Small businesses often come to us wanting one idea or strategy that will change everything. They’re looking for a secret weapon that brings instant success.
But in small business marketing, there is no secret weapon. Most of the time we know what we need to do. The problem is that we stop because we don’t see the results immediately. But in small business marketing, doing simple things consistently is key.
Here are three ways to stay consistent in small business marketing.
1. Avoid Complexity Bias
Complexity Bias describes our tendency to prefer complicated explanations and solutions over simple ones.
Faced with two competing hypotheses, we are likely to choose the most complex one. With this comes a tendency to skip over simple tactics like requesting a Google review in favour of more complex ones like SEO strategies and website revamps.
Great results come from consistently doing boring things extremely well. — Shane Parish
To build consistency in your small business, you need to acknowledge this bias and shift your focus towards low-effort high-reward strategies.
2. Learn to Value Simplicity
At the core of consistency is valuing simplicity. But simplicity is more complicated than it sounds. Here’s one of our favourite quotes about simplicity.
Don’t face complex issues head-on; first, understand simple ideas deeply. Clear the clutter and expose what is really important. Be brutally honest about what you know and don’t know. – Shane Parish
If you want to read more, here’s a list of our favourite quotes about simplicity.
3. Implement Processes
Don’t get fancy – process is your best friend. If consistently doing things well is what leads to success, then process is what gets us there.
Simple steps are easy to follow but when we add the unpredictability of real life — multiple staff members, stress, more work, more locations, etc. — we drop the ball. We forget about the small easy things and instead spend our time focussing on the bigger ‘more important’ tasks.
Our advice is to implement one process at a time that focuses on one business goal. Keep it as simple as possible.
For example, if you want to build your SEO, a simple way to do this is by getting more customer reviews. To do this consistently, set yourself a reminder to ask for one Google review every week. Over time, your SEO will improve and you’ll have a bank of social proof to use in other marketing materials.
Building Consistent, Simple Marketing Processes
With these three tips in your back pocket, building a consistent marketing strategy should come naturally. At DB, we use this framework to help all of our small business clients create the internal processes they need to grow their business, even after the project has ended.
If you’d like to find out more about our marketing services for small businesses, let’s chat.
