E-commerce SEO Websites 1 min read

Prioritising Marketing Tasks for Small Businesses

Our small business marketing plan offer you a simple prioritised list of marketing tasks based on Impact, Difficulty, Time, Cost, Scalability, Longevity, Expertise Required and Customer Trust

Task Assessment with Radar Charts

Scoring System Explained

Our scoring system evaluates each task based on its potential impact, ease of implementation, time and cost considerations, scalability, and the long-term value it can provide to your business. By breaking down the tasks into these categories, you can prioritize them based on what’s most important for your business.

Key Scoring Factors

  • Impact: 1 (low impact) to 5 (high impact on business sales)
  • Difficulty: 1 (difficult to implement) to 5 (easy to implement)
  • Time: 1 (time-consuming) to 5 (quick to implement)
  • Cost: 1 (expensive) to 5 (cheap or free)
  • Scalability: 1 (difficult to scale) to 5 (easy to scale as business grows)
  • Longevity: 1 (short-term impact) to 5 (long-lasting impact)
  • Expertise Required: 1 (specialized knowledge) to 5 (minimal training)
  • Customer Trust/Brand Building: 1 (low contribution) to 5 (high contribution)

Scoring Explained: How's it work?

Low Number = Bad
High Number = Good

This example Radar Graph is an example of a poor quality task which is demonstrated by the low impact on sales, being time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to scale task. This might be a large-scale print ad campaign, which is costly, short-lived, and hard to measure.

Prioritising Marketing tasks for Your Small Business

As a small business leader, it’s crucial to make informed decisions about where to invest your time, energy, and resources in marketing. With so many tasks and channels to choose from, ranging from email marketing to paid social media ad campaigns, deciding which strategies will yield the greatest impact on your business can be overwhelming. That's why we’ve developed a clear scoring system to help you navigate these choices.

This system ranks each marketing task based on several key factors, such as its potential impact on sales, ease of implementation, cost, and long-term scalability. By breaking tasks down and scoring them, we aim to guide you through which strategies are “Necessary,” “Desirable,” or “Nice to Have” depending on your business goals, budget, and bandwidth.

Keep in mind that these recommendations should be considered within the unique context of your business. A strategy that's highly effective for one company might not have the same results for another. Factors like your target market, industry, and growth stage all play a part in determining what will work best for you. By using this guide, you can evaluate each marketing effort and prioritise tasks based on what will drive the most meaningful results for your specific business goals.

The following breakdown helps you visualise where to start, what to consider next, and which strategies can be implemented later on. We encourage you to use this system as a roadmap to improve your sales, build trust with customers, and maximise your marketing investment over time.

Necessary Tasks

Email Marketing

90%

Email marketing helps you connect directly with your audience, driving engagement and increasing customer retention. It’s a cost-effective way to nurture leads and boost your sales. With an average ROI of 42:1, it’s one of the best investments for small businesses

Getting Reviews (Search Experience)

87.5%

Customer reviews are essential for building trust and credibility online. Positive reviews don’t just improve your reputation—they directly impact your search visibility, making it easier for new customers to find you and feel confident in their decision to choose your business.

Learn more about getting reviews

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

85%

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of improving your website's visibility on search engines like Google. By focusing on elements such as keyword optimisation, technical SEO (e.g., page speed, mobile optimisation), and building high-quality backlinks, SEO helps drive more organic traffic to your site.

Unlike paid ads, SEO is a long-term investment that builds your brand’s authority over time, providing a consistent flow of qualified traffic. Optimising your website for search engines not only improves your rankings but also enhances user experience, which can lead to higher conversion rates. SEO is essential for sustainable growth, especially for businesses looking to increase their online visibility and attract customers organically.

Google Business Profile (and other Business Directories)

85%

Google Business Profile: Optimising your Google Business Profile ensures that your business appears prominently in local searches and on Google Maps. This boosts your visibility to nearby customers, helping you attract foot traffic or local enquiries and ultimately increase sales. To optimise your Google Business Profile for maximum impact, start by ensuring all your business details, such as address, phone number, and hours, are accurate and up-to-date. Adding high-quality photos and listing your services or products can increase engagement and trust. Encourage customer reviews and respond to them to build credibility and influence potential clients. Use Google Posts to share updates, offers, or events, and ensure you select the most relevant business categories. Finally, include important keywords in your business description to improve your visibility in local search results. These small changes can significantly enhance your profile's effectiveness, driving more traffic and enquiries.

Organic Social Media (Social)

85%

Organic social media refers to posting non-paid content on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It plays a crucial role in building long-term brand loyalty, fostering direct engagement with your audience, and creating a community around your business. By consistently sharing valuable and engaging content, you can nurture relationships with your followers, increase brand visibility, and drive organic traffic to your website without paid advertising.

User-Generated Content (UGC)

85%

User-Generated Content (UGC) involves encouraging your customers to create content, such as reviews, photos, or social media posts, that features your brand. This authentic content not only builds trust but also boosts engagement, as potential customers are more likely to trust real experiences from their peers. UGC serves as free promotion and acts as powerful social proof, helping to amplify your brand’s reach and credibility across platforms without the need for traditional advertising.

CRM System

82.5%

A CRM system helps you efficiently organise customer data, track every interaction, and automate follow-ups, streamlining your processes. This leads to improved customer satisfaction, encourages repeat purchases, and builds stronger, long-term relationships with your clients. By simplifying customer management, a CRM becomes essential for scaling your business and supporting its growth over time.

Video Marketing

82.5%

Video marketing is an effective way to engage audiences on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Creating compelling videos can enhance brand visibility, attract more visitors, and boost sales by showcasing your products or services in a visually impactful and memorable format.

Getting Backlinks (SEO)

80%

Backlinks, or links from other reputable websites to yours, are essential for improving your SEO. They signal trust to search engines, helping your website rank higher and driving more organic traffic. You can build strong backlinks by creating high-quality, shareable content, guest posting on industry-relevant blogs, collaborating with influencers or other businesses, and earning mentions through PR and partnerships. This can give your site a competitive edge in search results.

Writing Blogs (SEO)

80%

Writing blogs is a key element of SEO, helping to improve your website's organic search rankings by targeting relevant keywords and answering common customer queries. Regular, high-quality blog content not only attracts more visitors but also positions your brand as an industry authority. Well-written blogs drive traffic, keep your audience engaged, and increase the chances of converting visitors into customers by providing valuable, informative content that meets their needs.

Local SEO

80%

Local SEO is essential for small businesses aiming to attract customers in their area by improving their visibility in local search results. By optimising your website with location-specific keywords, building local backlinks, and ensuring your business is listed in relevant local directories, you can increase foot traffic and online enquiries from nearby customers. Local SEO is particularly effective for businesses that rely on a strong presence in their local community, such as shops, service providers, and restaurants.

Learn more about local SEO

Automation of Customer Journeys

80%

Automating customer journeys such as follow-up emails or abandoned cart reminders—streamlines interactions and enhances the customer experience. By using tools like Mailchimp to personalise and automate these responses, you save time, nurture leads, and improve customer retention and loyalty, ultimately increasing your sales.

Content Marketing

80%

Content marketing allows you to attract and engage your audience by offering valuable, relevant content. Blogs, videos, and case studies not only build your authority but also improve your SEO and help you form lasting connections with your customers, leading to increased conversions. These can be repurposed across various marketing channels for social media posts, ads, and even lead generation campaigns, such as using case studies in paid ads or sharing insights from blog posts on social platforms to drive traffic and leads.

Webinar Marketing

80%

Webinars provide a direct, interactive platform to engage with potential customers. Whether you're educating them about your product or sharing industry insights, webinars help establish your authority and turn interested attendees into loyal clients.

Customer Loyalty Programs

80%

Customer loyalty programs are designed to reward repeat customers, encouraging them to continue purchasing from your business. By offering incentives such as discounts, exclusive offers, or points for future rewards, you increase the lifetime value of each customer and foster a deeper sense of brand loyalty. These programs not only boost repeat sales but also help create a loyal customer base that is more likely to advocate for your brand and refer others.

Desirable Tasks

Micro-Influencer Partnerships

77.5%

Micro-influencer partnerships focus on collaborating with influencers who have smaller, but highly engaged, audiences within specific niches. These partnerships allow you to build authentic connections with targeted communities, often leading to better engagement rates and more meaningful interactions than larger influencers. Additionally, micro-influencers tend to offer a more cost-effective option while delivering a higher level of trust and credibility with their followers.

Networking (Referral)

75%

Networking enables businesses to form valuable relationships within their communities, fostering trust and credibility. By actively engaging with other professionals and local organisations, you can generate word-of-mouth referrals, which are often more powerful than traditional advertising. Building a strong network not only opens doors to new business opportunities but also helps establish your brand as a trusted part of the community.

Affiliate Marketing

75%

Affiliate marketing enables businesses to collaborate with affiliates, such as bloggers and influencers, who promote their products or services in exchange for a commission. This strategy allows you to expand your reach and tap into new audiences with minimal upfront costs. By only paying for successful referrals or sales, affiliate marketing provides a cost-effective way to grow your business while benefiting from the trust and credibility affiliates have built with their audiences.

Referral Marketing

75%

Referral marketing incentivises your existing customers to refer new clients, allowing you to tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing. By rewarding customers for bringing in new business, you not only increase sales but also build stronger trust and loyalty. This strategy requires minimal upfront investment and can lead to high-quality referrals, as potential customers are more likely to trust recommendations from friends and family.

Chatbot

72.5%

A chatbot is an AI-powered tool that simulates human conversation, offering instant, automated responses to frequently asked questions. It allows businesses to provide real-time support to customers without the need for constant human intervention. Chatbots are especially useful for handling common queries, offering 24/7 service, and freeing up human agents to focus on more complex customer issues. They improve response times, enhance customer satisfaction, and efficiently manage a high volume of queries.

Types of Chatbots

Why do you need it? Chatbots improve customer support by offering instant answers, reducing wait times, and boosting satisfaction. They are ideal for managing multiple queries simultaneously without increasing staff costs. Whether it’s for providing 24/7 support or automating simple tasks, chatbots streamline customer service while allowing your team to concentrate on tasks that require a personal touch.

SMS Marketing

72.5%

SMS marketing enables businesses to send promotional messages, reminders, or updates directly to customers' phones, ensuring high open rates and immediate engagement. It's particularly effective for time-sensitive offers, as SMS messages are typically read within minutes of being received. With its direct and personal nature, SMS marketing helps businesses reach customers quickly and drive immediate action, making it a powerful tool for boosting sales and customer engagement.

Google Ads using YouTube Ad Campaigns (PPC)

72.5%

Google Ads using YouTube Ads campaigns allow businesses to promote their brand with engaging video content that reaches a wide audience. These ads are highly effective at increasing brand awareness, as they target users based on their interests, behaviour, and search history. YouTube Ads provide an opportunity to showcase your products or services in a dynamic way, driving both engagement and conversions while offering measurable results at scale.

Retargeting Ads (PPC)

70%

Retargeting ads enable businesses to re-engage users who have previously interacted with their website or brand but haven't completed a purchase or taken further action. By serving tailored ads to these potential customers as they browse other websites, you keep your brand top-of-mind, increasing the likelihood of conversions and sales. Retargeting is a highly effective strategy for boosting ROI by focusing on users who have already expressed interest in your products or services.

Social Media Contests and Giveaways

70%

Social media contests and giveaways are powerful tools for boosting engagement, rapidly growing your audience, and increasing your brand's visibility. By offering attractive prizes, you can encourage users to participate, share your content, and tag others, expanding your reach organically. These campaigns not only create excitement around your brand but also help you gather valuable user data and generate leads, driving long-term growth.

Google Ads using Search Campaigns (PPC)

70%

Google Ads using Search Campaigns allow businesses to appear at the top of relevant search results, driving highly targeted traffic to their website. This type of advertising is particularly effective for capturing demand and reaching potential customers who are actively searching for your products or services. By targeting keywords with high intent, Search Ads help you connect with customers at the exact moment they are ready to take action, making it an efficient way to generate leads and increase conversions.

LinkedIn Ads

70%

LinkedIn Ads provide businesses with the opportunity to promote their content directly to a professional audience, making them particularly effective for B2B marketing. These ads allow you to target decision-makers, industry leaders, and professionals based on job titles, industries, or specific companies. By using LinkedIn Ads, you can build brand awareness, generate leads, and foster relationships with key stakeholders in your industry.

Remarketing

70%

Remarketing enables you to reconnect with users who have previously engaged with your business but haven't yet converted. Whether through display ads, social media ads, or personalised email follow-ups, remarketing keeps your brand in front of potential customers who have already shown interest. By staying top-of-mind, you increase the likelihood of conversions, making remarketing a cost-effective strategy for turning leads into customers.

How is Remarketing different from Retargeting? Although often used interchangeably, remarketing and retargeting differ in approach. Remarketing generally refers to reconnecting with customers through email campaigns or direct communications after they've interacted with your business. In contrast, retargeting focuses on serving paid ads to users who have visited your website or engaged with your brand but didn't take action, aiming to bring them back to complete a purchase or inquiry.

Nice to Have Tasks

Meta (Facebook) & Instagram Ads (PPC)

65%

Meta (Facebook) and Instagram Ads allow businesses to target specific demographics with engaging visual content, making these platforms ideal for building brand awareness and driving conversions. With advanced targeting options based on interests, behaviours, and demographics, these ads help you reach the right audience at the right time. Whether you're promoting products, services, or events, Facebook and Instagram Ads are powerful tools for generating leads and encouraging immediate action from your target market.

Google Ads using Shopping Campaigns (PPC)

65%

Google Shopping Ads enable businesses to display their products directly in Google search results with visually rich, product-focused ads. These ads feature images, prices, and product details, helping potential customers find exactly what they're looking for at a glance. Google Shopping Campaigns are highly effective for driving online sales, as they attract users who are already searching for specific products, making it easier to convert them into buyers.

Podcast Sponsorships or Ads

65%

Podcast sponsorships or ads provide businesses with the opportunity to connect with niche, highly engaged audiences. Since podcast listeners are typically loyal and attentive, this form of advertising is an excellent way to build brand awareness and trust among specific demographics. By aligning with relevant podcasts, you can effectively reach potential customers in a setting where they are already invested, leading to stronger connections and increased brand recall.

Google Ads using Display Campaigns (PPC)

62.5%

Google Display Ads allow businesses to reach a broad audience by displaying visually engaging ads across the vast Google Display Network, which includes websites, apps, and videos. These ads are ideal for building brand awareness, retargeting previous visitors, and driving traffic to your site. With options for precise targeting based on interests, demographics, and behaviours, Display Ads help you connect with potential customers as they browse online, boosting visibility and engagement across multiple platforms.

Pinterest Ads

62.5%

Pinterest Ads enable businesses to showcase visually appealing content, making them highly effective for industries like fashion, home decor, and DIY. These ads are ideal for reaching creative and inspiration-driven audiences who use Pinterest for ideas and planning. With Pinterest Ads, you can promote your products or services to users who are actively seeking inspiration, increasing the chances of conversions from a highly engaged, visually-oriented audience.

Billboards (OOH)

60%

Billboards, as part of Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising, are an excellent way to boost brand awareness and visibility, especially in high-traffic locations. They are particularly effective for targeting local audiences or passers-by in key areas, such as busy roads or city centres. While billboards have limited scalability compared to digital ads, they offer broad exposure and can leave a lasting impression on a wide range of consumers, making them a powerful tool for local brand promotion.

Local Print Advertisements (Print)

57.5%

Local print advertisements, such as ads in newspapers, magazines, and direct mail campaigns, are effective for targeting specific geographic areas. They are particularly valuable for local businesses looking to connect with customers in their immediate surroundings. By focusing on your local audience, print ads help to build brand awareness within the community and drive foot traffic to your business, making them a useful tool for reaching customers who may not be as engaged with digital channels.

National Print Advertisements (Print)

52.5%

National print advertisements allow businesses to reach a wide audience across the country through large-scale print media outlets, such as national magazines or newspapers. These ads are ideal for promoting brand recognition and reaching a diverse, broad demographic. By placing your business in widely circulated publications, you can increase visibility and expand your customer base, making national print ads an effective strategy for building awareness on a larger scale.

Sponsorships

50%

Sponsorships offer businesses a unique opportunity to boost visibility by aligning their brand with relevant events, teams, or causes. This strategy helps improve brand reputation by associating your business with positive and high-profile activities while also reaching targeted audiences that are likely to engage with your offerings. Sponsorships not only enhance credibility but also provide a powerful way to connect with potential customers in a meaningful context.

Task Categories and Score Ranges

We categorize tasks into three types based on their overall score. Here are the score ranges and corresponding progress bars for each category:

Necessary

80% to 100%

Desirable

70% to 79%

Nice to Have

0% to 69%

Remember, this is a general guide. The best marketing strategy for your business will depend on your specific industry, target audience, and budget. Carefully consider your unique context before implementing any marketing tasks.

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