Key Marketing Terms SMB Owners Should Know in 2024

Blogging referes to writing the articles about a particular topic related to your business and published on your website. A blog can include description of your business events, products you sell, or other material, such as photos and video. There is usually a component of marketing added to business blogs to help drive trafic to your website and more customers to your business. Blogging can help your build credibility, and engage with your existing or new customers. Some of the key advantages of blogging include increased website traffic, improved search engine visibility, enhanced brand awareness, and the ability to generate more sales. Blogging should be a core component of everyh SMB's marketing strategy.

A call-to-action is a text link, button, image, or some type of web link that encourages a website visitor to visit a landing page and become of lead. Some examples of CTAs are “Subscribe Now” or “Download the Whitepaper Today.” These are important for marketers because they’re the “bait” that entices a website visitor to eventually become a lead. So, you can imagine that it’s important to convey a very enticing, valuable offer on a call-to-action to better foster visitor-to-lead conversion.

A web application designed to make it easy for non-technical users to create, edit, and manage a website. Helps users with content editing and more "behind-the-scenes" work like making content searchable and indexable, automatically generating navigation elements, keeping track of users and permissions, and more.

A set of software programs that let companies keep track of everything they do with their existing and potential customers.At the simplest level, CRM software lets you keep track of all the contact information for these customers. But CRM systems can do lots of other things, too, like tracking email, phone calls, faxes, and deals; sending personalized emails; scheduling appointments; and logging every instance of customer service and support. Some systems also incorporate feeds from social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others.

It's like a road map for content creation, showing you what kind of content to create, what topics to cover, which personas to target, and how often to publish to best support your strategy. Maintaining an editorial calendar will keep you more organized and show you any gaps you may have in your content library. It also helps ensure you're doing the right things for your personas and not going way off-track with the topics you're covering. (Don't have a proper calendar of your own yet?

Email marketing is the use of email to promote your business products and services, or to make your customers aware of discounts, promotional offers, changes to your business and/or services. It will help you spread the word about yoru business, build brand loyalty, drive traffic to your website, attract new and engage past customers, and generally increase sales. Email marketing does not cost a lot, yet it is a great way to reach out to your customers and keep them loyal to your business.

Generative AI is the field of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating new content such as text, images or videos based on existing data it was trained on or on publicly accessible data. In marketing, generative AI can be used for a range of helpful things, from writing personalized marketing content for your marketing campaigns to creating images for them.

Google AdSense is an advertising program run by Google that allows website owners to display ads on their website and earn money when visitors click on the ads, or in some cases, when they simply view them. Google AdSense is a popular way for website owners to generate new or additional revenue from their website.

Google Business Profile is a free service that enables business owners to establish and manage their online presence across Google's platforms, including Google Maps and Google Search. The profile enables business owners to provide up-to-date info about their business location, hours, services, products, reviews, and more. By creating a Google Business Profile, businesses can appear in search results, making it easier for potential customers to find them. Google Business Profile is the essential tool for any business today.

Inbound marketing involves strategies aimed at attracting visitors naturally, rather than actively pursuing prospects' attention via traditional marketing methods. You acomplish this by ensuring your company is easily discoverable online (hello SEO) and you are drawing visitors to your website through engaging helpful content that meets their interests and that is delivered in the unique, trustworthy voice of your brand.

A landing page is a website page containing a form that is used for lead generation. This page revolves around a marketing offer, such as an ebook or a webinar, and serves to capture visitor information in exchange for the valuable offer. Landing pages are the gatekeepers of the conversion path and are what separates a website visitor from becoming a lead.A smart inbound marketer will create landing pages that appeal to different personae (plural for persona) at various stages of the buying process. A hefty endeavor no doubt, but one that pays off in spades.

Reputation management, in the context of marketing, refers to the practice of managing public perceptions about your busines brand among your clients and your target audience. It involves actively shaping public opinion and ensuring that the overall perception aligns with the desired image. When your reputation is positive, you inspire customer loyalty, while a negative reputation can be demaging to your business.

Social media management software refers to a specialized tool or platform designed to assist businesses in efficiently managing their social media presence across various social media platforms. It provides a centralized hub where users can create, schedule, publish, monitor, and analyze their social media content and interactions.