Promoting your small business can prove difficult, especially if you feel like the only option to advertise is through traditional means like billboards and TV commercials. Even trendier marketing options like online marketing can prove difficult and ineffective when done wrong. Below are some tips to help you tackle your promotion dilemma. Of course, differences may apply depending on the industry, but general tips still work.
Use Google Ads, Especially the “Click-to-call Feature”
Everyone uses the internet regularly. Be it for work or personal reasons, everyone who has a smartphone or a computer checks the internet multiple times throughout the day. This is why digital marketing works and why you should utilize it. While digital marketing is a wide topic, consider focusing on something more targeted: Google ads. Google’s business system is refined and complex, but businesses can still utilize it to help promote their services. By opting for Google ads with the click-to-call feature, you’re allowing interested individuals to directly contact you by clicking your ad. While this is still limited to mobile devices, it can play an essential role in your digital marketing strategy.
Make Use of Popular Social Media Networks
As mentioned before, almost everyone nowadays uses the internet. And wherever people go, that’s the best place to market your services. This isn’t lost to leading advertising agencies: more and more of their efforts and resources are put on online marketing. Perhaps, simply because it works. Your audience can see more of your products, and the very nature of social media allows you to display them pleasingly.
Take, for example, Instagram. Many cosmetic companies have put their marketing efforts into advertising there versus elsewhere, as those who are most likely to purchase their products frequent the website. Social media sites are a great way to advertise, especially if you grasp what your customers are like and what sites they normally visit.
Concentrate Your Ads Within a Local Area
If your business is located in a specific area, and your industry benefits more in focusing on a smaller region rather than targeting a wide audience, then it’s best to pour your efforts into that. Unless your industry allows for delivery or specialized booking, putting your marketing efforts domestically is the most cost-efficient way of getting your name out. Consider either geotagging your ads to focus on your local area. This will inform residents of your business, and due to the proximity, they will be more likely to become actual paying customers. This helps in a bigger scheme of things, as you’re receiving returns from the resources put into advertising rather immediately.
Don’t Neglect Physical Medium of Advertisement
Business cards, brochures, and flyers are often seen as archaic forms of advertisement. After all, a large part of social noise and traffic now happens on the internet. But these rather ancient methods of advertising still have merit to them. They’re versatile and relatively easy to execute while being direct enough to tell potential clients what they can expect from your services.
The fact that they’re a physical form of advertisement also means that you can tailor its design and execution to your target segment’s preference. If your business is a fitness gym, putting up your brochures and business cards near office centers or food areas can prove to be effective. If you run a laundry business, giving out your flyers near residential areas will work. The simple reality is that even these outdated forms of advertising can still work when done right.
Promote Your Business Through Local Events
The best way to let your business be known, especially if you have a brick-and-mortar shop, is through local events. Make your presence felt by sponsoring the event or participating in it by having a booth where you provide free samples. Food businesses often give out free samples of their best-selling dishes. Dental services often give out free checkups during these events.
Shops selling specialty items often go on sale. These tactics are long proven to be effective: as a business, you’re giving potential customers a taste of what your services have to offer, and if they like it, they’ll consider patronizing it. Don’t forget to include your contact details via a brochure or a business card to make the most out of the opportunity.
At the end of the day, there’s an endless amount of ways you can advertise your business. But not every strategy will help, and not every technique will yield results. While it’s still largely a trial-and-error process, that doesn’t mean you should approach it without a strategy.