Online marketing platforms for small businesses: where to start

For any business that serves customers locally, start here. Google invites businesses to stand out with a free Business Profile that shows up on Google Search and Maps, with photos, reviews and other details you manage.

It is free, and it can show up when people search for what you do nearby. Fill in every field, keep your hours accurate and ask happy customers for reviews. Our guide to Google Business Profile optimization walks through it.

Search ads put you in front of people at the moment they search for what you sell. You control the budget. Google's help page on average daily budgets explains that your average daily budget is the average amount you set for each campaign per day, and that for most campaigns your monthly spending limit is 30.4 times that daily amount.

Search ads work best when people already know they need what you offer, such as an emergency plumber, a dentist or a tax preparer. They work less well for products people do not know to search for yet. Start with a small budget on your most profitable service, and expand only after you see real leads coming in.

Customers also check review sites and industry directories before they call. Claim your listings on the ones that matter in your field, keep your name, address and phone number the same everywhere and reply to reviews. Never pay or reward people for positive reviews, since the FTC's rule on consumer reviews lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations.

Social platforms are better at helping people discover you and get to know you than at catching people ready to buy today. Pew Research Center's social media fact sheet says YouTube and Facebook are the most widely used social platforms in the United States and that half of U.S. adults use Instagram.

Pick the platform where your customers spend time, not the one that is trending. A local restaurant may thrive on Instagram, while a B2B consultant will likely do better on LinkedIn.

Platforms change their rules and their reach. Your email list belongs to you. Email is a direct way to bring past customers back and turn interested prospects into buyers.

Start small. A welcome email for new subscribers and one useful message a month to past customers is enough to begin. Remove addresses that bounce so your list stays healthy.

Follow the rules. The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide says subject lines must accurately reflect the content of the message, every message must include your valid physical postal address and you must honor opt-out requests within 10 business days. It also notes that the law makes no exception for business-to-business email. Our guide to choosing an email marketing platform compares the options.

Every other platform should send people somewhere you control. A fast, clear website that explains what you do and makes it easy to call, book or buy is what turns attention from every channel into customers.

Match each link to the right page. An ad for one service should land on that service's page, and a social post about a guide should open the guide itself, not your homepage. Then check every link on your own phone before it goes live.

Most small businesses do better with two platforms done well than five done poorly. A simple way to decide:

1. Local service business: Google Business Profile plus search ads.
2. Product or ecommerce business: your website plus one visual social platform, with email for repeat customers.
3. B2B or professional services: LinkedIn plus email, backed by helpful content on your website.
4. Restaurant or retail shop: Google Business Profile plus one visual social platform for photos and updates.

Give each platform three months of consistent effort before you judge it, and track where every lead comes from so you can see which ones pay off. Ask new customers how they found you, and note the answer next to each sale. After a few months, you will know which platform deserves more of your time and budget, and which one you can drop.

The SBA also reminds owners to stay in compliance with applicable marketing and advertising laws. That covers honest claims, proper disclosure of paid endorsements and the email rules above. Our guide to small business marketing pulls these pieces together into a plan.