2018 trend for small business ebook

The new year is here and there’s speculation about the trends for small businesses this
year. Millennials, those that are between the ages of 21-37 this year, seem to be in
control of the buying market and rightly so. Millennials are those who love technology
and use it primarily for everything. They are poised to be the greatest percentage of
buyers in the marketplace . What does that really mean to you the small business own-
er? This year 2018 is the year that tech savviness intertwines with humanistic feeling.,
some call it technology with a human twist. You may want to pay close attention to
these trends because how buyers shop and do business is constantly changing and if
you don’t change with the trends you may find yourself not only scrambling to keep
old customer but also struggling to get new ones.

TABLE OF CONTENT Page
Topic 2
TREND 1 3
TREND 2 6
TREND 3

Data shows that customers complete 70% of their buying journey and 90% of their
buying decision before speaking with a vendor. How? The internet provides everything
they need to know about your business’s product or service features before they even
call you. Consequently, when they call you they are not really looking for a long laun-
dry list of the products and services you have. Which leads us to the first trend Subject
Matter Experts
TREND 1 SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
 Subject Matter Experts are often known as “gurus”. or in Corporate America, SMEs

They specialize in an area, a specific niche (product or service). Consequently the
small business owner who does everything (a jack of all trades), tries to cater to
every buyer, but specializes in nothing may find themselves left out in the cold. I’m
not saying that you’ll be out of business per se’, but I am saying you will have a slow
growth rate. And you now the saying “if you’re not growing, your falling behind”.

 Buyers will expect you to be knowledgeable about what your product or service can
do for them. It’s the old adage WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). I am not talking about
the features (they can read that themselves online); I am talking about what prob-
lem(s) you are solving for them

 During this time of technology where nearly everything can be done online, take
advantage of standing out, knowing your potential customer’s need and giving them

Consequently, since most buyers look online before buying most businesses want to
ensure that buyers can find them online . How can small businesses increase their
online presence? This brings us to the second Trend—SEO, Social Media Management,
and Utilization of Analytics

TREND 2: SEO, Social Media Management, Analytics

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) simply put is keywords or phrases used to help
people find your website online. In social media platforms, SEO can often be re-
ferred to as hashtags. There is a specific manner or process used to determine how
to use SEO as well as hashtags. If this is not something that you are familiar with
you can take a course and do it your self or hire someone to do this for you. There
are tools available that can help you with keywords and hashtags. If you decide to
hire someone, make sure they are familiar with keywords in your industry or niche.

• Social Media Management is a field that has seen a huge spike in growth and with
the popularity of the use of social media it is projected to continue to rise. Since the
majority of Small Businesses do most of their advertising on social media it is wise
to invest in a Social Media Manager. Social Media management is time consuming
and not one of your direct money making skills but it is necessary to the continued
growth of your business. There is a proper way to engage in social media, which
brings us to our third point

As stated earlier there is a proper way to engage in social media. Some small business-
es just put a post on Facebook or Instagram that says I’m selling this or buy this for a
discounted rate and think that’s the right way to do things. Others post a picture of
themselves or quote on Instagram and think that’s all to it, it’s not. Remember every-
thing you do is to drive customers to your business but you don’t want to hit them over
the head with your message. This brings us to analytics.

TREND 2: SEO, Social Media Management, Analytics (continued)

• Analytics help you pay attention to your potential customers likes and dislikes. Ana-
lytics show which marketing tactics and post are doing well and which are not. It is
extremely important to pay attention to your analytics. Every social media platform
you use has analytics, your website should have analytic data available as well. As
small businesses utilize this data they will begin to marry marketing to their busi-
ness strategy and increase brand recognition as well as customers. Consequently
understanding the behavior of the potential customer and building stronger rela-
tionships.

Since the majority of Small Businesses buyers are on the internet this means digital is
king . The third trend includes mobile channel, mobile payments, videos, and digital
marketing

TREND 3: Mobile Channel, Videos, Mobile Payments, Digital Marketing

• Nearly every person has a mobile device (cell phone or tablet) that they use con-
stantly through out the day. This means as a Small Business your potential customer
is more likely to view your business on a mobile device rather than a computer.
Consequently it is extremely important your pictures and content reflect your busi-
ness’ image appropriately. Have you ever looked at a business on your phone and
wondered why the picture was not matching the words or company just didn’t have
a professional and polished look? What might look good on the computer might
look totally different on the phone. And since buyers are increasingly using their
phones your business needs to be mobile device friendly.

• Being mobile device friendly also means being able to accept payment via your mo-
bile device. There is an increase in the number and types of payments that can be
accepted on the go. You should be able to receive payments on your phone or tablet
and your customer should be able to make payments on their phone or tablet. You
might be saying I use PayPal so I’m already ahead of the game. Some Small Business
Owners are moving away from the PayPal platform siting in case of disputes PayPal
usually favors the customer. There are many different platforms available that offer

TREND 3: Mobile Channel, Videos, Mobile Payments, Digital Marketing (cont’d)

• There are many different platforms available that offer advantages to Small Business
Owners i.e. Stripe, Square, etc. Some of these payment vendors help you track
month over month spending, trends and more. Additional being able to accept
google pay and apple pay is very convenient for your buyer. Become familiar with
the best mobile payments for both you and your customer (compare rates as well)

• It is expected that the use of videos as a marketing tool will increase in 2018 for
Small Businesses. Since Facebook will be increasing the cost of ads it is projected
that some Small Business Owners may move their marketing to YouTube and
TedTalks. If you have a product or service that advertises well via video this may be a
prime opportunity for you.

• Lastly a increase in digital marketing is expected in 2018. Gone are the days of ge-
neric email messages, potential customers and current customers want to be recog-
nized as a person not a number. Small Businesses need to take advantage of sys-
tems and process that allow them to personalize contact with buyers. Tools like Fa-
cebook messenger, Email Marketing, Zoom and Skype are expected to see an in-
crease

Those aforementioned are just a few of the hot trends that are expected for Small
Businesses this year. The times are changing and you better keep up or get left be-
hind.

If you’d like to have your business analyzed and review your strategy to keep in step
with the expected trends please contact us, Virtually Everything For Small Business
Owners (see the last page for details)

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