Marketing has one primary goal: to get the word out about your business. To make sure this happens, you need to exhaust every possible avenue to get your business on the map. You might think that just because you run a smaller business that you need to set your standards lower, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Nowadays, there are enough clever marketing options to go around and you need to utilize each and every single one of them in order to promote your business.
Local media is your friend
With all the buzz surrounding the internet and all of its marketing avenues, businesses tend to forget about local media. Newspapers and local radio are still very much relevant forms of media and their audiences are pretty big. More importantly, their audience is crucial for your business.
If you have a brick and mortar shop, you probably need local customers to come and check out your products. All the internet ads in the world won’t help you if they’re directed at the wrong kind of audience. Grabbing the attention of the people in your shop’s town is a lot more important.
It’s probably time to make some friends with the local radio and television stations. Local stations have a lot of advertising space to utilize and it’s not exactly expensive. If you get airtime on these stations, you’re going to create a lot of new buzz for your business. Local TV stations need interesting content to pad their airtime as well. If you become close with the right media personalities, you could be given a spot on their talk shows. This way, you can spread awareness of your business and how it works. This kind of exposure will intrigue viewers and they might just take a trip to your shop.
Host an event
Events are a great way to get people talking about your brand. You can create seminars and classes that help educate potential consumers on what your company is all about. The event itself is going to be a good advertisement for your business, which is why you should spread the word about it far and wide.
You can print flyers and post them around town. One convenient place where you can send flyers is the local library. Hardly anyone thinks of libraries while forming their marketing plan, but they can be a great tool for advertising to the young and educated. Everyone needs a good book every once in a while, which is why their path often takes them to the library. Libraries usually have bulletin boards for educational purposes, which is why it could be a great place to put a flyer for your class or seminar.
It’s also a great way to work on your business connections. When you’re running a business, you never really stop networking. You might not think a local setting can give you a lot of business opportunities, but you would be surprised. If you host any kind of event, you’re bound to meet someone with an interest in your business. Whether they’re an investor or supplier, you will need their help to grow your business.
Have an E-mail campaign
The internet is an endless source of business potential. Nowadays, online marketers are focusing all their creative power towards social media. It has become a ubiquitous part of marketing campaigns and everyone is trying to cash in on it. What happened to old-fashioned E-mails? The truth is, they never left. E-mail marketing campaigns are still very much relevant and effective in online marketing.
E-mail campaigns aren’t at all difficult to set up. It’s not going to affect your marketing budget because creating an account is completely free. You can fire up G-mail in a minute and send thousands of free E-mails. Best of all, you can be sure that consumers of all ages check their E-mails regularly. This gives you the opportunity to craft a campaign that suits your business and its targeted demographic.
Use newsletters to give quick updates and news on your company’s products. Send invitations to join the newsletter through your E-mails. If they enjoy the content you provide in the newsletter, they might become paying subscribers.
Start making videos
Every experienced marketer is quick to remind businesses that content is king. Good content is the best way to attract consumers with your campaign. If you have something interesting or informative, you're bound to get lots of interested customers. The current trend in content creation is heading towards videos as a platform. Video content has become a lot more accessible than it used to be. The average phone can film professional videos just fine if it's put in capable hands. This allows you to get creative with the rest of your marketing budget.
Videos are more likely to impact viewers than other types of content. If the topic piques your interest, you’re more likely to watch a video in its entirety. Videos might be a lot more difficult to make, but they engage the user like no other form of content.
You don’t even have to implement video content on your own website for it to be successful. You can make use of video hosting sites like YouTube. You don’t need to be particularly internet savvy to make use of a website like YouTube. It’s arguably the simplest video content platform and businesses should take advantage of it and upload their own content. Making an account and posting videos is free, which means it’s not going to put a dent in your budget.
YouTube is also shaping up to be the second most popular search engine in the world. Because of this, a lot of marketers are looking into SEO strategies to help optimize videos for businesses. If you’re willing to invest in the creation of YouTube video content, you should consider some help from experts on search engine optimization.
Spread your logo everywhere
Brand recognition is one of the most important aspects of a good marketing campaign. You want people to think of your brand when they want a product that your business provides. What better way to show off your brand than to flaunt the logo everywhere? The best part about logos is that they can create buzz around your business without requiring all that much effort. You can stick them on anything and they will have an impact so long as they are placed in the right places. A business can buy ad space on walls and billboards to spread awareness about its brand.
Just about anything can hold your logo, which means you can get creative with your strategies. If you want to put your brand on coffee cups, there’s no one that can stop you. If a building has a lot of foot traffic, you can place some flyers on windows and pillars. Even custom logo mats aren’t out of the question. If you expect a lot of people to look at an item, you should make it so that they’re looking at your brand.
Cars are another popular option, but you won’t find all that many people who are willing to stick a giant logo on their car. Transport vehicles like vans and trucks might be a better option. When people are stuck in traffic or cruising down the highway, your brand will be in their field of view for quite a while.
Social media
Every business needs to start utilizing social media. It allows you to spread the news about your business to the far corners of the internet. Everyone uses social media and it’s become a ubiquitous part of modern culture. If you’re looking for ways to introduce new consumers to your business, social media is the right choice.
The platform you choose is important, so you should also think about the age demographics. Not every age group takes a particular interest in Instagram pages. The same thing applies to platforms like Facebook and Tumblr. You have to do your research and read up on which social media platform might be of use to you and your business.
A lot of businesses are utilizing “influencers” that are present on social media. Influencers are individuals that are considered somewhat famous or influential on a platform. They have an audience of social media followers that regularly check their pages. Usually, influencers cater to a specific demographic, which makes them ideal targets for a marketing offer. You can advertise your product to a select few that match your target demographic perfectly, so long as you get in contact with the right kind of influencer. They will mention your product in a positive light and their followers might be inclined to try it out.
Social media advertising is either free or really cheap, but it requires quite a bit of creativity for your company to stand out. Try to go against the grain and create content that is appealing to a specific demographic.
Conclusion
In conclusion, marketing strategies aren't easy to pull off. This is especially true when it comes to small businesses. You need to put in a lot of effort to spread the word about your booming business. In order to succeed in this endeavour, you should use all the tools that are at your disposal. Some of these examples are pretty straightforward, while others require a bit of forethought and planning. As long as you exhaust every possible option, you'll find that your marketing campaign is going to succeed.
Author bio
Emma Williams is an Australian writer with a master‘s degree in business administration, who has a passion for anything lifestyle and design related. She spends most of her time redecorating and participating in house projects. As a great nature lover, her biggest pleasure is spending time in a small cottage by the river.
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