12 Ways For Small Businesses To Increase Revenue [REPACK]

Social media marketing for small business is all about being strategic. While enterprise companies have the luxury of dedicated resources and time, small businesses need to be more agile, nimble, and creative.

12 Ways for Small Businesses to Increase Revenue

Social media has leveled the playing field, giving small businesses a way to compete with larger companies for attention. By using social media platforms to create content that is interesting and engaging, you can reach a wider audience and encourage them to purchase from your brand.

The number one mistake small businesses make on social media is posting content on the fly. While it may seem easier to spend a little bit of time every day coming up with something to post, this can actually be more time-consuming (and stressful) in the long run.

While these large businesses may have significant budgets to spend on social commerce and marketing, smaller-size companies too can leverage the new social trends to drive increased revenue. Consider these five strategies to boost sales in 2015:

By using these five strategies this year, you can make a significant impact on 2015 sales. While your small business may not have the sizable budget larger businesses do, these moves will provide the seamless purchasing experience consumers are looking for, and you will have the opportunity to reach a broader range of consumers who just may become your most loyal customers.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, few gyms already had digital fitness platforms in place. Fast-forward a few months and many businesses are diversifying their revenue streams with virtual fitness services and products. With changing consumer behavior, brands need to adapt and evolve to prepare for a new post-COVID world.

While not true in every case, smaller businesses (like DTC brands) may have a shorter manufacturer-to-consumer journey, meaning there is more transparency in ingredients, materials, and the source of the products you buy. Small businesses are often makers, producing goods locally. Or they are resellers of products made by small-batch brands.

Shopping with small businesses is also a point of discovery for new or local brands. Where department or chain stores win on volume and price, small businesses shine in diversity, uniqueness, and a personal touch.

Small businesses today are facing increasing competition, higher costs to acquire customers, and lower return on advertising spend. Brands with a small budget rely on their loyal customers to help spread the word via peer-to-peer and social referrals.

While many restaurants closed during the pandemic and TikTok recipe hacks had everyone trying the latest food trend, home cooking was having its moment. From sourdough to preserves, the past few years have led many to discover a new passion for food. Keep that energy high and resist the takeout temptation by upgrading your kitchen with goods from these small businesses.

Supporting small businesses is already an act of kindness, but you can go a step further by shopping from sustainable and ethical independent brands or nonprofits. Here are a few that offer great gift ideas, too.

Swimming in plastic junk and stumped for gift ideas for kids who have everything? Get creative with ideas from small businesses that aim to spark creativity, encourage movement, and expand growing minds.

While travel is starting to ramp up again, there are plenty of advantages of staycations, too. Kit out your backyard, engage in urban exploration, or start planning your next trip with these products from small businesses.

So it makes sense for small businesses to focus on keeping existing customers to remain in business. For smaller businesses with smaller marketing budgets, nurturing existing customers offers a greater return on investment than finding new customers.

A low overhead rate will allow you to better price your products, making you a more attractive option than your competition. Furthermore, a small overhead could also allow you to increase your profit margins, boosting your bottom line.

Another solution to increase your positive cash flow is to brainstorm new sources of income. Get the dream team together, sit down with some coffee, and consider new ways to expand your sales market. Here are a few new sales possibilities to get the ideas rolling:

Using a cash back business credit card can be a strategic way to earn cash on your expenses. As long as you use the card wisely and can afford to make regular (if not full) payments each month, a cash back credit card is easy money. There are several great cash back rewards cards out there. Here are some of the best cash back business cards for small businesses.

To put it simply, the higher your AOV is, the more revenue you can earn from the same number of customers. That means you can increase revenue without increasing marketing and sales costs by the same factor. AOV optimization also represents one more lever marketers can pull as a way to grow the business.

Roberta Perry of ScrubzBody increased their average order value from $45 to $78 by making one, seemingly small, change: increasing the minimum order amount customers need to hit in order to get free shipping.

Email marketing remains one of the most important and effective ways for your business to connect with customers and build lasting relationships with them. With email marketing statistics, you'll be able to discover the ways other businesses are using email to maximize their ROI and connect with customers.

To stay motivated, just keep in mind that 82% of companies claim that retention is cheaper than acquisition and even a small 2% increase in retention can lower costs by as much as 10%.

Shipping costs vary depending on a number of factors, so it's important to understand what factors into shipping calculations. Always be sure to check your carrier's shipping policy for small business, however the five main factors impacting costs are as follows:

Many small businesses pay for insurance when shipping; it's a smart move, but it can also be an expensive one. Instead, you can purchase "peace of mind" using third-party insurance. While carriers typically charge about $1 per $100 of insurance, a third-party insurance company is often half that price. Read more from small business owners just like you looking for third-party insurance on this Amazon forum.

To be active in your community, use in-person and online strategies. Social media is an undeniably powerful way to connect with others and get your name, brand, and expertise in front of commercial real estate clients and professionals. In fact, 77% of small businesses say they use social media for marketing, which means you can connect and collaborate with them to build partnerships and get more commercial leads in real estate.

Yet many online business owners believe that marketing begins and ends with their social media feeds. Word of mouth and community are great ways to build buzz and garner loyal customers - and retailers love social media because for the most part, it's free. But in reality, building a customer base requires some more upfront investment. Spending money on marketing is intimidating, especially for a new or small business where margins are already razor thin.

Economists debate over the exact percentage, but in general, most small businesses allocate between 7 to 12 percent of their total revenue to marketing (in this case, total revenue refers to all of the money generated through sales before expenses are taken out).

If your business is only barely covering costs - or worse, operating at a loss - then a 7 to 12 percent marketing budget may not be wise or practical. There is, of course, a trade-off with any such calculation. Marketing is required for growth, and it's not always a bad idea to cut into already narrow margins to increase overall sales later.

Let's say she then undertakes an email marketing campaign that also costs $100. If her revenue increases by $150 as a result of that effort, the email campaign would have a 50 percent ROI. In the future, the t-shirt vendor would be wise to increase her spending on PPC advertising and place less emphasis on email marketing.

Marketing is rarely as straightforward as the above example, however. Many promotional efforts have positive effects that are less easy to quantify and that may create sales far down the road. Fortunately, significant improvements in marketing attribution can help merchants pinpoint the ROI of specific channels and campaigns more accurately than ever before. Not only can businesses calculate ROI based on year-over-year revenue gains, but they can also fine-tune those calculations to see which efforts are actually driving the conversions.

Even higher taxes (as high as 11.25 percent on small businesses) have been contemplated in Illinois in recent years, as part of prior graduated-rate income tax proposals. Such rates would be unthinkable in a single-rate system but could easily reemerge if the single-rate requirement is repealed.

An individual income tax (or personal income tax) is levied on the wages, salaries, investments, or other forms of income an individual or household earns. The U.S. imposes a progressive income tax where rates increase with income. The Federal Income Tax was established in 1913 with the ratification of the 16th Amendment. Though barely 100 years old, individual income taxes are the largest source of tax revenue in the U.S.

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps your website show up higher in Google search rankings. Using relevant keywords throughout your business's web pages and blog posts increases the chance of users finding your site when they search online for businesses like yours. SEO involves much more than keyword usage, though, so it's helpful to do some research online or find a book that outlines how to prime your site's performance on search engines. You might also consider hiring an SEO agency to help optimize your website. 041b061a72