I’ve got a confession: I used to be one of those marketers who made everything sound impossibly complicated.
You know the type. The ones who waffle on about “omnichannel customer journey optimisation” when what they really mean is “answer your emails promptly.” Who create 47-slide presentations about “brand positioning matrices” when the actual problem is that nobody understands what your business does.
It took me years as a junior marketing designer to realise that the most successful businesses I encountered weren’t the ones implementing cutting-edge marketing automation or spending fortunes on sophisticated campaigns. They were the ones who’d mastered the fundamentals so thoroughly that everything else became easier.
Today, I want to share three tactics that have consistently delivered results across different industries and business sizes. No expensive software subscriptions, no need to become a social media influencer. Just practical approaches that work because they focus on what actually matters to customers.
Fix Your Website’s First Impression in One Afternoon
Your website homepage is like the front window of a high street shop. If people can’t immediately work out what you’re selling and why they should care, they’ll move on to the next window.
The brutal truth is that most business websites fail this basic test. Not because they’re poorly designed or technically broken, but because they assume visitors already know what the business does. They launch straight into features, benefits, and company history without ever clearly stating the fundamental value proposition.
It’s like inviting someone to a party but making them solve a riddle just to find the front door. You might have the best music and snacks inside, but they’ll get frustrated and leave before they even get a chance to see them.
The 5-Second Homepage Test:
Cover your company name and logo with your hand (or ask someone else to do this). Can a complete stranger understand exactly what problem you solve within the first paragraph? Not your industry sector or business category – the specific problem that makes customers relieved when they find you.
This isn’t about dumbing down your messaging. It’s about clarity. The most sophisticated businesses often have the simplest explanations of what they do.
Website Copy That Speaks the Language of Your Customer:
Start with the problem your ideal customer wakes up worrying about. Then explain how you solve it in language a tired person could understand at the end of a long day. Skip the industry jargon and clever wordplay – clarity beats cleverness every time.
Test this with people outside your industry. If they can’t explain back to you what your business does after reading your homepage, neither will your potential customers.
Results from Clear Messaging:
When your messaging clicks, everything improves. Search engines better understand what to rank you for. Visitors stay longer and explore deeper. Most importantly, the enquiries you receive come from people who understand what you offer, making sales conversations far more productive.
Turn Social Media Into Actual Conversations
Social media for business has become performative theatre. Everyone posting the same motivational quotes, stock photos, and corporate announcements.
Meanwhile, the accounts that truly generate business are having real conversations about real challenges.
The shift is subtle but powerful: instead of broadcasting at your audience, start talking with them about the things that matter in your industry.
The Social Media Conversation Method:
Share the interesting challenges you encounter in your work. Not confidential client information, but the general problems that make you think “this is exactly why experience matters” or “I wish more people understood this.”
Discuss industry changes that affect your customers. Explain why certain approaches work better than others. Share your perspective on common misconceptions or outdated practices you still encounter.
The goal isn’t to demonstrate how clever you are – it’s to be genuinely helpful to people facing similar challenges.
Think of it this way: are you the guy on a soapbox with a megaphone, shouting into a crowd? Or are you the friendly expert sitting at a coffee shop, giving genuinely helpful advice to someone who asked for it? The second one is where real business gets done.
Why Helpful Content Builds Business:
When you consistently share useful insights, people start seeing you as a trusted source of information rather than just another business trying to sell them something.
This builds the kind of credibility that makes referrals and recommendations happen naturally.
More importantly, you’ll attract enquiries from people who already understand your expertise and approach, making the sales process smoother for everyone involved.
Why You’re Losing Money Ignoring Past Customers
Most businesses treat customer relationships like transactions: job done, payment received, relationship over. This is madness. Your existing customers are your best source of future revenue, referrals, and testimonials, yet most SMEs completely ignore them after the initial work is complete.
The solution isn’t complicated – it’s about creating systematic touchpoints that add value rather than asking for anything.
Simple Customer Follow-Up System:
Create a simple calendar system that prompts you to reach out to previous customers at sensible intervals. Not to sell them something, but to check how things are progressing and share relevant insights.
The key is making each contact genuinely useful. Share an article that relates to their industry challenges. Mention a trend that might affect their business. Ask how a project or service is working out and offer additional tips based on their response.
Keep notes about each customer’s specific situation and goals. When you follow up with relevant, personalised insight, you’re not just maintaining contact – you’re reinforcing your position as their go-to expert.
The Revenue Payoff:
This approach transforms one-time customers into ongoing relationships. They think of you first when they need additional services, and more importantly, they recommend you to others facing similar challenges.
The businesses that master this systematic approach to customer relationships see dramatically more stable revenue streams because they’re not constantly dependent on finding new customers to replace the ones they’ve lost touch with.
Pick One Marketing Tactic (Not Three)
Here’s where most well-intentioned plans fall apart: trying to implement everything at once, getting overwhelmed, and abandoning the effort within a few weeks.
Choose one tactic to focus on for the next month. Not all three – just one. Master it until it becomes routine, then add the next element.
You don’t try to learn how to play the piano, paint a masterpiece, and run a marathon all at the same time. You master one skill, build on it, and then move to the next. Marketing is no different.
Which Tactic to Start With:
If you’re naturally detail-oriented, begin with the homepage clarity exercise. If you enjoy sharing knowledge, start with the conversation approach to social media. If you’re relationship-focused, implement the strategic follow-up system first.
Set up simple systems that don’t require remembering. Calendar reminders, a notes app for interesting industry observations or a quarterly review of your website messaging.
Track one meaningful metric for whichever tactic you choose. Website conversion rates, social media engagement quality (not quantity), or repeat business percentages. Pick something you can measure monthly without obsessing over daily fluctuations.
How Marketing Tactics Work Together:
These tactics work best when they eventually work together. Clear messaging attracts the right people to your social media content. Helpful social media content builds relationships that make follow-up more welcome. Strategic follow-up generates testimonials and referrals that improve your messaging.
But this synergy only happens when each element is working well individually first. Master one, then add the next, then watch how they amplify each other.
Why Simple Marketing Beats Complex Campaigns
While your competitors chase the latest marketing trends and burn themselves out on complicated strategies, you’ll be building a foundation that gets stronger over time.
Clear messaging and genuine relationships built through helpful conversations. Customer loyalty that generates steady referrals and repeat business.
None of this requires expensive tools, marketing degrees, or supernatural organisational skills. It requires consistency, clarity, and the confidence to focus on basics while everyone else makes things needlessly complicated.
The most successful SMEs I’ve worked with understand this instinctively. They do a few things exceptionally well rather than many things adequately. They build relationships instead of just acquiring customers. They solve problems instead of just promoting services.
Start with one tactic. Keep it simple. Execute consistently.
The results might surprise you, not because the tactics are revolutionary, but because hardly anyone executes the fundamentals properly anymore.
In a world of marketing complexity, simplicity has become your competitive advantage.
Ready to Turn Your Quick Wins into Long-Term Growth?
If you’re ready to move beyond the basics and build a marketing foundation that genuinely works for your business, I can help.
My goal is to empower SMEs like yours to get their message right, connect with the right customers, and build a strategy that’s simple, sustainable, and highly effective.
Let’s have a chat about your specific challenges and goals. No complicated presentations, just a simple conversation about how we can work together to get your marketing working for you. A 32 minute call works wonders, (completely free, no strings attached) to get to know each other and see if we might be a good match.
