takepayments blog.

In an increasingly online world, it's important you try to get your customers to trust your brand over your competitor’s. Modern shoppers are different from the consumers of yesteryear and today they can easily do a bit of digging about a brand before parting with their hard-earned cash. In fact, many of them do, with research showing 61% of consumers will browse online reviews before completing a purchase.

Marketing your retail business is one of the most important things you’ll do as a business owner, after all, it’s what ultimately brings customers through your door and any business owner knows the more of those you can get the better. But, before we take you through our six winning strategies for marketing your business, let us first say a big congratulations! Starting your own business and turning your vision into a reality is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world, but we don’t need to tell you it can be challenging too, so now you’ve reached this point you deserve an almighty pat on the back.

There are social media platforms for every niche and interest nowadays. From the big four of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to newer platforms like TikTok and Twitch, businesses have more opportunities than ever before to reach consumers with their message. Take Shein, for example. The online retailer has built a massive following on Instagram by sharing images of their products in action, often using influencers to promote them. Fenty Beauty took a similar approach on Snapchat, using short video clips to show off their products in use. And Dollar Shave Club built an empire by creating hilarious videos that went viral on YouTube.

As a small business owner, you’re no doubt already wearing many hats - entrepreneur, accountant, marketer, the list goes on - so do you really need to add another element to your jam-packed to-do list? The answer is, for many, yes, creating top-notch videos to promote your small business can bring tonnes of benefits, and help you boost your bottom lines, so finding the time to jump on the video-train is well worth the added effort. 

Your business’ website serves as a hotspot for all your online traffic, making it one of the most important strings to your business’ bow. But, putting the time and effort (and probably money) into creating a great website is only half the story, you need to make sure your website’s doing its job.  One of the most effective tools for doing just that is Google Analytics and shortly we’ll tell you everything you need to know about using it, but first, let’s strip it right back to basics and look at what your website should be doing.