When you’re a business owner, you know how important it is to have a marketing strategy. After all, marketing is one of the most important things you do to keep running your business (even if it’s not your favorite thing to do).

But what does a true marketing strategy actually look like? Is it a bunch of ideas for Instagram that you keep in the notes app on your phone? Or is it a spreadsheet of topics to write about? Nope, nope, and nope. But don’t worry. Today, we’re going to walk you through some marketing strategy examples that small business owners like you have created through Enji so you can feel confident in creating your own as well!

Here’s a little teaser of what we are covering:

• Why you need a marketing strategy 
• What a marketing strategy includes
• Marketing strategy examples in the wild 

Your marketing strategy doesn’t have to be overwhelming and mysterious. In fact, just to get your feet wet, watch this quick 13 minute video.

Why Small Businesses Need a Marketing Strategy (And Why Winging it Doesn’t Work)

Before we dive into marketing strategy examples, let’s make sure we’re on the same page. You’ve probably heard a ton of advice about how your business needs a marketing strategy, but maybe you’re not sure why. After all, you might already be used to posting when you feel like it or coming up with ideas on the fly. 

And hey, maybe posting on the fly has even been working for you. But the thing about winging it and marketing by accident is… there comes a time when it won’t work (and when that piper needs to be paid, you’re going to wish you had done this a lot sooner).

Without a strategy, you’re wasting your own time and money. Even if you see some success from randomly posting, you can’t easily capitalize on that momentum without a solid strategy. 

On top of saving time and money (which hello, what small business owner doesn’t want that?), your marketing strategy also gives you a measurable goal along with the tactics that you can use to try to reach that goal. 

Need more to be convinced having a marketing strategy is important for your small business?

The Key Components of Any Marketing Strategy

So how exactly does a marketing strategy save you time and money? Each example we share below has four things that really build up the basics of a great marketing strategy: 

• A goal
• The target audience that they’re trying to reach
• The channels they’re using (and it’s not every channel under the sun!) 
• Specific tasks

These components can apply to your overall marketing strategy as well as your different types of marketing, including content marketing and social media marketing, which we’ll cover more below. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, can we just insert a shameless plug here? With Enji’s marketing strategy generator, you can get your own strategy in minutes just by answering a few quick questions. 

Content Marketing Strategy

Now, let’s get into the first of our marketing strategy examples: content marketing. Put simply, content marketing is a way to reach your target audience through your content in a way that can educate, persuade, and ultimately build trust in your business and offerings. 

A business with a great content marketing strategy is The Budget Savvy Bride, an online resource in the wedding industry. The Budget Savvy Bride’s ultimate goal is to build trust and become the ultimate resource for couples planning their wedding by providing helpful, educational content (ultimately selling ad space, sponsorship opportunities, vendor directory space, and more in the process).

To reach their goal, their content marketing strategy focuses on creating SEO-friendly blogs, guides, and podcast episodes that help grow their organic traffic and provide consistent value to people planning their weddings. 

To break it down even further, this is what The Budget Savvy Bride’s content marketing strategy might look like (if we had to guess based on what we see them doing!):  

• Goal: Grow organic traffic to become a top resource in the wedding industry 
• Audience: People planning their weddings
• Channel: Blogs, SEO, and Podcast
• Tactics: Consistently posting blog posts and podcast episodes each month optimized to specific search terms in the industry

The key takeaway from The Budget Savvy Bride’s content marketing strategy is that consistent, valuable content can position you as an expert and position you as an expert in your field. They certainly have!

Want to try on this content marketing example in your own biz? Create one pillar blog post and try repurposing it into social media posts, an email newsletter, and a lead magnet.

Social Media Strategy

Next, let’s talk about a social media strategy example. With social media in particular, a lot of business owners feel like they can wing it. Social media can also be the most overwhelming type of marketing there is. After all, there are so many channels to choose from, different types of content, and constantly changing trends. 

To make it all feel more manageable, here’s one great example of a successful social media marketing strategy—Showit. 

Showit is a visual website builder designed specifically for creative business owners. If we had to guess based on what we see them doing, we’d say that their social media marketing strategy goal was to create more engagement on social media to connect with their existing audience. 

By creating more unique and personal content like UGC and behind-the-scenes posts, Showit has been able to build a stronger relationship with their audience, grow their engagement, and land more long-term customers. Because the people who love Showit? LOVE Showit.

Here’s a breakdown of Showit’s social media marketing strategy (again, we aren’t on their marketing team, but this is what we are seeing): 

• Goal: Increasing social media engagement and brand awareness
• Audience: Creative business owners and website designers
• Channel: Instagram
• Tactics: Highlighting members of their community (users and partners) through user-generated and behind-the-scenes content. 

The key takeaway from Showit’s strategy is that engagement is often more valuable than follower count. By focusing on your audience and building relationships with them, you can count on greater engagement and loyalty over the long term. 

Want to try on this social media marketing example in your own biz? Try posting a simple “This or That” poll on Instagram stories to increase engagement or (for bonus points) try collaborating with someone in the same or complementary industry as you on a post or Reel. Here’s an example of us trying this last month!

Overall Marketing Strategy 

The examples above are both specific marketing strategy examples for small businesses. And while it’s important to have a strategy for each type of marketing you use, you can (and should) also create an overall marketing strategy for your business. 

One great example is from Bowtie & Brush, a Portland-based wedding and event artist who offers live watercolor painting, calligraphy, and engraving. The owner of Bowtie & Brush, Danison, used Enji to create a strategy that grew his business. 

His marketing strategy example looks like this: 

• Goal: Book more event clients
• Audience: Portland couples and event planners
• Channels: Blog, Instagram, networking, and email marketing
• Tactics: Posting consistently each month and repurposing content across each channel 

As a long-time Enji user, we’ve seen Danison start small and consistently grow his business through a consistent, targeted marketing strategy. His story is a great example of how it’s possible to build a cross-channel marketing strategy even if you’re just a one-person business. You can actually hear him talk about how he got he got better at marketing by using Enji on the Kara Report podcast here!

And as a little extra win?  It’s noticeable to everyone who follows Danison how much more fun it is to market your business when you actually feel confident in what the f*ck you are doing.

Ready to Build Your Own Marketing Strategy?

Now it’s your turn! We hope that these examples helped you see how simple it can be to create an actionable marketing strategy. Plus, to make it even easier, Enji is here for you. Our marketing strategy generator will give you a simple, customized plan in minutes! Say goodbye to feeling overwhelmed about your marketing and start your free trial to get an actionable marketing plan today.