The Best Ways to Market Your Small Business in 2025

Written By Michael Flores

In today’s fast-paced digital world, effective small business marketing strategies can make the difference between staying afloat and thriving. Whether you're a local service provider or an e-commerce brand, getting in front of the right customers is essential. Below, we explore the best ways to market your small business using proven techniques—ranging from old-school direct mail marketing to cutting-edge SEO and Google Ads.

1. Direct Mail Marketing: Postcards That Pack a Punch

Direct mail may seem old-fashioned, but it’s making a strong comeback. According to the Data & Marketing Association, 73% of American consumers say they prefer being contacted by brands via mail because they can read it at their convenience. This is a budget friendly option that yields results.

Why It Works:

  • Targeted delivery: You can mail only to homes or businesses within a specific ZIP code, profession, or income bracket.

  • Tangible and memorable: Today we get so many virtual ads, emails and calls to the point where it gets overwhelming. A well-designed postcard marketing campaign can stand out.

Tips for Success:

  • Use clear calls-to-action (CTAs). *See the definition of “CTA” at the bottom of the page.

  • Include limited-time offers to drive urgency.

  • Pair mailers with a landing page and a custom URL that people can look up. (If you have a webpage and social media accounts be sure to mention them on your postcards/mailers.

  • There are companies that you can pay to do this for you. But if your just starting out consider making something on Word and printing them out on some nice paper or cardstock. Then fold them up, stuff them in an envelope, get your targeted addresses and send away! Make sure they look as professional as you can make them, practice makes perfect.

🔑 SEO Tip: Add your mail campaign’s domain (e.g., empireofficecleaning.com/special) to Google Analytics to track leads.

*See definition of “SEO” at the bottom of the page

📬 Examples of Effective CTAs on Business Postcards:

  • “Call now to schedule your free estimate!”

  • “Visit [YourWebsite].com and claim 20% off your first service.”

  • “Show this postcard and get a free upgrade!”

  • “Scan the QR code to book your cleaning today!”

2. Social Media Marketing: Instagram and LinkedIn for Small Businesses

In 2025, social media marketing is still one of the most cost-effective ways to grow a small business. But choosing the right platform is key.

Instagram: Ideal for B2C Marketing

If you sell to consumers (retail, cleaning, fitness, food), Instagram for small business is your visual playground.

  • Use Instagram Reels and Stories to showcase behind-the-scenes, testimonials, or before-and-after results.

  • Use a program like Canva.com to create social media reels and posts.

  • Optimize your Instagram business profile with keywords and links.

LinkedIn: Best for B2B Outreach

LinkedIn marketing is a goldmine for service-based businesses like law firms, IT, commercial cleaning companies, etc.

  • Post client case studies, employee spotlights, professional advice, info about your industry, products, services, etc.

  • Join local groups and engage with decision-makers in your industry.

💡 Pro Tip: Link your social media profiles back to your website to boost domain authority through high-quality backlinks.

*See the definition of “Backlinks” and “Domain Authority” at the bottom of the page.

3. Google Ads: Pay-Per-Click That Pays Off

If you're looking for immediate visibility, Google Ads for small businesses offers the best bang for your buck—especially for local services. Here you will need to invest some money but if done properly this will yield great results.

Benefits of Google Ads:

  • You appear at the top of search results instantly.

  • Only pay when someone clicks your ad.

  • Geo-targeting allows hyperlocal focus.

Best Practices:

  • Use location-based keywords like “commercial cleaning services in Buffalo, NY.” *See the definition of “Keywords” at the bottom of the page.

  • A/B test different ad copy and landing pages.

  • Set up conversion tracking to measure ROI.

  • If you don’t understand any of this, don’t worry you can just pay someone from google to do it for you. But learning how to do this yourself will be not only great for your business but will open up many more doors of opportunity in the business world.

🔍 SEO Insight: While paid ads get clicks, organic rankings build long-term authority. Use both together for maximum reach.

*See the definition of “Organic Traffic” at the bottom of the page.

4. SEO: Boosting Organic Website Traffic

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a long-term strategy, but it consistently delivers the highest ROI in digital marketing. In 2025, Google's algorithms prioritize quality content, fast load times, mobile usability, and E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).

On-Page SEO Must-Haves:

  • Keyword-optimized titles, headers, and meta descriptions.

  • Internal links to relevant pages on your site.

  • Regularly updated blog content answering search queries.

Local SEO Tactics:

  • Set up and optimize your Google Business Profile.

  • Collect and respond to online reviews.

  • Use local citations and geo-tagged images.

  • If all this sounds like techy jibber jabber, just look it up on youtube. Chances are you’ll find a great video explaining exactly how all this works.

📈 Stat: Businesses that optimize for local SEO see a 200% increase in “near me” searches year-over-year (Google Trends, 2025).

5. Backlinks: The Authority Builders

Backlinks—when another website links to yours—are like digital votes of confidence. High-quality backlinks tell Google that your site is trustworthy, which helps you climb search rankings.

How to Build Backlinks:

  • Publish guest posts on industry blogs or local business directories.

  • Get listed on reputable directories like Yelp, BBB, and Angi.

  • Create shareable content like infographics, case studies, and expert guides.

  • If you are just starting out, consider acquiring backlinks for your website through: Nextdoor.com, Gravatar.com, About.me, Dreamwidth.org, or Livejournal.com - just to name a few. These sites have high domain authority and allow you to create a profile and link your website. For each of these sites just create a free account, set up your profile and make sure to add links to your website. These are easy backlinks to get!

  • Another way to get high quality backlinks is to use (HAMO) Help A Marketer Out. This you have to pay for but boy is it worth it! This allows you to help bloggers and reporters find answers to requests that they put up on HAMO, they will then link your website to the amazing websites they work for. You can focus on topics that you know best related to your industry. Continue to create high quality content that answers relevant questions about your industry.

🔗 Tip: Focus on acquiring links from sites with high Domain Authority (DA). Tools like Moz or Ahrefs can help track your backlinks and domain authority.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a small business looking to grow, combining targeted mailers, strategic social media use, Google Ads, and a solid SEO foundation is the path forward. These proven strategies not only improve visibility but also build credibility and long-term customer loyalty.

Don’t just market—market smarter.

Terms Defined:

Call to Action (CTA) is a clear, compelling instruction printed on the postcard that tells the recipient exactly what to do next. It’s the part of a postcard, website, social media post, or digital ad that drives engagement and motivates the reader to take a specific, measurable action—like visiting your website, calling your business, or redeeming a special offer.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the practice of optimizing your website and online content to improve its visibility in search engine results—especially on Google. The goal of SEO is to help your site appear higher on the search results page when people search for keywords related to your business, products, or services.

Backlinks are links from one website to another. In simple terms, when another website links to your website, that’s called a backlink. Getting high quality backlinks will increase your websites Domain Authority.

Domain Authority (DA) is a score that predicts how well a website will rank in search engine results—especially on Google. The score ranges from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a stronger, more trustworthy website.

Keywords are the words or phrases that people type into search engines like Google when they’re looking for something—like a product, service, or answer to a question.

Organic traffic refers to the visitors who come to your website naturally, through unpaid search engine results—mostly from Google, Bing, or Yahoo.

Michael Flores