Some small business advice from a small marketing agency
As small business ourselves, we know that small businesses face an ever-growing list of marketing options to choose from.
But when it comes to marketing, both digital and traditional, it is important to treat it like a garden: you want it to flourish all year round!
Like planting different flowers to bloom in different seasons, you want you marketing to be delivered through multiple channels to ensure you have the widest reach.
Which marketing channels are most suitable will depend on your target audience, so here are 6 marketing areas to help your business bloom in 2026:
AI optimisation
AI is reshaping marketing as we know it, from AI-powered search to chatbots. With brands and businesses now having to cater for both humans and AI, it is important to produce content that is optimised for both.
It's not just about traditional SEO anymore; it's about optimising for understanding, conciseness and most importantly trust, by artificial intelligence.
Which brings us to...
SEO and GEO
You can have the most beautiful, well-designed website in the world, but if your SEO isn't up to scratch, nobody will find you!
SEO, or search engine optimisation, targets the key phrases your customers are searching for. GEO, Generative Engine Optimisation, does the same thing but for AI-lead search.
Both types of optimisation help to ensure search engines such as Google can find you and rank you higher than the billions of other web pages out there.
Read our guide to optimising for Google's AI Overviews.
Direct mail marketing
Conversely, in a world that is overwhelmingly digital, anything tactile and “offline” is becoming more important - especially amongst Gen Z and Millennials.
As a result, a good old direct mail piece can really make your small business stand out: paper and ink, good artwork, an interesting shape or attention-grabbing copy - there are so many ways to make your direct mail stand out and get you noticed.
It can be an effective way to follow up and enhance the marketing you’re doing online to also send out a direct mail to your target audience, making sure your brand is kept in the forefront of their mind.
PR
When it comes to building your brand's reputation and reaching new audiences, good, well-managed PR can be a very powerful marketing tool.
An effective PR strategy will draw together and integrate with your overall marketing strategy, ensuring your small business is seen and heard by the right people in the right way, both offline and online.
Email marketing
With good data and well written and designed email content, email marketing can deliver great ROI for small businesses.
You can use email to showcase products, built trust and loyalty with your audience, send out updates or offer advice. There are many great ways to use email to build your brand.
As a marketing agency, it’s one of our go-to marketing weapons for many projects.
Measure your results
The great thing about digital marketing is that your efforts are measurable. Before you begin, define a marketing goal:
- New customers?
- Increased website traffic?
- Selling more to existing customers?
Whatever you are trying to achieve, define it so that you have a clear goal to measure your success against.
Meet Stick
We are a full-service marketing agency, offering a mix of marketing techniques.
Now that you've had our perspective on the next steps for your small business, perhaps this spring you should talk to us for a marketing review?
We can't wait to help your business grow!