailshots and traditional print advertising.

Whichever strategy you use, you should always employ social proof marketing. Use reviews, testimonials and case studies to give your online reputation a boost. Ideally use all three.

Want to understand where you stand and how to take the next step?

Book Your Free Reputation Audit here - we audit and review your online reputation on all the online platforms then you get a free 30-minute call where we help you put a strategy in place that will outperform your competition and make sure most of the clients are attracted to you without you advertising or searching for them.