Editor’s Note: Sponsored Content

When you run a small business, you have a lot on your plate. Small business owners have to prioritize their customers and clients and deliver superior products and services. But that’s not all that they have to do. On top of that, they have to worry about everything from payroll and taxes to managing their physical business space.

And even if business owners do all of that perfectly, they may not succeed. That’s because even the best businesses need the attention and loyalty of customers or clients to succeed. No matter how great your business is, it won’t make money unless people know about, talk about it, and stick with it!

To land customers and keep them, you need to do more than simply exist. You need to distinguish yourself and your business with great marketing, superior presentation of your goods or services, and the little details that set businesses apart.

Marketing matters

No matter what sort of business you run, your marketing matters. Without great marketing, including modern digital marketing solutions, your business won’t have a high enough profile to draw in customers in the first place, and your skills, service, and quality will never be tested.

The best marketing approach includes digital marketing, especially search engine optimization. SEO is essential because so many would-be clients and customers now find what they are looking for through search engines such as Google. If your business doesn’t appear pretty high on Google’s search engine results page, then you’re going to lose customers to the better-ranked competition.

Marketing is more than just existing, though. You need to set your business apart. If possible, you should work with your marketing team or outsourced marketing professionals to develop a unique service proposition, or USP. If you can think of a way to present your service or products as things like no others on the market, you’ll stand out from the crowd.

Present your products (or services) right

Presentation matters. You wouldn’t show up at a job interview or a wedding underdressed, and you shouldn’t let your hard work enter the world in a sloppy way, either.

Tax preparers need custom tax folders. Local shops need clean, well-organized shelves. Businesses of all kinds can benefit from customized business cards, pens, magnets, and other simple customized giveaways and presentation items that can communicate your business’ competence and quality in a memorable way.

Good presentation materials can double as marketing materials, of course. Hand a client a detailed report in a sturdy customized folder, and that client might reuse that folder in their business space or home, where it will remind them of your business and services every time that they see it. The same goes for customized pens and other things that you give away to customers and clients.

Customer service is everything

You have competitors that strive to do what you do as well as you do. Maximizing the quality of your goods and services is key to beating the best in your business space, and making your prices competitive is, of course, also crucial. But don’t neglect one of the most important differentiators in just about any business space: customer service.

When customers have interactions with customer service, they remember them. They remember when they were helped and made happy, and they certainly remember when they were made unhappy. Customer service is a key differentiator for businesses that want to truly stand out from the crowd, and investing heavily in great associates, lots of training, and a good company culture will lead to rewards such as more word-of-mouth buzz and happy social media comments.

Be charitable

Supporting charities and good causes is another great way to help your business stand out. Your competition is out to make money; so, of course, are you. But if you’re willing to put the common good first, customers will notice. Customers and clients will be more willing to part with their hard-earned money if they know that a portion of it will go to a good cause, and you could also enjoy more advertising and exposure if your logo makes it onto a charity 5K’s T-shirt or the uniforms of a local youth softball league.