There’s no use having the best product or service in the world if nobody knows about it. If you aren’t making any sales, then you aren’t making any money. If you aren’t making any money then you are soon out of business.
Many new business owners that I speak to think that they only way to get their name out and about is through expensive mainstream media advertising- on TV, on the Radio or in the newspaper. In my opinion, you can avoid these media altogether- (unless you own fast food stores advertising on radio to hungry business people on their way home from work. Who wants to cook dinner anyway?)
Anyway, I digress. Promoting your business need not cost you the world, and there are better ways to assess and test the effectiveness of any campaign you introduce. Here are four ways to promote your business that won’t cost a fortune and that I believe will better enable you to promote your business.
Digital Marketing and PR- The internet has changed everything and, to some extent, it has leveled the playing field between small and large business. Your customers are going to Google in order to search for services and products. You need to work out what keywords, related to your product or service, that your prospective customers are most likely to use in order to seek out your product or service. Optimize your webpage and consider investing in pay per click advertising. Make sure you put some analytical coding on your website so that you can track visitors (Google Analytics is a great free tool.) You need to make sure that you continuously monitor and tweak your site and PPC advertising to keep it at the top of the results and to keep visitors coming to your page.
Create a community with social media- Once you have turned a prospect into a customer it is now time to turn them in to a fan. You can do this by regularly engaging with, and connecting your existing customers with each other through social media and social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter. If you can help foster a community then your existing customers will be forever grateful.
Use Guerilla Marketing to create a big splash- Guerilla marketing is a great way to make a name for your business or your product or service. Check out some of these examples from Mashable and see if they can become an inspiration for your business.
Get out there and network-All business owners need to get out there and network with other entrepreneurs in similar and related fields. You never know what opportunities may arise. If you get out there and help someone else grow their business they are going to feel obliged to help you grow your business. It is a win/win situation.
My business, Greenlight Communications, is all about helping you grow your business. Get in touch today and let’s see how we can help you.