5 marketing strategies to supercharge your second year in Business

BySumeera
picture of people with emails and website

Strategic tactics

“The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Congratulations on successfully navigating your first year in business! As you enter year two, it’s time to up your marketing game. Here are five strategies to help you thrive:

1. Customer Testimonials

Your first year likely produced some satisfied customers right? Now’s the time to leverage their experiences:

  • Collect detailed testimonials highlighting specific benefits of your offerings
  • Create compelling case studies showcasing successful client outcomes
  • Feature these prominently on your website and in marketing materials

Pro tip: Video testimonials can be particularly effective in building trust with potential clients.

2. Enhance your content marketing

Quality content is crucial for attracting and engaging your target audience:

  • Develop a regular SEO optimised robust blog focusing on topics your customers care about
  • Diversify your content types: consider adding videos, infographics, or podcasts
  • Implement a content calendar to ensure consistent, strategic publishing.

Remember, it’s not just about quantity – focus on providing genuine value to your audience.

3. Implement smart email marketing automation

Nurture leads and maintain customer connections through strategic email campaigns:

  • Segment your email list based on customer behaviour and preferences. For example, if your business has 2 categories e.g. service based clients and products based clients create an email list for each one and deliver content focusing on the pain point and solutions for each.
  • Create automated email sequences for welcoming people to your list, onboarding, re-engagement, and more campaign-specific.
  • Personalise content to the audience, to improve open rates and conversions

Quick win: A well-crafted welcome series can significantly boost customer engagement. Mailerlite is a easy to use and free email marketing platform if you have up to 1000 emails on your list. Then it’s like £8 per month or something like that.

4. Optimise for local SEO

If you’re targeting local customers, if you’re an estate agency, restaurant, hairdressers, electrician or local videographer/photographer – then make sure you’re easily found online:

  • Claim and optimise your Google Business Profile. (Previously called Google My Business.)
  • Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on Google and other platforms like Opentable, Trustpilot
  • Ensure your business information is consistent across all online listings. Add photos, offers and promotions, menus, opening and closing hours, areas where you operate.
    Top Tip: always remember to adjust your holiday hours for Christmas, New Year, Bank holiday or other special occasions if you’ll be closed or have reduced hours.

Local SEO tip: Regularly posting updates on Google can boost your visibility in local searches.

5. Forge Strategic Partnerships

Collaborate with complementary businesses to expand your reach:

  • dentify businesses serving a similar audience but offering different services. For example, if you’re a hairdresser with extra space, consider partnering with a threading specialist, nail technician, or beautician.
  • Propose mutually beneficial ventures, such as co-hosted events or bundled services. For example, a yoga studio could partner with a therapist for special events or collaborate with holistic experts for moon rituals or cacao ceremonies.
  • Engage in cross-promotion to tap into each other’s customer bases. Share promotions with each other’s email lists and social media followers.

Key point: Choose partners whose values align with yours for the best results.

The main thing is to NETWORK. LinkedIn is ideal for B2B connections, while Instagram or TikTok is perfect for B2C consumer businesses like hairdressers, restaurants, estate agencies, coaches, and bars.

By implementing these strategies, you’ll be well-positioned to attract more leads, convert them into loyal customers, and accelerate your business growth in year two and beyond. Remember to consistently track your results and refine your approach as needed.

Good luck! And keep moving forward, just like the quote above says. It’s not about the destination, but the journey (as cheesy as that may sound!).

If you need a creative boost, I offer Spark Sessions—an hour of brainstorming specific ideas for your small business, where we can generate tactics and strategies together and I provide expert guidance on how to implement these strategies.

Does a Spark session sound useful to move the needle forward – and in the right direction for you today?