While the holiday shopping season is quickly approaching, planning for next year should also be at the forefront of any small business plans. Ultimately, locally-owned and/or small businesses continue to face increasing pressure and competition from larger companies and brands, making their efforts to gain visibility, notoriety and consumers all that more important.

Being an active presence in the digital realm is crucial for small and local businesses today. Given that most people seek out businesses in every niche via search engines, social media or other forms of recommendations that come digitally, establishing oneself in this arena is non-negotiable.

But what can you begin doing to ensure your business is ready for the new year? Let’s examine some great marketing tips that’ll help get your company ready.

Eject the Inefficient

Every small business has to experiment with various tactics to see what works for them and what doesn’t. There may be some habitual routines your business currently uses online that are delivering poor to non-existent results. If this is the case, then get rid of them! It will then be time to try new options that may expand your digital marketing potential.

One area where an exception may be warranted is in the realm of search engine optimization. Since SEO takes a lot of time and effort to deliver results, don’t give up if you’re not seeing massive results in a few short weeks or months. Remaining active on social media is also recommended as it can help your business be spotted in select locally-relevant searches.

Offer Promotions

Pinging users with giveaways and promotions is one easy way to quickly generate attention, get mentioned and encourage people to peruse your offerings. Thankfully, it is very easy to accomplish such in the modern era of digital marketing. By creating a giveaway or other type of promotion, you not only can generate social and in-person buzz for your business, but you can also collect reams of valid information from customers (such as email addresses) that’ll enhance future marketing aspirations.

Claim Your Business Pages

Businesses with one or more physical locations where customers are expected to visit need to ensure their basic information is accurate and synchronized on every platform. Arguably the single biggest example where this needs to be true is via Google: the Google My Business page makes sure that local search results relevant to your brand will be likely to display you on maps and in a number of comparable locally-focused results.

But it doesn’t stop there. Whether it be platforms like Yelp, a variety of social media platforms or even your very own website, make sure that you have control over every instance of your brand’s visibility and make sure aspects like your telephone number, email, physical address and hours are up-to-date.

Branch Out Your Content

While blog posts and social media blurbs have their place, you’ll reach a greater number of people if you offer as many varieties of content as possible. Whether it be how-tos and list-based articles or product videos and live Q&As, the more forms of multimedia you publish, the more people you can reach.

Instead of pinging users with the same content format, offering a variety of solutions will ensure every type of person can find content from your business that is in their preferred format.

By making a few simple changes to your marketing and content plans, your small and/or locally-owned business can begin the new year on the right foot. These changes – coupled with a broader marketing approach – can help generate exponentially more traffic and business for your company in the coming year!