According to a study released in 2018[1], Lending Tree, an online lending exchange company, Fresno ranked ninth, amongst the best cities in the US to start a new small business.

As per U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey and Annual Business Survey[2], Hawaii and California are home to the most minority-owned startup businesses. And amazingly, Fresno has the 5th highest percentage (38.02%) of minority-owned startups, amongst the midsized metropolitan areas in the US, according to a report published in 2020[3], from Self Financial, a financial technology company.
 

Restaurants, ice cream shops, hair and nail salons, pharmacies, gift shops, grocery stores are few examples of businesses flooding Fresno city’s market and cater to a larger number of populations.

Now, with thousands of small businesses flourishing in Fresno city and millions of dollars sweeping in by the City of Fresno, it’s time for small business owners to scale up themselves and portray themselves as strong marketers in front of their customers.

There are few marketing strategies that would work best for Fresno business owners:

A strong website gives you a strong market presence. The website should be focused on the target audience and local users. A mobile friendly website would be an added advantage as more traffic comes from smartphones and other mobile devices than ever before. Optimizing your website with appropriate keywords could boost your business overnight.

Social media can be a great tool to market your products, advertise photos and address concerns of your audience in a more human way.
Depending on your customer needs, you can consider using following platforms:

• Facebook: Post pictures, updates and success stories

• Twitter: share news and attend customer queries.

• YouTube: post branded video content

• Instagram: High resolution photos and encourage people to follow you.

• Pinterest: Focus on spreading infographics

Local directories such as Google Business Profile, Waze and Yelp can help you list and claim your business. It’s an easy way to let your customers know your business hours or updated holiday hours. This drives more local traffic to your business as you appear more in local searches.

Business owners should encourage their satisfied and repeated customers to leave a positive review for them on Google Reviews, Facebook or Yelp, this would in turn help other customers in making a wise decision about your services/product.

Do incentivize your loyal customers with discounts or promotions.

Also, it is equally important to respond with honesty to people who write good or bad reviews. Else, users feel turned off by the fact that they are not considered.

Use email gathering techniques to create your own database for likely users. Bulk email marketing is an effective low cost marketing tool, where you can easily reach more than thousand users in one click. The easiest technique to gather emails is to create a sign-up sheet in your store, or register at any booth or local events. You can also send drip campaigns to your customers, like discounts for signing up and then send regular newsletters with product updates and seasonal discounts.

Paid advertisements can be posted on Google, Facebook and other digital platforms to target local users. Apart from these, paid advertisements in local newspapers, radio, yellow pages, and local sponsorship events are also helpful.

You will be happy to know that I am certified in Google Search Ads and Shopping Campaigns Ads. Most marketing agencies in Fresno are not certified, be sure to make an informed choice.

Apart from these digital marketing strategies, business owners should involve with their community members by sponsoring local sports events, school events, mass mail marketing (sending flyers to targeted households through postal service) and tying up with local chambers of commerce.